The 2014 All-Asia Research Team: Industrials, No. 2: Karen Li, Corrine Png & team

Karen Li, Corrine Png & team
J.P. Morgan

First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 24

Team debut: 2000

LorKaren Li and Corrine Png pilot their J.P. Morgan crew to second place on this list, which now also considers reporting on infrastructure and transportation shares. Last year, Hong Kong–based Li led the firm’s No. 2 team in Infrastructure and its runner-up troupe in Industrials, while Png, who works out of Singapore, captained its runner-up squad in Transportation. From offices throughout the region, their group of eight researchers monitors 80 Asian industrials names, earning plaudits for their years of experience and for providing “deep coverage of the sector and regular and timely updates,” in the words of one money manager. China’s industrials stocks underperformed the wider sector by 7 percentage points in the first quarter of 2014, dropping by 7.4 percent. Investors, notes Li, were concerned about the impact from continued credit tapering. However, “since April, amid ongoing structural reforms, China has attempted to offset the downward economic pressure by introducing progrowth measures in targeted sectors, including railways and affordable housing,” she adds. “In particular, we expect policymakers’ heightened efforts with diversifying the funding channel to bring about long-term positive impact to China’s railway investment.” The J.P. Morgan analysts have a positive view on the sector for the balance of 2014, and they are particularly bullish on the prospects for CSR Corp., a China-based provider of rolling stock products and services, assigning the shares an overweight rating. “CSR is a major potential beneficiary of the upcoming rebalancing in the mix of China’s railway spending, as we expect a higher proportion of railway capital expenditures to be allocated to late-cycle trains and equipment,” Li explains. Their HK$8.50 target price represents a 45.5 percent upside to the stock’s late April trading value.

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