Kenny Lau & team Credit Suisse

Deemed “one of the best small-cap analysts around” by one buy-side supporter, Kenny Lau pilots the nine-strong Credit Suisse squad to second place for a second year running. Small companies are now in a consolidation phase, the Hong Kong–based team believes, so the researchers are recommending key players in export-driven markets. Top picks include two Taiwanese outfits — Evergreen Marine Corp., a container ship operator, and Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp., a supplier of backlights for liquid-crystal-display screens — “as we are expecting more pent-up demand from Europe later this year,” Lau says. Chinese companies the analysts favor include names in what the team leader calls the “bombed-out” consumer discretionary sector. One example: sportswear manufacturer Li Ning Co., in anticipation of sales growth in the second half of the year. — ­Carolyn Koo