< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team
Total appearances: 14
Team debut: 1998For a second year in a row, Seoul-based Bryan Song, 45, and 37-year-old Yi (Winnie) Wu in Beijing shepherd their Bank of America Merrill Lynch crew to third place. The ten analysts report on approximately 80 regional banks, and within that group they anticipate a divergence by country. Chinese and Indian lenders should run ahead of the rest, they believe, thanks to sustainable growth and a strong phase in the credit cycle, respectively. During the 12-month period through April, the shares have done just that: Banking equities in the region’s No. 1 and No. 2 economies soared 49.5 percent and 32.1 percent, respectively, while the wider sector climbed 16.7 percent. As he has done every year since 2011, Bryan also directs the troupe that earns first place for its coverage of South Korea.