Kumio Tomonaga J.P. Morgan
second team Masafumi Shoda Nomura
third team Taketo Yamate UBS
J.P. Morgan’s Kumio Tomonaga repeats in first place. Clients say the researcher, 46, “consistently gets the big picture right,” and “his stock picks are always based on substantive thinking.” Tomonaga recommended both J. Front Retailing Co. and Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings in March 2009, telling investors that the market consensus was overly pessimistic and the stores’ fundamentals were strong. Good call: The stocks shot up 73.9 and 52.4 percent, respectively, through February. During the same period the sector gained 25.2 percent.
Masafumi Shoda leaps from runner-up to second place. The Nomura analyst moved from bullish to neutral on the sector in September, based on an increasing trend toward deflation. Among the stocks he downgraded was Japan’s largest retailer, Seven & I Holdings Co. Since then the stock mirrored the sector’s 3.3 percent decline, through late February.
In third place for a third year running is Taketo Yamate of UBS, praised by investors for his “deep industry knowledge” and “strong reporting.” In December 2008, Yamate elevated Fast Retailing to top pick, citing strong growth prospects. Through February 2010 the stock surged 37.7 percent.
