Last year was one of sharp changes for Asian stock markets. While overall they enjoyed their best year since 2003 on the back of the global economic recovery, the first few months of the year were marked by a sharp fall in stock prices, as anxiety over the extent of the US financial crisis gripped investors.

For the region’s best analysts, picking the winners and losers during this roller-coaster ride required in-depth knowledge of the management strategy of the companies they covered and figuring out how myriad factors – from changing macroeconomic conditions to government interventions – would all come together.

To do that, Asia’s top stock pickers and earnings estimators put on their journalist shoes, left their offices and spoke to regulators, economists and executives to get the full picture.