Denise Chai
Age: 39
Company: Merrill Lynch
Education and career: BA in anthropology/east Asian studies at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; MA in Chinese area studies from University of London; joined Cazenove as a research analyst in 1998 and appointed director in 2003; moved to Merrill Lynch in 2005 as a senior director; named second overall stockpicker in Asia Pacific in FT/StarMine analyst awards in 2006.

Kenny Lau
Age: 40
Company: Credit Suisse
Education and career: A chartered financial analyst with a Bachelor’s degree in quantitative qnalysis for business from the City University of Hong Kong; joined the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as a research officer in 1991; worked at CLSA, SG, ING Barings and WI Carr covering the small-cap sector from 1994 for a decade; joined Credit Suisse in 2004 and is currently a director and head of small caps research in non-Japan Asia.