Huaxiang (Edward) Xu & team Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley falls from first place to third. The Hong Kong– and Singapore-based trio is led this year by newcomer Huaxiang (Edward) Xu, who also pilots a runner-up team in Infrastructure. The analysts are bullish on container shippers and dubbed China Shipping Container Lines their top pick in the subsector, largely on the strength of the Shanghai-based company’s “exposure to Asian-European and trans-Pacific long-haul routes, with upside from further rate hikes,” Xu says. The team is also positive on airports and ports, “given their highly defensive business nature with very little exposure to oil price fluctuations,” he explains. Recommended companies include Beijing Capital International Airport Co., because of “the secular trend of robust nonaeronautical revenue growth, driven by sustained consumption demand and the superhub position of the airport,” he adds, and Daqin Railway Co., “for its strong leadership in China’s railway industry and highly stable operating cash flows.” Xu “writes often, keeping me in the loop and up to date with data — and I trust him to not massage the numbers,” declares one backer. — Paul Sweeney