Hiroyuki Okaseri Mitsubishi UFJ
second team Akiko Kuwahara BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Yusuke Ando Daiwa
Hiroyuki Okaseri of Mitsubishi UFJ repeats in first place. “His long-term fundamental information is consistently reliable,” insists one loyalist. Okaseri’s stock picking is less successful, however. In May 2008 he upgraded Oji Paper Co. from neutral to buy, at ¥502, on a likely printing-paper price hike, but the forest-products producer’s shares tumbled to ¥335 that October before rallying to ¥409 last June. That’s when Okaseri, 35, slashed his earnings forecasts and target price, largely on rising fuel and raw-materials costs. But he didn’t downgrade the stock until February, at ¥382, on slowing demand. The stock’s 23.9 percent drop over the period was 1.5 points worse than the sector’s.
In second place for a second year running is Akiko Kuwahara, who left Morgan Stanley in September for BofA. In December, Kuwahara reinitiated coverage on Kuraray Co. with a buy recommendation, at ¥1,112, citing strong growth prospects. The stock climbed 2.5 percent through February, to ¥1,140. “His views are independent and accurate,” asserts one constituent.
Daiwa’s Yusuke Ando repeats at third. Supporters highlight October’s upgrade of Nisshinbo Holdings from neutral to outperform, at ¥844, on an imminent overhaul of the cotton and machine-tools manufacturer’s textiles operations. Through February the stock spun to ¥868, outstripping the sector by 5.1 points. “He’s extremely knowledgeable about individual companies — more of a stock picker than a sectorwide analyst,” opines one client.
