SECOND TEAM
Rajeev Malik CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets
Dubbed by one grateful client “a fantastic analyst with solid experience,” Rajeev Malik of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets makes the second team. Malik, who is based in Singapore, scores points for a November report, “Attracting Capital: Financing India’s Acceleration,” which examined the ballooning inflows of foreign capital — $28.6 billion, net, in the first ten months of 2010, according to the Securities and Exchange Board of India — despite the lack of sovereign bonds denominated in foreign currencies. The analyst concluded that the country’s recent rapid growth was largely funded not by government expenditures but rather by private capital, which in turn attracted more foreign inflows. He noted, however, that “a high dependence on foreign capital can sometimes make the economy vulnerable to a reversal in capital flows.” Corruption scandals and doubts about the central bank’s ability to curb inflation slowed net inflows beginning late last year; the benchmark Bombay Stock Exchange sensitive index, or Sensex, tumbled 11.9 percent from its November high, through May. “Rajeev connects the dots between macro events and the domestic economy,” marvels one enthusiast.