Industries – Machinery: First

Japanese machinery stocks, like the country’s broad market, have been on a roller coaster lately, plunging 14.2 percent in the first eight months of 2010, then rallying 35.6 percent through February 2011.

Katsushi Saito Nomura Securities Co. The buy side says: “He is gritty and highly capable.”

Japanese machinery stocks, like the country’s broad market, have been on a roller coaster lately, plunging 14.2 percent in the first eight months of 2010, then rallying 35.6 percent through February 2011. Yet throughout the ups and downs, Katsushi Saito of Nomura Securities Co. managed to stay the course, boost his clients’ returns and retain his hold on the top spot for a second straight year — and for the ninth time in 12 years. Among the stocks Saito, 45, has stood by is Komatsu, first upgraded from neutral to buy way back in June 2009, at ¥1,452, and highlighted repeatedly since, on the Tokyo-based construction and mining equipment provider’s ballooning sales in China and other emerging markets. By the end of February 2011, the stock had skyrocketed 71.8 percent, to ¥2,495, and outstripped the sector by 38.6 percentage points. Saito’s “broad, pan-Asian knowledge is a key strength,” marvels one pleased devotee. “With his deep knowledge of the Japanese machinery industry, he covers a wide range of companies in the sector, including small- and midcap stocks, and his investment recommendations have been right!”

Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.

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