< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team
Nigel Tupper & team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 7
Total appearances: 19
Team debut: 2000
Leaping from runner-up to second place are Nigel Tupper and his four-person Bank of America Merrill Lynch troupe in Hong Kong. The team “publishes top-notch research focused mainly on macro investing topics,” one advocate reports. “I’m an avid consumer of their work.” For the balance of this year, the analysts recommend that money managers favor growth strategies over value, advising that the latter will “continue to struggle until the earnings environment improves,” says Tupper, 48. On the contrary, sparse earnings gains are driving outperformance of growth investing, he notes, which “will likely continue until earnings become more abundant.” In addition, he and his cohorts are upbeat on regional names with revenue exposure to the U.S. “These stocks should continue to benefit while the U.S. economy remains relatively strong and while the dollar appreciates in 2015,” he explains. Finally, the crew remains bullish on Indian shares, “which turned out to be one of the most important drivers of performance in Asia in 2014,” Tupper observes. He joined the firm’s Hong Kong office in 1995 to serve as an Asia-Pacific quantitative strategist, after a stint developing quant models at Credit Suisse First Boston in Australia. He worked at BofA Merrill’s Singapore, New York and Sydney outposts before returning to Hong Kong in 2011. Tupper earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Australian National University.