Anxiety gripped global markets when Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. But a year on, despite the U.S. President’s game-changing policies, much of the Asia-Pacific region appears to have insulated itself from the shocks, with businesses and economies changing tactics to rely less on the U.S.
Banking and financial services once again dominate the latest statistical ranking of 500 of the region’s best companies conducted by TIME and Statista, which assesses firms using three key metrics: employee satisfaction, revenue growth, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) evaluations. While 2025 started rocky with Trump’s tariff war, the Asia-Pacific region stabilized towards the yearend, says Daniel Kritenbrink, formerly U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and now partner at The Asia Group. “Compared to earlier in 2025, most businesses face a slightly more clear, stable, and certain business environment that they can plan around,” he says.
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Methodology: How TIME and Statista Determined Asia-Pacific’s Best Companies of 2026
Of this cohort’s top 10, five are from the banking sector, with Singapore’s DBS Bank keeping the top spot from last year, followed by Australia’s Commonwealth Bank. Both firms reported profitability—despite the volatile macroeconomic environment—and wide adoptions of AI in their practices. Rounding out the top 10 is the Philippines’ Bank of the Philippine Islands, the country’s best-performing company on the list.
The financial sector has a rosy outlook for 2026, says Taimur Baig, chief economist and managing director at DBS Bank, signaled by initial public offerings from Hong Kong and Singapore reviving moribund regional capital markets, and rallying bank stocks. “There’s an expectation of equity capital markets catching tailwind,” Baig says. He expects market confidence will increase, allowing companies to take higher risks—including in the artificial intelligence sector—which means more business for banks.
The automotive industry, a victim of Trump’s aggressive tariffs, survived through persistent EV demand. Toyota—which retained its world’s top-selling automaker status this year thanks to strong U.S. sales of hybrid vehicles—ranked third in the list, followed by Hyundai (no. 8) and Honda (no. 12). Chinese companies Xiaomi (no. 23), BYD (no. 43), and Geely (no. 60)—also known for their EV offerings—similarly made the cut. Xiaomi is China’s best-performing business this year, as the second-largest economy faces ongoing domestic struggles in automotive sales, and its overproduction is spilling into other nations.
The insurance, healthcare, and social services sector also performed well, and are projected to sustain expansion, with the Asia-Pacific region anticipated to boost global life insurance premium volumes. The list includes Australia’s QBE Insurance Group (no. 7), AIA Group in Hong Kong (no. 15), and SBI Life Insurance from India (no.19).
Region-specific growths are also evident: of the top 10 companies, four are from Australia, whose sluggish economy slightly recovered in 2025. Alicia García-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French financial services firm Natixis, says that Australia “delivered consistency rather than fireworks” with its strong financials and its cornerstone mining industry. She also points to select strengths in the pharmaceutical, medical technology, and consumer goods sectors; Australia’s largest retailer of consumer goods, Woolworths, ranks sixth in the list.
Zooming out, however, Indian firms form the lion’s share, taking up 179 spots in the list. But García-Herrero notes that India shining as a “bright spot” on the market does not necessarily indicate outstanding performance. The country saw periods of high volatility, with foreign investment outflow amid a weak rupee and tariffs, though India still managed to pull regional economic forecasts upward due to robust domestic consumption.
India is expected to edge out Japan in the race for the world’s fourth-largest economy title, but the two nations ramped up their economic partnership last year, focusing on the semiconductor, clean energy, critical minerals, and information and communications technology sectors. Three Japanese companies on the list—Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (no. 4), Mizuho Financial Group (no. 17), and MUFG (no. 52)—have also expanded into India’s financial services, betting on the South Asian market’s rapid growth. Overall, recalibration became the year’s business buzzword for Asia-Pacific, and with Trump thrusting the world into more uncertainty, players in the region sought solutions in bilateral and multilateral cooperation beyond the U.S.
Methodology: How TIME and Statista Determined Asia-Pacific’s Best Companies of 2026
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