SECOND TEAM
Yongtao Shi
BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research
Yongtao Shi, who was unranked last year, shoots straight in to second place. The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research analyst “displays broader thinking — he doesn’t just think about the product. With coal he understands the importance of railways, transportation and bottlenecks,” declares one money manager. Shi downgraded China Shenhua Energy Co. from buy to neutral in November, at HK$33.05, on concerns that the Chinese government would impose a price ceiling on coal contracts to counter inflation, among other factors. Less than two weeks later, the National Development and Reform Commission capped coal contract prices. By the end of April, shares of the Beijing-based coal mining outfit had advanced to HK$36.25, a 9.7 percent gain that trailed the sector by 3.6 percentage points. In July, Shi pounded the table on Beijing-based cement and cement-making-equipment provider China National Materials Co., at HK$4.89, after returning from a trip to the northwest region of the country, where he noted that cement supplies were “tight” in Gansu, Ningxia and Xinjiang. The stock shot up 57.3 percent, to HK$7.69, and outpaced the sector by 14 points, through April. “I like the way he analyzes stocks,” applauds one fan.