< The 2014 All-Japan Research Team

Shiro Sakamaki & team
Daiwa Securities Group
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 3

Team debut: 2012

Daiwa Securities Group’s Shiro Sakamaki rises one notch to claim the No. 2 position. In a sector with a lot of moving parts, one fund manager relays, this researcher stands out for the “valuable analysis he provides on company margins” and his adroitness at tracking “trends in the prices of raw materials, along with variables such as production volumes or demand.” Sakamaki continues to endorse long-standing favorite Denso Corp., an Aichi-based manufacturer of power train and electronics components. In an October report on the pan-Asian industry, he advised investors that the bright line in China between high-quality but expensive foreign autos and cheaper, inferior domestic vehicles was blurring, catalyzing growth in a “new market for affordable offerings.” Handicapping the suppliers vying to gain market share, he dubbed Denso holder of the “pole position,” ahead of competitors in Europe, Japan and the U.S. The company’s shares leaped 22.6 percent in mid-January before being dragged down in a broad-market correction. But two months later they were still ahead 8.6 percent since October, at ¥5,029, compared with the sector’s 1.9 percent rise over that period. Sakamaki remains bullish, crediting the vendor’s strong earnings potential abroad and at home, and noting in particular that the collapse of the traditional keiretsu relationship between assemblers and suppliers “could support Denso’s growth, as they are well prepared to expand their business to everybody.”