Fumihide Goto UBS
The buy side says: “He is head and shoulders above the rest.”
Fumihide Goto, 43, rules the roost for a third year running. “His knowledge is comprehensive,” marvels one buy-side supporter. In January the UBS analyst, who follows 16 stocks (unchanged from a year ago), was appointed head of equity strategy for all Japanese technology. He is “independent minded,” observes one portfolio manager, while another appreciates the fact that Goto is “unafraid to reverse his opinions.” Case in point: The analyst reduced Taiyo Yuden Co., a Tokyo-based manufacturer of circuit boards and the developer of the world’s first recordable compact disc, from buy to neutral in August. Goto cited earthquake-related supply delays and declining international demand for computers among his reasons for downgrading the stock. By the end of February, the shares had dropped 9.3 percent, from ¥931 to ¥844, and trailed the sector by 6.3 percentage points. “He has made some really good stock calls this year,” applauds one investor. — Ben Mattlin
