Asia Quantitative Strategy_ Quant Driven Ideas_ Identifying Alpha Opportunities in APxJ in February 2025

Summary of Key Points from the Conference Call Industry Overview - The conference call focuses on the Asia Pacific ex Japan and ex China A-shares market, utilizing a quantitative model named MOST to identify stock opportunities. Core Insights - Quantitative Model MOST: The model ranks stocks based on over 70 quant factors, focusing on quality, value, and sentiment, and employs a market-/sector-neutral methodology [4][12] - Performance Metrics: MOST achieved a 0.5% increase in January 2025 and a cumulative alpha of 19.8% over the past 12 months. The annualized return over the last five years is 12.4% with a hit ratio of 63% [11][17][18] Notable Stock Recommendations Top-Ranked Stocks 1. Hyundai MOBIS (012330.KS): Upgraded to Overweight (OW) due to improved operational outlook and shareholder return plans after two consecutive quarters of earnings beats [5][11] 2. Coforge Ltd (COFO.NS): Maintained OW rating, expected to command a valuation premium due to strong EPS CAGR projections [5][11] Bottom-Ranked Stocks 1. ASX Limited (ASX.AX): Downgraded to Underweight (UW) due to moderating futures revenue growth and lagging domestic capital market recovery [6][11] 2. Avenue Supermarts Ltd (AVEU.NS): Price target lowered and maintained UW rating due to disappointing margins and management commentary raising growth concerns [6][11] Additional Insights - Sector Performance: The report includes a detailed breakdown of stocks with market caps over US$5 billion, categorized by their MOST scores and ratings from industry analysts [12][14] - Quantamental Connect Platform: A service launched to help investors customize their stock screening based on specific criteria, enhancing the integration of quantitative factors into investment processes [22][25] Important Metrics - Performance Metrics for MOST: - Annualized Return: 12.4% - Information Ratio: 1.11x - Max Drawdown: -11% over a 4-month period [8][18] Conclusion - The conference call emphasizes the effectiveness of the MOST model in identifying investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific market, highlighting both promising and underperforming stocks while providing a platform for tailored investment strategies.