Nathan Ramler & team
Macquarie Capital Securities
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 1

Team debut: 2014

Scoring an impressive second-place debut on this lineup, Macquarie Capital Securities fields a squad of ten analysts tracking the region’s telecommunications companies under the direction of Tokyo-based newcomer Nathan Ramler. “They have great insights into the Asian operators and have a strong team in Southeast Asia,” notes one buy-side supporter. The team, whose other members are scattered throughout the region, is recommending names with solid and improving fundamentals, sustained earnings delivery and good dividend yields. In general, the researchers favor companies that are leveraging their exposure to the mobile-data story to drive growth. They especially like China Telecom Corp., for its earnings trajectory and valuation and management’s reliable track record in executing business strategies; Indonesia’s Indosat, on improving momentum within the data segment, an attractive valuation and their positive view on Indonesian telecoms overall; and South Korea’s SK Telecom Co., forecasting growth from the widening spread between strong expansion in average revenue per user and stabilized marketing costs and noting that it has the largest number of non-fourth-generation wireless subscribers that could migrate to the higher-speed technology. The group has assigned respective target prices of HK$4.80, 6,850 rupiah and 280,000 won, well above the shares’ late April values of HK$3.51, 3,910 rupiah and 204,500 won.