The buy side says: “Her reports are of consistently high quality and give me everything I need.”
Yue (Ally) Ma of Citi, who according to one investor “sends out e-mails that arrive like clockwork once a week, with updates of all the key data,” is No. 1. Ma moved to Citi in 2006 from Lehman Brothers Asia, where she had been a transportation analyst; she earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management in 1998 and a master’s degree in accountancy from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Last July, Ma upgraded Air China from neutral to buy, at HK$3.98, citing increasing demand for air travel. Shares of the Beijing-based carrier soared 97 percent, to HK$7.84, through May. During the same period the sector gained 8.9 percent. She downgraded Beijing Capital International Airport Co. from neutral to sell last August, at HK$5.11, on valuation. The stock slid 16.6 percent, to HK$4.26, through May.
Second Team
Qiang (Richard) Wei UBS
In second place is UBS’s Qiang (Richard) Wei, who “publishes more research than most of his peers and covers domestic Chinese names that a lot of other people neglect,” according to one fund manager. Among the analyst’s winning calls is his March 2009 downgrade from neutral to sell on China Shipping Development Co., at 11.31 yuan, citing earnings pressure. Shares of the shipping conglomerate, which is headquartered in Shanghai, had slowed to 9.25 yuan by late May 2010.
Third Team
Jiong Shao Nomura
Jiong Shao lands in third place; he is also No. 1 in Industrials. The Nomura analyst is “knowledgeable about the industry” and “very responsive,” clients say. In June 2009 the analyst downgraded China Communications Construction Co. from buy to neutral, at HK$10.70, on valuation and what Shao called a “loss of business momentum.” By the end of May, shares of the Beijing-based engineering company had tumbled 38.2 percent, to HK$6.61.
To read the article, click on The 2010 All-China Research Team Rankings Released
View the complete results of the 2010 All-China Research Team Rankings