SECOND TEAM

Masafumi Shoda Nomura Securities Co.

Masafumi Shoda repeats in second place. The Nomura Securities Co. researcher is “always worth consulting,” according to one client, and “his analysis is quite unique,” says another. In March 2010, Shoda urged investors to buy Aeon Co. — a Chiba-based outfit that operates department stores, shopping malls, specialty outlets and supermarkets throughout Asia — making the case that the company’s recent cost-cutting initiatives would lead to improved profitability; last month the company announced that owing to “business reformation and better-than-expected sales” it was revising its outlook for fiscal 2011, which ran through February, and expects to report net profits of ¥59.8 billion ($73.2 million) — well above the ¥49 billion to ¥55 billion it had originally forecast. Aeon’s shares rose 7.2 percent, from ¥961 to ¥1,030, and outpaced the sector by 14.7 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.