2016 All-Asia Research Team: Philippines, No. 3: Alfred Dy & team

Alfred Dy & team

CLSA

First-place appearances: 6

Total appearances: 13

Team debut: 2000

Under the supervision ofAlfred Dy, CLSA’s Philippines crew repeats at No. 3. With five analysts in Manila and one in Hong Kong, the team monitors 41 domestic names and plans to expand coverage. In October the researchers highlighted their buy rating on Security Bank Corp., at 141.65 Philippine pesos, pointing to the Manila-headquartered lender’s strong balance sheet and income growth. They began touting the stock in December 2012, primarily on valuation when it was trading at 124.59 pesos, and by late last month it had risen to 169 pesos. Its 35.6 percent gain over the life of the call beat the domestic broad market by 6.3 percentage points. Security Bank has outperformed its peers by 19.1 percentage points since their October reiteration. Dy, 50, ”offers great on-the-ground knowledge and good corporate access,” declares one money manager. Over the near term CLSA’s team is generally optimistic, thanks to rising consumer and infrastructure spending, and expects the Philippine Stock Exchange PSEi Index to reach 7,600 by year’s end. Through late April the benchmark had risen 5 percent year to date, to 7,255.39, following a 4.5 percent decline in 2015.