SECOND TEAM
Yuta Sakurai Nomura Securities Co.
Yuta Sakurai vaults from runner-up all the way to second place. The Nomura Securities Co. researcher is hailed for “long-term, forward thinking” by one money manager. Sakurai tapped Sankyo Co. as a top pick back in January 2009, and he has stood by the recommendation ever since, citing the Gunma-based company’s growing base of online-game subscribers and expanding product line. For the 12 months through February, the stock was up 7.8 percent, from ¥4,290 to ¥4,625, and bested the sector by 9.7 percentage points.
Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.