Richard Ji & team
Morgan Stanley
Under the direction of Richard Ji, Morgan Stanley’s five-person crew climbs from runner-up to third place. The analysts, who work out of Hong Kong, Mumbai and Sydney, “think ahead of the curve to identify the right catalysts for a company’s growth,” proclaims one buy-side supporter. Internet companies in China are making “hefty investments in their future growth,” the team leader says, “so industry consolidation and mobile Internet development will be the catalysts for China’s Internet stocks over the next one to two years.” Among the ones poised to benefit, the group believes, are Nasdaq Stock Market–listed Sina Corp., a provider of digital content; Tencent Holdings, which offers online advertising and electronic commerce services; and Youku Tudou, a provider of Internet television whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Ji left Morgan Stanley in March to launch his own firm. — Carolyn Koo