Bank of America Merrill Lynch repeats atop the roster. Xiang (Edmond) Huang, 42, and Euisup (Andy) Lee, 39, guide the 12-member contingent, which is headquartered in Hong Kong. “When it comes to frequency of reporting and to being the most comprehensive, they’re the best,” declares one buy-side backer. The analysts, who report on some 70 companies, are bullish on providers of offshore logistics and support services for the oil and gas industries. The reason? “Strong earnings growth visibility,” says Huang, who also co-leads (with Matthew Spence) this year’s top-ranked team in Infrastructure. Recommended stocks include Singapore-based Ezion Holdings and Malaysia’s SapuraKencana Petroleum. They are cautious on India-based engineering and construction companies, however, as the “balance sheets of infrastructure developers are leveraged, and policy paralysis can hurt the order pipeline,” explains Lee, co-captain (with Bin Wang) of the No. 2 crew in Autos & Auto Parts. The researchers are also modestly optimistic about transportation systems in China’s major cities. “Investment will grow decently into 2015,” says Huang, and benefit construction and railway equipment companies. “But it will not be a game changer.” — Paul Sweeney |
Industries – Industrials: First
