The 2013 All-China Research Team: Infrastructure & Transportation, Second: Yue Ding

Deemed “hardworking and brilliant” by one portfolio manager, Yue Ding of China International Capital Corp. notches an impressive second-place debut. The Shanghai-based analyst, whose sector portfolio spans some 30 companies, garners further accolades for her “savvy railway investment forecasts,” as another client puts it. As part of her coverage of that space, Ding maintains independent research channels for monitoring expenditures. In June, when they indicated steadily growing investments in railway projects, she advised clients to buy two Beijing-based infrastructure builders whose shares the market was overlooking, China Railway Construction Corp. and China Railway Group. By the end of October, those stocks had shot up 29.2 percent, to HK$8.50, and 24.8 percent, to HK$4.38, respectively, nearing her target prices. During the same period the sector advanced 16.7 percent. “She has profound knowledge of corporate and government policies and market sentiment,” says a third investor. “We earned a lot following her recommendations.” — Ben Mattlin