< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team
Total appearances: 14
Team debut: 2001Di (Dick) Wei pilots his Credit Suisse squad up two spots to capture the firm’s first top finish on this roster since 2003, toppling five-time winner Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which slips to No. 2. “Dick is highly dedicated to his work, and the depth of his research on the Chinese e-commerce sector is unparalleled,” marvels one admirer. Major expenditures on so-called O2O service e-commerce, or transactions that direct online users to offline stores, are set to continue this year, remarks Wei, 43, who further notes that “O2O is becoming the hottest spot in the China Internet space, as more and more companies are tapping into this area through various strategic investments along with organic growth.” Already such industry leaders as Baidu, BitAuto Holdings, Ctrip.com International, 58.com and Tencent Holdings have moved to capture part of what the Hong Kong–based crew chief quantifies as more than $100 billion in market opportunities. Two of the six-member team’s most highly recommended names are China’s Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent. The analysts prefer the former on valuation, given long-term growth opportunities in such areas as autos, banking, health care and online ticket ordering. The latter is a favorite owing to the development of its WeChat mobile messaging application as a platform for services like buying discounted goods, calling taxis, discovering nearby restaurants and ordering food. Wei joined Credit Suisse in August 2013 from J.P. Morgan, where he covered Internet, new media, information technology services and education shares. He led that firm’s team to a runner-up spot on this roster in 2013 and previously worked at Merrill Lynch in investment banking and at American data storage giant Quantum Corp. as an engineer. Wei earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics engineering from the University of Washington, in the U.S.