Tomohiro Araki
Nomura Securities Co.
Nomura Securities Co.’s Tomohiro Araki, who repeats at No. 2, publishes ratings on 22 companies — and his list is growing. In July he launched coverage on Tokyo’s Activia Properties with a valuation-based buy rating, at ¥461,500, citing the Japanese real estate investment trust’s growing commercial and retail property portfolio, thanks in part to its partnership with local real estate manager Tokyu Land Corp. Activia’s shares rocketed 86.6 percent, to ¥861,000, and outstripped the sector by 21.5 percentage points, through mid-March. “Araki’s credit analyses set him apart, given that access to capital is critical to J-REITs,” asserts one grateful London-based portfolio manager. Araki says he traveled outside Japan 14 times last year to “exchange views with many overseas investors.” — Ben Mattlin