Daisaku Masuno Nomura
second team Makio Inui UBS
third team Hironobu Sawake J.P. Morgan
Holding on to the top spot for a second straight year is Nomura’s Daisaku Masuno, 45. “His consistently calm and data-oriented analysis stands out from his peers’,” observes one money manager. Clients continue to applaud Masuno’s buy recommendation on SoftBank Corp., first recommended in October 2008 and reinforced repeatedly since on improving earnings from the company’s fast-growing Chinese Internet business. The stock catapulted 103.8 percent in the 12 months through February, blasting past the sector by a whopping 95.5 points.
Makio Inui of UBS rises one rung to second place. “His reports are often about longer-term themes in the industry rather than just maintenance research on individual company earnings,” explains one buy-side enthusiast. Inui had also recommended SoftBank in October 2008, but he downgraded the stock in January 2010, as fully valued at ¥2,381. By late February the shares had dipped 2.3 percent, to ¥2,327.
Hironobu Sawake drops one notch to third place. The J.P. Morgan analyst offers “deep insight into the sector, backed by his many years of experience there,” as one fund manager puts it. Throughout the past year, Sawake emphasized his buy on Internet Initiative Japan, first recommended in 2008, telling investors that “the company will achieve high profit growth over the medium term.” In the 12 months through February, the stock soared 113.6 percent.
