EM Polls and Awards

A fresh set of firms impressed investors and analysts for corporate clarity during one of the most volatile years in financial market history. Their rise came at the expense of traditional favourites in Asiamoney’s annual survey.

Asiamoney presents the results of its Brokers Poll 2009 in full, together with the survey's methodology.

CLSA’s Laurence Balanco, voted best quantitative/ technical analyst in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009, urges investors to reduce equity exposure, saying the roadmap is for a 15% to 20% sell-off in the first quarter of 2010.

Credit Suisse’s head of metals and mining research, Trina Chen, is bullish on China’s steel and cement sectors but warns of a slowdown after the run of infrastructure projects is completed. She wins Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll as best materials analyst for a fourth year in a row.

Inflation is expected to become a factor next year, which would raise bottom-line costs and put the profitability of smaller firms under pressure, says CLSA’s consumer staples analyst Heather Hsu. She believes companies with a more diversified product base are in line to benefit.

Voted the best regional sales trader in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009, Ron Kwok believes there will be a consolidation and a slowdown in prices, but sees that as a healthy development.

CLSA’s Eric Fishwick, named best economist by voters in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009, believes people need to recognise that what we’re seeing now is an inventory cycle, not the start of another investment cycle.

Xiaopo Wei, the CLSA analyst voted top for consumer discretionary research in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009, says his job is to convince investors of fundamental value in difficult times, even if they do not want to listen.

Karen Chan of BoA-Merrill Lynch reflects on a volatile year but favours China and India firms on expectations that regulators will introduce reforms. She wins the inaugural award for best insurance analyst in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009.

Citi energy analyst Graham Cunningham, who regains top spot in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll, notes that Chinese oil companies are trading at a premium to global peers but says they ought to be viewed as China index stocks.

Yi Wang of Goldman Sachs, who was voted best real estate analyst for the first time in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009, says the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions will outperform the rest of the country in terms of price and transaction value.

Goldman Sachs analyst Henry King cites research saying that as macro momentum resumes, hardware benefits most in the tech universe. The winner of best technology hardware and equipment analyst in Asiamoney’s Brokers Poll 2009 is particularly bullish on the computer segment.