Scott Seo & team
J.P. Morgan
First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 19

Team debut: 1994

After three years as a runner-up, J.P. Morgan vaults to No. 2, a position on this lineup the firm most recently captured in 2008. Seoul-based Scott Seo directs a squad of 12 analysts spread across Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Taiwan and Tokyo. Clients credit them with providing “outstanding stock recommendations,” as one money manager puts it. Moreover, another booster asserts, “their scope is broad, and their analyses in-depth.” The team plans to expand its sector portfolio, which currently stands at 85 South Korean names, Seo reports. Among the companies the analysts added last year are Hotel Shilla Co., a Seoul-based hotel operator and retailer; and Naver Corp., an Internet portal developer that is headquartered in Gyeonggi. Shilla captured their attention in July, thanks to its strong position in relation to improving consumer trends. They initiated coverage with a buy rating, and through late April the stock jumped 29 percent, to 82,000 South Korean won. Over the same period the nation’s broad market gained 7.8 percent. In October, citing their confidence in the prospects for Naver’s mobile messaging application, the researchers added the name to their buy list. As of late April its shares had leaped 18.5 percent, rising to 748,000 won, and bested the country’s broad market by 22.3 percentage points.