SECOND TEAM

Mikiya Yamada Barclays Capital

Mikiya Yamada jumps from runner-up, where he spent the past two years, to second place. “Yamada-san is one of the most knowledgeable analysts in all of Japan ­— his knowledge spans all the industries that use chemicals,” marvels one supporter. In January 2010 the Barclays Capital analyst upgraded petrochemicals supplier Mitsui Chemicals of Tokyo from neutral to overweight, at ¥264, on the belief that the market was being overly pessimistic about the effect of Mideast capacity additions. The stock bubbled up 15.5 percent, to ¥305, through February 2011; during the same period the sector gained 5.9 percent. “His recommendations have helped our performance a lot,” cheers one fan.

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