With most Asia stock markets performing strongly last year, spotting the companies that would outrun the bull market was not always easy. But the following five analysts did manage to do so. They were the top five stockpickers of the year in the 2006 Financial Times/StarMine Asian awards. Here are their main calls for last year and the year ahead:

● Ingrid Wei. The UBS transport analyst outperformed her industry benchmark by 29.3 per cent last year. For this year, Ms Wei said she is bullish on China’s port industry. She is particularly optimistic on port operators China Merchants Holdings and Dalian Port, as well as Tianjin Development Holdings, the investment arm of the municipal government.