The Super Analysis: Conversations with the Worlds Leading Stock Market Investors and Analysis (Traders quest) [Hardcover]

"An extremely worthwhile book. Should be required reading, not only for young equity analysts but also for IR professionals and business managers who have to deal with analysts."

The Super Analysts Conversations with the World′s Leading Stock Market Investors and Analysts The Super Analysts covers the full spectrum of the world′s equities markets and includes interviews with fund managers and analysts from around the globe. This is a book dedicated to understanding how some of the world′s top professionals approach the challenge of making money out of stocks, their methods and philosophies. "In Buddhism, sitting at the feet of the master is well understood as the most effective way to learn. Investment professionals have no such mantra and it is unusual for the "stars" to share their experiences and approaches. In this book, Andrew Leeming has interviewed the world′s leading investors and analysts to understand how they managed to achieve great success. With the spread of publicly available information–in particular via the Internet–adding value, interpreting and utilising this information is critical in the investment process. These interviews allow the reader to benefit from the experiences of experts and will act as a guide which is as effective as sitting at their feet. This book is insightful and an essential read for all interested in investing." – David Robins Chairman & CEO ING Barings "Andrew Leeming has put together a series of great in–depth interviews with a wide gamut of investors that pose intelligent questions and get intelligent answers. It′s a great and easy read for anyone seriously interested in how stock market professionals work day in and day out." – Rob Ferguson Chairman BT Funds Management "In this day of all–star research teams, when short–term performance is sometimes carried to irrational extremes, it′s refreshing to hear that some of the best stock–pickers think success boils down to such fundamental issues as discipline, a healthy dose of skepticism.and humility! If you′re thinking of a career in financial services, a manager trying to deal with the market′s insatiable appetite for information, or, just an average investor, there′s a gold mine of common sense in these insightful interviews." – John T. Olds Vice–Chairman and CEO DBS Group Holdings Ltd

"The role of the analyst has expanded dramatically over the past decade. In view of the explosive growth in real–time information, this book demonstrates that the leading analysts and investors today excel by bringing order to chaos through differentiated frameworks, industry expertise, and iogical investment conclusions. The often controversial insights of the leading analysts of today are catalysts that empower change – frequently altering the development and direction of key global industries." – Allen D. Wheat Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer Credit Suisse First Boston This is a book dedicated to understanding how some of the world′s top professionals approach the challenge of making money out of stocks and should appeal to anyone with an interest in the equity markets, and who wants to understand the methods and philosophies used by some of the world′s top professional analysts and fund managers. The Super Analysts covers the full spectrum of the world′s equities markets. Andrew Leeming, who heads the number one rated ING Barings Asian banking team (Greenwich survey), speaks with fund managers and analysts from around the globe and seeks answers to questions such as: What is the most important criteria when it comes to investing in any company? What is the best way to value an Internet or New Economy stock? What is it that separates the great stockmarket investors from the crowd? The reader will be taken into some of the world′s largest investment banks and mutual funds and obtain rare insights into what it takes to be a successful investor. This is a book that is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the equity markets or who is considering a career as a professional analyst or fund manager.

The Super Analysts Conversations with the World′s Leading Stock Market Investors and Analysts The Super Analysts covers the full spectrum of the world′s equities markets and includes interviews with fund managers and analysts from around the globe. This is a book dedicated to understanding how some of the world′s top professionals approach the challenge of making money out of stocks, their methods and philosophies. "In Buddhism, sitting at the feet of the master is well understood as the most effective way to learn. Investment professionals have no such mantra and it is unusual for the "stars" to share their experiences and approaches. In this book, Andrew Leeming has interviewed the world′s leading investors and analysts to understand how they managed to achieve great success. With the spread of publicly available information–in particular via the Internet–adding value, interpreting and utilising this information is critical in the investment process. These interviews allow the reader to benefit from the experiences of experts and will act as a guide which is as effective as sitting at their feet. This book is insightful and an essential read for all interested in investing." – David Robins Chairman & CEO ING Barings "Andrew Leeming has put together a series of great in–depth interviews with a wide gamut of investors that pose intelligent questions and get intelligent answers. It′s a great and easy read for anyone seriously interested in how stock market professionals work day in and day out." – Rob Ferguson Chairman BT Funds Management "In this day of all–star research teams, when short–term performance is sometimes carried to irrational extremes, it′s refreshing to hear that some of the best stock–pickers think success boils down to such fundamental issues as discipline, a healthy dose of skepticism.and humility! If you′re thinking of a career in financial services, a manager trying to deal with the market′s insatiable appetite for information, or, just an average investor, there′s a gold mine of common sense in these insightful interviews." – John T. Olds Vice–Chairman and CEO DBS Group Holdings Ltd

ANDREW LEEMING is a Managing Director at ING Barings and is head of regional banking research for Asia (ex Japan). He is also the coordinator for all of ING Barings worldwide banking research. Based in Singapore, Andrew Leeming has over 18 years finance industry experience both as a banker and equity analyst. He is currently head of the region′s number one banking team (Greenwich survey of UK investors) and among the top five of all Asian equity analysts (Reuters survey). He is also rated as the region′s number two banking analyst by Asiamoney. Prior to working in Asia he worked for Bankers Trust Australia Ltd for just under three years, and over that period covered banking, transportation, and gaming stocks. Andrew Leeming graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney, with a Bachelor of Business degree, and holds a Master of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. He is also the author of Bank Equity Analysis Demystified which is due to be published next year by John Wiley & Sons.

Stuart Baker: All that Glitters is not Gold

"Treat them all as liars and crooks until proven otherwise."

Stuart Baker is one of Australia's top-rated and most experienced oil analysts. He spent the first eight-and-a-half years of his career working mainly for Schlumberger on oil platforms throughout Southeast Asia and then left the oil industry in 1985 to study for an MBA. Like many analysts, Baker just fell into stockbroking and after a fairly tentative start at the boutique stockbroker EL&C Baillieu, he eventually went on to head the highly rated mining team at BT Alex. Brown for just under six years, where he was also rated as the industry's number one oil analyst. Following the acquisition of Bankers Trust by Deutsche Bank in 1999, Baker joined Macquarie Bank, Australia's leading investment bank, as head of the mining research team.

How did you get started in this business?

By accident, really. Which is probably the way most people get into this business. I knew something about the broking industry from when I was working in the oil industry. I had a stockbroker I used to deal with who I thought was a god and a guru - until I subsequently learnt that retail brokers aren't much different from used-car salesmen. They know little other than what's on the piece of paper they're reading from. Thankfully, that's changed now. But they had an oil analyst and he used to ring me after I had finished speaking to their retail advisor. In other words, he thought: "Here's a guy in the field who might have some mail:" I would happily tell the analyst what I thought was happening on the rig, and he used to get some snippets that he would use in his research for his institutional clients. That was in the early 1980s. That's how research was put together then - in the days before spreadsheets, the analyst would talk to real people in the field.

After I left the oil industry in 1985, I did an MBA. I did it because the oil industry was collapsing rapidly. I hadn't known this when I was working in the jungles; I only really discovered it when I returned to civilization. Maybe the industry collapsed because I left, or maybe I left because it had collapsed - I'm not quite sure which came first, but it forced a change of direction; there was no going back to the oil patch. I had no idea about what to do, so I did the MBA because some friends of mine had done it and recommended it. During the next two years, doors opened up that I wouldn't have thought about. Life is like that; things happen over time, and there are events you can't foresee or plan for.

You qualified as an electrical engineer first?

Yes.

When did you finish that?

In 1977.

And then you worked on oil rigs and oil platforms - that sort of thing?

Yes, between 1977 and 1985. Thanks to OPEC, which had tripled the price of oil, the industry was booming.

And then you decided to get into stockbroking because you figured ...

Well, not really. What happened was, I was living in Asia and just about to turn thirty. I had made a lot of money, but I'd been living out of a suitcase. One year here, one year there, starting in Sorong in the extreme west of Irian Jaya. It's the first bit of mangrove you hit after flying directly east from Jakarta for three-and-a-half hours. Basically, I had worked in the jungles: Balikpapan in Borneo, Java, Sumatra, India, Papua New Guinea. And I'd had a gutful of moving around the world, and I'd often promised myself that the day I stopped enjoying the job would be the day I would quit. Well, you know how it is - there are always days when your job isn't enjoyable, but you hope tomorrow will be better. By October 1985, though, I'd had enough. I had been working for an extended period in the highlands of PNG. It was cold and wet - it rained eighteen hours every day. I got really sick of getting wet just walking to and from the shower block. I rang the boss in Sydney, who made serious efforts to keep me by offering me other assignments in the Middle East. Less rain there, I suppose!

The first thing I did after leaving PNG was return to Australia with the aim of walking into a cozy job in air-conditioned comfort with one of the local oil companies. But the oil price was going down we're talking October 1985 here. It had fallen from US$30/bbl the year before to the low teens. The companies I wrote to - BHP, Woodside, Esso, etc. - were all putting staff off, so there was really nothing going in the industry. So I enrolled in an MBA course because I had few other options at that time. Going back to college would give me something to do to fill in time. It was either an MBA or a Master of Science, and I thought, "Well I'll do the MBA thing because a few of my mates from Schlumberger' had done the course and recommended it:' I had no real idea where it would lead. It may sound like a stupid thing to do, to just up and leave a successful career with no real plan for the future, but years of working for Schlumberger in the oil industry imbue one with confidence, arrogance, and money The world was just waiting for me!