Sandy Lee & team
Nomura
Down one level to No. 3 is Sandy Lee’s Nomura squad. “Sandy is fantastic!” proclaims one buy-side admirer. The crew, which consists of five strategists working out of Hong Kong, is advising clients to adopt an earnings-revision strategy. “Investors can earn the best incremental returns when consensus rating revisions are corroborated with earnings-revision signals,” and take into consideration a stock’s upside or downside potential as reflected in consensus target prices, Lee explains. “It is no longer enough to just look at valuations. As our economists expect China’s growth to moderate beyond the first quarter, we expect earnings prospects to become an increasingly important driver for stock performance as we progress through 2013.” Among the names the team identifies as likely outperformers based on this strategy are China’s Geely Automobile Holdings; Galaxy Entertainment Group, a casino operator headquartered in Hong Kong; bicycle and motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj Auto of India; and Indonesia-based cigarette maker Gudang Garam.— Katie Gilbert