< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total Appearances: 13

Team Debut: 1997

Repeating in second place is Morgan Stanley, whose regional semiconductors coverage is now directed by Shawn Kim, a newcomer to this roster but a familiar presence on the Taiwan lineup — he leads a crew to its second straight No. 2 there, as well. His predecessor in this sector, Chia Ao (Bill) Lu, jumped to UBS in April. Working from Seoul and Taipei, this team’s three analysts report on more than 30 regional names, winning praise from one portfolio manager for “doing thorough research on the global value chain, which is essential to calling the sector correctly.” They are convinced that semiconductors industry growth this year looks unlikely, forecasting that 2016 will be the second consecutive year of zero to minimal gains. “This reflects a reasonably well-understood weakness in vertical markets, such as PCs and smartphones, along with a generally weak purchasing environment globally year to date,” explains Kim, 47. At the same time, he adds, they don’t expect year-over-year declines in the PC and smartphone verticals to “worsen from here, and the macroeconomic data could indicate better relative stability.” Against this backdrop the Morgan Stanley researchers prefer company-specific stories over beneficiaries of demand trends. Favorite examples include South Korea’s LG Display Co. and SK Hynix, as well as Taiwan-based Himax Technologies, Silicon Motion Technology Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Before joining the firm in 2002, Kim was a technology analyst and strategist at Goldman Sachs (Asia). He earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Boston College.