The 2014 All-Japan Research Team: Banks, No. 3: Ken Takamiya

Repeating in third place, Nomura researcherKen Takamiyais known for providing “accurate earnings estimates and detailed, original analyses,” one supporter attests. Takamiya monitors six companies and is sticking with long-standing favorite Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, a Tokyo-based trust banker and securities brokerage that was formed in 2011 by the merger of Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co. and Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings. In December 2012, he pounded the table. Sumitomo Mitsui’s earnings momentum from its rising net interest income and expanded overseas loan balance would drive profit growth, the analyst reasoned. Indeed, management announced a year later that it was raising its gross earnings target for operations outside Japan to 15 percent of the bank’s total from 10 percent, a goal reached in September. The contribution from overseas had risen from just 6 percent in March 2012. In January the company reported that year-over-year ordinary profits had climbed 7 percent over the three quarters through December, to ¥193.3 trillion ($2.3 billion). And by mid-March the shares had rallied 70.9 percent, to ¥441, besting even the sector’s 47.5 percent gain. Going forward, Takamiya also recommends Tokyo-based diversified financial services providers Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group, judging their valuations too low in light of an improving Japanese economy.