2016 All-Asia Research Team: Thailand, No. 3: Ian Gisbourne & team

UBS’s Bangkok-based squad notches its third consecutive appearance in the No. 3 spot.

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< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

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Ian Gisbourne & team
UBS
First-place appearances: 4

Total appearances: 20

Team debut: 1994

UBS’s Bangkok-based squad notches its third consecutive appearance in the No. 3 spot, garnering plaudits for providing research “with in-depth knowledge and valuable insights,” as one portfolio manager puts it. Another admirer hails research director Ian Gisbourne as “one of the most experienced strategists in Thailand, with views that are well thought out and invariably thought-provoking.” The five analysts keep tabs on 44 domestic companies and have been steering clients away from Bangkok’s True Corp. Added to their coverage universe in May 2015 with a sell rating, the integrated telecommunications services provider is facing increasing competition, especially in the fixed-broadband industry, they advised, and the stock’s valuation was unjustifiably high. Late last month it was trading at 7.15 baht, having tumbled 34.4 percent during a period in which domestic shares overall lost 8.3 percent. Looking for opportunities more broadly, “the most likely sources of growth remain tourism and public spending,” says Gisbourne, 48. Accordingly, he and his associates recommend that investors prefer Siam Commercial Bank of Bangkok, deeming it a beneficiary of government stimulus expenditures. Their price objective of 160 baht implies a 22.1 percent potential upside to the financial services firm’s trading value in late April.

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