Melvyn Boey, Billy Ng & team Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Vaulting from runner-up to second place is the Bank of America Merrill Lynch quintet piloted by Melvyn Boey and Billy Ng. Newcomer Boey, who is headquartered in Singapore, also helms the team rated the best at covering that market (in addition to directing runner-up teams in Indonesia and Malaysia); Hong Kong–based Ng also co-leads the top-ranked team in Conglomerates. The analysts win praise for their “in-depth knowledge of the gaming sector and strong relationships with corporates,” as one money manager puts it. They are bullish on gaming companies, “in particular the Macau names,” says Ng. Those companies rose 19.8 percent, on average, last year and outperformed the broad market by almost 40 percentage points, he notes. “We believe the positive trend will continue this year and expect Macau will grow 17 percent, with the sector offering a good combination of solid growth outlook, undemanding valuation and strong free cash flow, resulting in good dividend yields for some key operators.” — ­Leslie Kramer