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Viju George,
Di (Dick) Wei
& team
J.P. Morgan
"I appreciate the global view of their thematic reports."
J.P. Morgan takes first place for a second consecutive year. Co-led by Mumbai-based Viju George, 36, and Hong Kong–based Di (Dick) Wei, 41 (who also captains a runner-up team in Internet), the five-member crew analyzes 25 companies and plans to take up coverage of two more Indian information technology outfits and one more Indian telecommunications concern this year. The team is cautiously optimistic, projecting that the global offshore IT services sector — which is dominated by Indian names — is likely to show a mild cyclical upturn in 2013, depending on the stability of the developed economies of the U.S. and Europe, changes in discretionary spending by client enterprises and pricing trends in the industry, George says. Preferred picks in this arena include HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services. In late April the shares were trading at 721.05 rupees and Rs1,376.25, respectively, and the analysts believe they will climb to Rs820 and Rs1,575 by late March 2014. “They’ve been helpful in providing company access,” notes one buy-side supporter. — Carolyn Koo