Kenji Yasui UBS

Newcomer Kenji Yasui claims third place. The UBS analyst “is young and brings a fresh eye where most competitors have been saying the same things for years,” attests one backer. However, critics grumble that his stock timing needs work. Yasui downgraded Toshiba Corp. from buy to neutral in April 2011, at ¥389, predicting a slump in sales in the Tokyo-based diversified electronics and industrial equipment manufacturer’s nuclear energy division in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant disaster. In July, after the stock had advanced 5.7 percent, to ¥411, and bested the sector by 1.9 percentage points, he upgraded it to buy, on the belief that fears of the future viability of nuclear power were easing. The stock slid 13.4 percent, to ¥356, through February — but still managed to outperform the sector by 1.3 percentage points.  — Ben Mattlin

RUNNER(S)-UP
- Yoshiharu Izumi J.P. Morgan
- Ikuo Matsuhashi Goldman Sachs Japan Co.
- Takeo Miyamoto Deutsche Securities
- Yukihiko Shimada SMBC Nikko Securities