Daiki Takayama Goldman Sachs Japan Co.

Ater two years in third place, Daiki Takayama of Goldman Sachs Japan Co. advances to second. “He’s independent minded and sticks to his guns,” insists one ally. Case in point: Takayama maintained a buy rating on Nidec Corp., a manufacturer of disk-drive motors, even when massive flooding last fall in Thailand threatened many of the Kyoto-based concern’s factories. When the share price fell as low as ¥5,820 in October, he pounded the table, calling the stock a bargain. Nidec had rebounded 32 percent, climbing to ¥7,680, by the end of February and outpaced the sector by 19.4 percentage points. Takayama is “the most precise and hardest-working analyst in the sector,” declares another supporter.  — Ben Mattlin