< The 2015 All-Japan Research Team

Total appearances: 17

Analyst debut: 1998

A runner-up last year, Fumihide Goto captures the No. 2 position on this list, marking his best showing since 2012, when he claimed first place on behalf of UBS. He moved to Mizuho Securities Group that November and slipped from the ranking the following year. Investors appreciate the researcher’s “solid electronics food chain analyses,” as one fund manager puts it. His “great long-term view of the sector” wins praise from another supporter. Lately, Goto has been touting the importance of the automobile industry as a growth area for Japan’s electronic components makers. Smartphones, long an end market for these manufacturers, are ubiquitous now, he notes, even in such developing markets as China, where the penetration rate has increased dramatically during the past two years. For autos, however, new fuel efficiency standards and active safety systems present new opportunities, he explains. Companies the analyst deems best positioned to take advantage of this business are electric-motor manufacturers Mabuchi Motor Co. of Chiba and Tokyo-based Nidec Corp.; and Aichi’s NGK Spark Plug Co., whose products include components for use in internal combustion engines as well as ceramics. In addition, despite declining smartphone demand, Goto also favors Tokyo-headquartered Alps Electric Co. because it develops actuators that facilitate optical image stabilization in smartphone cameras. “Currently, even Chinese smartphones are trying to have a high-functioning camera,” notes Goto, 46.