< The 2014 All-Japan Research Team

Tomohiro Araki & team
Nomura
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 5

Team debut: 2010

For a third year running, Tomohiro Araki of Nomura captures second place. Praised for being “honest in expressing his own views, particularly of managements,” as one wealth manager puts it, Araki reports on 26 Japanese real estate investment trusts and hopes to cover more in the future. One name he has added to his coverage universe over the past year is Nippon Prologis REIT, which invests primarily in logistics facilities. In late July the researcher informed clients that leasing rates were rising for the Tokyo-based firm and that its cash flow was stable, so he advised buying the stock. He still recommends it, citing Nippon Prologis’s creditworthiness and pipeline of property acquisitions. Through mid-March the shares jumped 19.9 percent, on a split-adjusted basis, to ¥204,300, compared with the sector’s 3.4 percent rise. Araki is perhaps best known for his contacts. “He has good working relationships with not only corporate managements but also the Bank of Japan, Tokyo Stock Exchange, Ministry of Finance and other political and economic sources,” reports one buy-side counterpart, “making him a wealth of value-added information.”