SECOND TEAM

Hirosuke Tai Daiwa Securities Group

It’s four consecutive years in second place for Daiwa Securities Group’s Hirosuke Tai, who impresses clients with his “strong understanding of fundamentals” and “management access.” An April 2010 upgrade of Kobe-based Kawasaki Heavy Industries from neutral to outperform, at ¥275, in anticipation of an earnings turnaround in its motorcycle business, proved correct. By the end of February, the stock had raced to ¥329, for a gain of 19.6 percent that zipped past the sector by a remarkable 25.2 percentage points.

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