< The 2016 All-Japan Research Team

Total appearances: 4

Team debut: 2013

Taking second place, up one slot from last year, is Wakako Sato, who “keeps tabs on her broad and diverse coverage list with laser-like accuracy,” marvels one admirer. The Mizuho Securities Group analyst, 48, is especially applauded for revising her outlook on Shiseido Co. She alerted clients in July to deterioration in the Tokyo-based cosmetics and toiletries maker’s exports to China and lowered her rating on the stock from neutral to underperform. In mid-March, Shiseido was trading at ¥2,461, having lost 18 percent during a period in which the broad Japanese market fell 17.4 percent. “Sato-san’s views are bold and independent,” says another fund manager. Tokyo’s Kao Corp. remains among the researcher’s preferred names. Crediting the strength of its disposable-diapers business, the researcher is encouraging investors to buy shares of the consumer hygiene and household chemicals producer. Her price objective is ¥7,300, representing a possible 25.3 percent premium to the stock’s trading value in mid-March. Although it slipped 3.7 percent during the preceding 12 months, Kao outperformed the wider domestic market by 13.1 percentage points over that period. Sato reports on ten companies, and in the year ahead, she plans more trips throughout Asia to better assess demand trends.