THIRD TEAM

Katsuya Takeuchi UBS

Newcomer Katsuya Takeuchi of UBS, who finishes third, is “very familiar with iron ore and coking coal markets, which are important for analyzing Japanese general trading houses,” observes one portfolio manager. Takeuchi reiterated his buy rating on Mitsui & Co. in August, at ¥1,175, on the belief that shares of the Tokyo-based outfit were undervalued. The stock had shot up 26.5 percent, to ¥1,486, and was ahead of the sector by 2.2 percentage points, through February.

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