SECOND TEAM

Cheng Khoo  Nomura

Nomura’s Cheng Khoo, who holds steady at No. 2 for a second straight year, endears herself to clients with “the kind of deep knowledge that comes only from long experience,” as one benefactor puts it. In May 2010, Khoo upgraded China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec, from neutral to buy, at HK$5.90, anticipating a rise in oil prices. Shares of the Beijing-based petroleum refiner surged to HK$8.75 in early February before retreating to HK$7.82 at the end of April; nonetheless, they advanced 32.5 percent over the life of the call and bested the sector by 5.2 percentage points.