Raymond Maguire & team
UBS
First-place appearances: 4

Total appearances: 18

Team debut: 1994

Bangkok-based Raymond Maguire and his UBS colleagues reclaim the third slot after a year at runner-up. The team includes four other researchers who work out of Bangkok, plus two in Hong Kong and one in Singapore. Together they actively monitor 40 Thai stocks and intend to add ten or so more in the coming year. These analysts “were not afraid to turn from cautious to bullish at the start of the year,” insists one portfolio manager, “which proved wise and demonstrates their flexibility and maturity.” For example, in January they boosted Advanced Info Service, a Bangkok-based mobile phone services provider, from neutral to buy. The company was enjoying stable pricing as well as margin expansion from the escalating transition to third-generation service, they advised — and at 206 baht, its stock was cheap. Advanced Info’s shares had risen to 242 baht by late April, outstripping Thailand’s broad market by 8.2 percentage points. Maguire’s UBS crew believes a price of 252 baht is justified.