SECOND TEAM

Jiro Kojima Daiwa Securities Group

Clients praise Jiro Kojima, who leaps from runner-up to second place, for his “thorough understanding of the sector” and his “focus on fundamentals.” In the second half of 2010, the Daiwa Securities Group analyst emphasized the impact of monetary easing and recommended stocks in financial services, real estate and other affected sectors. Among Kojima’s winning picks was an August upgrade from neutral to outperform on Nihon M&A Center, at ¥262,829, on the grounds that the Tokyo-based advisory firm “has established a unique market position that rivals have found hard to match,” among other factors. By the end of February, the stock had skyrocketed 88.5 percent, to ¥495,500, and trumped the sector by an impressive 76.5 percentage points.

Polling and tabulation of data as well as reporting on the sector profiles were completed before the March 11 Tohoku earthquake.