Holding firm in the top position on this lineup for a fifth straight year is the Citi troupe under the direction of Kam Keung (Oscar) Choi. The 36-year-old leads 11 colleagues who work from offices in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand. Together they track 80 regional property names, and the team plans to initiate coverage on Philippine companies by the end of the year, expanding that number to 85. The sector declined 11 percent over the 12 months through late April, compared with the regional market’s 3.8 percent gain, but Choi and his colleagues believe that clients can find opportunities in this group despite their concerns. “It is hard to remove investors’ macro concerns about sectors such as property, banking and commodities,” he acknowledges, “but the property sector still has surprising growth momentum and is more defensive than expected.” At the end of March, they dubbed China Overseas Land & Investment one of their favorite names. The Hong Kong–based developer’s strong 2013 results — net income rose 23.1 percent, to more than HK$23.04 billion ($2.58 billion), on revenue that jumped 27.7 percent, to HK$82.47 billion — positioned it well to be a powerful consolidator during a downturn. “Oscar has been consistently good in writing timely pieces with takeaways and actionable calls,” cheers one admirer, “and his fundamental analyses have been solid too.” |
The 2014 All-Asia Research Team: Property, No. 1: Kam Keung (Oscar) Choi & team
