Hiroyuki Sakaida Goldman Sachs Japan Co.

Unranked since 2009, Hiroyuki Sakaida of Goldman Sachs Japan Co. returns to the roster in second place. Sakaida covers 15 companies — 12 utilities and three railways — and is not a fan of electric power company stocks, with one exception: Tokyo-based Electric Power Development Co., commonly known as J-Power. The others in the group “are unattractive long-term investments given the prevailing tail risk raised by the government’s decision not to exempt Tokyo Electric Power Co. from unlimited compensation liability” for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, Sakaida says. He expects short-term performance to be driven by news flow on nuclear plant restarts but does not see the stocks offering sustainable returns. J-Power is an exception in that it has a stable revenue stream as sole operator of the transmission lines linking Japan’s four largest islands. Sakaida is also bullish on natural-gas utilities, which “are free from nuclear-related risks and could benefit from a long-term energy shift to gas.” — Leslie Kramer