< The 2015 All-Asia Research TeamHoy Kit Mak & teamJ.P. MorganFirst-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 20

Team debut: 1994For a fourth year running, Kuala Lumpur–based Hoy Kit Mak, 41, leads his J.P. Morgan crew to the No. 2 position on this lineup. The nine analysts are stationed in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, and together they monitor 46 names in this sector, three fewer than a year ago. They continue to maintain an underweight position on domestic equities, which lagged the regional market by 17.7 percentage points during the 12 months through April, slipping 3.9 percent. Low energy prices are inhibiting performance in Malaysia, a net exporter of oil and gas, the researchers note, as are government belt-tightening and weak consumer sentiment. Nevertheless, they are sticking with their overweight rating on shares of Kuala Lumpur–based Tenaga Nasional. In November 2013 Mak and his colleagues dubbed the power distributor a likely outperformer, believing that potential tariff reform would boost performance. They were right. To help companies offset costs, the government hiked electricity tariffs in 2014, and last month Tenaga’s management announced that year-over-year earnings for the six months through February increased by 29.4 percent, to 4.51 billion ringgit ($1.25 billion), on a 10.5 percent jump in revenue, to 21.64 billion ringgit. The stock had surged 52.8 percent by the end of April, to 14.36 ringgit, while the domestic market lost 2.2 percent. J.P. Morgan’s researchers remain upbeat, citing solid volume growth, and foresee a further rise to 17.70 ringgit. “Mak is a straight shooter with intelligent insights,” cheers one fan.