Shinsuke Iwasa UBS The buy side says: “Iwasa-san is smart and hardworking.”
Shinsuke Iwasa captures the top spot for a third consecutive year — and for the fourth time in five years. “The sector was very unpopular last year, with poor earnings momentum and problematic corporate governance,” recalls one portfolio manager. “But while many other analysts just gave up on it, Iwasa-san kept knocking on the door — and caught the bottom of the cycle in late 2010.” Iwasa, 38, urged investors to buy Dentsu in November, at ¥2,056, making the case that the Tokyo-based advertising, marketing and public relations agency would benefit from a surge in spending on advertising. In late January, after the stock bolted 27.8 percent, to ¥2,628, and blew past the sector by 12.7 percentage points, he downgraded it to hold, largely on valuation. Good call. By the end of February, ad spending had begun to slow and Dentsu’s shares had slipped 1.2 percent, to ¥2,596, lagging the sector by 2.3 points.
Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.