Nearly a year and a half after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, one word has best summed up the equity markets of Asia: resiliency.
“Since June, markets across Asia have proved resilient to swings in capital flows and have taken an especially long‐term focus, not just looking through Covid‐related challenges but also anticipating secular change in themes such as decarbonization and the impact of digital technologies across industries,” according to William Greene, head of Asia research at Morgan Stanley.
After a period of substantial uncertainty, the markets surprised everyone with the sustained bounce seen over the course of 2020 and into 2021, with indices up more than 30 percent year-over-year, and up 60 to 80 percent from the lows, according to Martin Yule, head of Asia-Pacific research at UBS.
“Perhaps more illustrative is the 20 to 30 percent move of most Asia indices from pre-Covid levels, despite the economic headwinds created by the virus,” he added. “Accommodative monetary policy is a major influence, but so is the belief that vaccinations will quickly return life to normal. Suffice it to say, the world was at a far more optimistic point for this year’s survey than it was last year.”
It would appear that this staying power applies to the region’s top equity research providers as well, according to Institutional Investor’s 28th annual All-Asia Research Team...
To select the members of our 28th annual All-Asia Research Team, Institutional Investor solicited the opinions of portfolio managers and analysts at institutions with major securities holdings in Asia (ex-Japan). We received responses from some 3,800 investment professionals at over 1,200 institutions.
Participants first rated their top firms in each sector on a scale from 1-5, and then separately rated individual analysts or economists/strategists at those firms to create two distinct results for each sector. A numerical score was produced by weighting each vote based on both the respondent’s Asia ex-Japan equity commissions and their average rating.
The same scores were weighted by each voting firm’s Asian ex-Japan equity assets under management to produce the AUM-weighted rankings.
Using those scores, ranks were then determined. Firms/analysts were designated runners‐up when their scores came within 35 percent of the third-place scores.
The individuals surveyed are kept confidential to ensure continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count.