Over 500 fixed-income investors have voted in this year’s Asian Local Currency Bond Benchmark Review. Among the most valuable individuals in research, sales and trading in the local currency bond markets, Becky Liu of Standard Chartered, Ferry Lisman of Citi Indonesia, Winson Phoon of Maybank, and Benedict Phua of Standard Chartered have all ranked first in their respective categories over the past five consecutive years.

Liu, who has ranked first in research in Hong Kong since 2017, comes first in this year’s newly created Greater China category. Lisman, the top flow trader in Indonesia at Citi, has ranked first for the past five years. Phoon, based in Singapore, came first in research for Malaysia for the fifth time since 2017. Phua, a dedicated Singapore dollar trader at Standard Chartered, has been the top flow trader in Singapore over the last five consecutive years. They lead 207 others that got top rankings this year.

Respondents of the Asian Local Currency Bond Benchmark Review named over 750 individuals in research, sales and trading. Now in its 22nd year, the review is the longest-running and only review of its kind that tracks the opinions of the buyside sector as to who are the best performers in the local markets in research, sales and trading.

In the pan-Asia category, Kit Wei-Zheng from Citi takes the top honour, the third time he has been ranked as top researcher since 2017. Sonal Varma, an economist from Nomura, is a close second. Nagaraj Kulkarni from Standard Chartered is highly commended as a newcomer.

In sales and trading for pan-Asia, Benedict See-Toh from Standard Chartered remains the top salesperson to be consulted by clients with assets across the region, while Sreedhar Mylavarapu at Nomura ranks second as a newcomer.

Greater China 

As onshore China bonds will be included in the World Government Bond Index (WGBI) of FTSE Russell from this year, foreign investors’ interest in China’s onshore bond market will continue to grow. A Greater China category is created to recognize outstanding sell-side individuals focusing on covering at least two of the following markets: the Taiwan dollar bond market, the Hong Kong dollar bond market, and the onshore and offshore renminbi bond markets.

Apart from Standard Chartered’s Becky Liu who ranks first in this category as mentioned earlier, Tianhe Ji of BNP Paribas, who focuses on covering both the onshore and offshore renminbi bond markets, also ranks on the research side. On the sales and trading side, Leona Lee and Ivan Lam at Bank of China (Hong Kong) have ranked for the past three consecutive years or longer. Jay Hsu from Yuanta Securities in Taiwan have also ranked over the past five consecutive years.

In Indonesia, one of the high-yield markets in the region, Fakhrul Fulvian from Trimegah Sekuritas ranks first in research in the country, successfully challenging the long-standing position of Handy Yunianto from Mandiri Sekuritas, who had ranked first in research since 2017. Ahmad Mikail, an economist from Samuel Sekuritas, is highly commended as a newcomer.

In sales and trading in the rupiah bond market, Theresia Irene Rusli from BNP Paribas and Alfani Rachma from Trimegah Sekuritas are highly commended as salespersons. Prisilia Hidayat at DBS Indonesia ranks as highly commended trader. All three are newcomers.

In India, where competition is keen, Siddharth Kothari from Sunidi and Anubhuti Sahay from Standard Chartered join the ranks of highly commended researchers as newcomers. In sales and trading, the team at ICICI Securities Primary Dealership gains widespread market recognition, with Karan Ahuja ranking second, Sanket Tandon ranking fifth (as a newcomer), and Vikram Swaminathan highly commended (also as a newcomer).

Improved capabilities

In the Philippines, Metrobank is advancing its position, with three of its members gaining recognition for their first time. Marc Bautista, head of research at the bank, ranks as one of the top five researchers, while Ruben Zamora, as rate strategist, is highly commended. In sales and trading, apart from committed salesperson Gabriel Liboro, Samantha Dayrit ranks as one of the top three salespeople as a newcomer.

In Malaysia, another crowded market in the region, AmBank continues to show improved capabilities. Gaining further recognition from clients on the sales and trading side are top salesperson Su Farn Ho and a strong trading team (Akmal Zaid Mansor, Chua Tuan Pey, and Wei Yang Lam). Economist Munesh Nair and head of trading Jamil Baharuddin are highly commended.

In Thailand, Kobsidthi Silpachai at Kasikorn Bank advances from fourth position last year to the top of the list this year. Pipat Luengnaruemitchai at Phatra Securities and Poon Panichpiboon at Krung Thai Bank, both  new to the rankings, are highly commended this year.

Amid the volatility of the baht bond market in the past year, there has been a noticeable “flight to quality”. Danaya Wanitphakdeedecha from TISCO Bank, who has been ranked in previous years, is recognized by investors as this year’s top trader.

Meanwhile, new entrants Tidarat Sappasopit at Krung Thai Bank and Pornpilin Jariyaput at Bangkok Bank are recognized as a highly commended salesperson and one of the top traders in the baht bond market respectively.

The Asian Local Currency Bond Benchmark Review covers 11 markets including China (onshore and offshore), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It has been conducted annually since 2000. It provides a wealth of data on the product needs of investors and the market penetration of banks that are active in local currency bonds. It also provides detailed analysis of investors’ buying behaviour when selecting their counterparties, giving unprecedented access into the minds of investors.

This year, the categorization of ranked individuals has been slightly changed. In previous years, individuals were ranked according to their location. This year, individuals are ranked according to the main local currency bond market(s) that they cover during the survey period.

To view the rankings of the best research, sales and trading individuals in Asian local currency bonds by country, please click here.

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