Tetsuya Wadaki Nomura
second team Hisashi Moriyama J.P. Morgan
third team Kunihiko Kanno Credit Suisse
Nomura’s Tetsuya Wadaki advances one rung to rule the roost for the first time. “He is hardworking and honest and has developed a variety of resources and channels that are very impressive and useful,” says one buy-side admirer. Wadaki upgraded Nikon Corp. from neutral to buy in October, at ¥1,442, on the belief that it would “profit more than most” from the budding recoveries in its two major businesses: liquid crystal display production equipment and digital single lens reflex cameras. The stock shot up 35.6 percent, to ¥1,955, through February, and outpaced the sector by 20 points. Wadaki, 41, joined Nomura ten years ago, after a stint in business planning and strategy at the Tokyo Electron; he earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies at Waseda University in 1991.
Clients say his ability to “generate alpha” and stay ahead of the pack on “structural changes” at his companies helps Hisashi Moriyama of J.P. Morgan jump from runner-up to second place. Moriyama boosted Advantest Corp. from underweight to overweight in February 2009, at ¥1,353, on the semiconductor testing equipment manufacturer’s efforts to shore up its balance sheet. The stock zoomed to ¥2,111 through February 2010, a gain of 56 percent.
Kunihiko Kanno of Credit Suisse, who repeats in third place, “has strong opinions on his stocks and articulates them clearly,” says one money manager. Kanno took a contrarian stance on Canon in May, upgrading it from neutral to outperform on the strength of rising demand for laser printers. By late February the stock had risen 18.1 percent, compared with the broad market’s 5.6 percent advance.
