THIRD TEAM

Mikihiro Matsuoka Deutsche Securities

Mikihiro Matsuoka, who, according to one client, provides “a good balance between academic theory and empirical study,” captures third-place honors for a fifth year running. In January 2010 the Deutsche Securities economist told money managers that government initiatives, such as the ¥7.2 trillion ($81 billion) stimulus plan the Japanese government had approved one month earlier, would spur a strong cyclical recovery — especially in consumer stocks — but would have little impact on the overall economy, which still faced a period of “prolonged decay and hibernation.” The consumer sector outperformed Japan’s broader market by 1.3 percentage points last year, but the nation’s economy, as measured by real gross domestic product growth, expanded only 3.9 percent year-over-year in 2010, down from 4.6 percent in 2009.

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