The 2014 All-Japan Research Team: Insurance & Other Nonbank Financials, No. 2: Koichi Niwa

Rising from No. 3 is SMBC Nikko Securities researcher Koichi Niwa, whose second-place showing is his best to date. Among the 40 companies under his watch, two Tokyo-based names that operate in overlapping segments of the broader sector win Niwa’s favor: Daiwa Securities Group, an asset manager, broker and underwriter; and NKSJ Holdings, which provides nonlife insurance and asset management services. He upgraded Daiwa from neutral to outperform in February 2013 because management’s cost-cutting measures were boosting profits, the analyst recalls. The shares subsequently jumped 54.8 percent, to close at ¥884 in the middle of last month, pacing their peer group by 20.8 percentage points. Regarding NKSJ, in June he judged the company’s successful increase in auto-insurance premiums as a sign of earnings growth to come so elevated the stock to buy from neutral, at ¥2,187. By mid-March it had traded up to ¥2,448. “Niwa takes the long view,” reports one fund manager, “which suits our investment style.”