SECOND TEAM

 Hitoshi Hayakawa Credit Suisse

Hitoshi Hayakawa, who spent the past five years in the runner-up position, bolts to second place. Clients applaud the Credit Suisse analyst’s August 2010 report — co-written with his counterparts worldwide — that established a model portfolio of stocks deemed likely to benefit from the popularity of “smart wireless devices,” as Hayakawa called them. His top pick was SoftBank Corp., at ¥2,411, on the Tokyo-based firm’s strong cash flow, shrinking debt and infrastructure spending. The shares surged 39.2 percent through February, to ¥3,355, and led the sector by 18.5 percentage points. “His work on the smartphone industry delivered as forecast,” confirms one grateful fan.

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