Masayuki Onozuka
J.P. Morgan
In second place for a third year running is Masayuki Onozuka of J.P. Morgan. Large pharmaceuticals companies are entering an earnings-recovery phase, the analyst notes, and medical technology outfits are showing strong profit growth. “These trends are encouraging investors to add more stakes to defensive health care in spite of a bull market,” Onozuka says. Plus, “strong health care demand in emerging markets will remain unchanged, so I expect steady earnings and share price movement in the sector.” However, he believes, that could change later this year. The analyst’s “long-term point of view and strong belief in his own story for his coverage companies make him unique,” observes one money manager. Adds another: “We value Onozuka-san’s ability to identify long-term outperforming stocks like Miraca Holdings.” Shares of the Tokyo-based provider of diagnostic and laboratory testing services shot up 55 percent, from ¥3,125 to ¥4,845, and bested the sector by 17.8 percentage points in the 12 months through mid-March. — Leslie Kramer