< The 2016 All-Japan Research Team

Total Appearances: 7

Analyst Debut: 2010

Ken Takamiya makes the biggest leap among top-ranked analysts this year, vaulting from runner-up to post his first No. 1 finish. The 46-year-old researcher has reported on Japan’s banks for Nomura since joining the firm in August 2009. He previously covered the same sector at Mizuho Securities Group and Credit Suisse, after tracking financials on the buy side at Nomura Asset Management and working in the capital markets business at Bank of Tokyo (now Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ). Takamiya holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tokyo’s Keio University and an MA from the Open University of Japan in Chiba. Investors value what one money manager deems his “wide coverage of the market and clear understanding of the impact of Bank of Japan policies.” After the central bank introduced negative interest rates late in January, the sector plunged dramatically: It shed 28.1 percent in two weeks, against the domestic broad market’s loss of 14 percent. Takamiya, however, urged clients to keep buying, believing that Japanese bank shares were oversold and that “the impact on consolidated earnings will be only modest.” By the middle of last month, they had rebounded 18.4 percent and were ahead of their domestic peers by 6.3 percentage points. Among the 12 names the analyst covers, one favorite is Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a Tokyo-based commercial lender and asset manager that enjoys stable earnings. Takamiya also is touting Tokyo’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, citing the bank holding company’s strong return on assets, relatively high degree of capital leeway compared with those of megabanks that have been officially designated as globally important, and discounted valuation. ”His investment judgments on the regional banks are an important differentiating factor,” remarks another portfolio manager.