In a 12-month period that saw expert-defying events such as Brexit, Trump and a UK hung parliament, have people – as one UK government minister put it – “had enough of experts”? In a post post-truth world, are market analyses still useful?

That must be the lingering thought in the minds of investors. With the profound shifting of the political sands throwing up impossible combinations as perplexing as the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Change Accord and the election of the non-party affiliated Emmanuel Macron as the leader of France, the unexpected is now the norm.

Yet after the initial shock, markets turn tepid – numb from the shock (and the lingering effects of QE) bringing the fear index – the CBOE Volatility Index – to a 23-year low and reflecting little of how the world of investing is facing unprecedented change.

Still, research, sales and trading by the sellside power ahead. The local currency bond markets in Asia have held steady, supported by much stronger macroeconomic fundamentals 20 years since the Asian financial crisis.

This has provided room for a crop of analysts, salespeople and traders to showcase their mettle and shine in the latest leading industry rankings of who's who in Asia's local currency bond markets, compiled by Asset Benchmark Research (ABR).

Standouts this year include Zhiwei Zhang, the chief economist at Deutsche Bank in China, who takes the top spot for research. One portfolio manager says, “A lot of economists dissect the data and just run some simple analysis and draw conclusions. You can see he has better insights about how the policies will be affected by those numbers.”

Patrick Wu, the head of renminbi trading at ANZ ranks first in the trading category for China. He returns after an eight-year hiatus, last recognized by ABR in his role as head of local currency bond trading for Standard Chartered in 2009. “What Patrick has is a lot more insights in explaining the flow, whether it is medium term structural or actually very technical. He demonstrates his understanding of the system itself,” explains a portfolio manager in Hong Kong.

A newcomer to the list in Indonesia is Natalia Suryawidi, in global markets sales at Bank Permata. “She is very responsive and offers me a good price,” a Jakarta-based portfolio manager says. Suryawidi is responsible for financial institution clients including asset managers, insurance companies and pension funds. This is the first time a salesperson from a domestic bank has been ranked in the country since the launch of the awards in 2007, and reflects the competitive push from local players in several Asian countries.

In total a record 117 people in fixed income research, sales and trading, covering eleven local markets in the region have been recognized. Aside from the newcomers, several fixed income veterans have withstood the test of time. This is the tenth year that features Johanna Chua, head of Asia-Pacific Economic and Market Analysis at Citi. She takes first place in the research category for Pan Asia.

In the Philippines, Carlyn Dulay, head of institutional sales in the treasury group at Security Bank in the Philippines tops the list for the sixth consecutive year. “She accommodates my orders in a timely manner,” a buy-side trader in Manila explains.

Saif Kabir, head of India fixed income distribution at Morgan Stanley leads the sales ranking for the second time since he last took the top spot in 2008. “He stands out because of the information sharing and trust that he’s developed over a period of time. You can completely trust him,” says a Mumbai-based fund manager.

The 2017 Asian Local Currency Bond Benchmark Review covers 11 markets including China (onshore and offshore), Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. It has been conducted annually since 2000. It provides a wealth of data on the product needs of investors and the market penetration of the banks that are active in local currency bonds. It also provides detailed analysis on the investors’ buying behaviour when selecting their counterparties, giving unprecedented access into the minds of investors.

To view the rankings of the best research, sales and trading individuals in Asian local currency bonds by country, please click here.

To find out more about Asset Benchmark Research and our work, please click here.

Additional reporting by Jacky Fung and Colleen Tin.