Taro Ishihara
Daiwa Securities Group
Debuting in third place is Taro Ishihara, who last appeared on the team in 2010, in OTC & Small Companies. The Daiwa Securities Group analyst is “quick to identify and seize opportunities,” proclaims one fan. Adds another: “His best call was to buy broadcasting companies at the very bottom, when the market got confused by temporarily weak monthly data in October.” From that October low through mid-March, the sector bested the Nikkei 225 index by 14.4 percentage points. Ishihara forecasts a rise in TV advertising, with likely beneficiaries being Tokyo-based broadcasters Nippon Television Holdings and TV Asahi Corp., whose “spot sales are becoming better,” he says. Ishihara “is excellent in selecting good companies for investment,” declares a third buy-side aficionado. — Pam Baker