< The 2014 All-China Research TeamSimon CheungGoldman Sachs (Asia)First-place appearances: 3
Total appearances: 5
Analyst debut: 2010After spending three years at No. 1, Simon Cheung of Goldman Sachs (Asia) falls to second place. Despite this drop, the Hong Kong–based researcher is applauded as “one of the first to highlight [state-owned enterprise] restructuring,” as one portfolio manager recalls. Among the 20 Chinese conglomerates that Cheung actively monitors, preferred names include Fosun International, a Shanghai-based private company whose interests include operations in the financial services, mining and pharmaceuticals industries; and Hong Kong’s Tianjin Development Holdings, a cargo handling, consumer products, property development and utilities state-owned enterprise. In January, despite weak commodities prices, he upgraded the former from sell to neutral and reiterated his buy rating on the latter. Fosun was poised to benefit from government incentives to promote private investments in health care, he advised, while Tianjin Development should be bouyed by increased state funding. By late November the stocks had advanced 17.9 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, to HK$8.83 and HK$6.55. The sector declined by 13.3 percent over the same period.