< The 2016 All-Japan Research Team
Hiroshi Torii
SMBC Nikko Securities
First-Place Appearances: 5
Total Appearances: 7
Analyst Debut: 2010
Hiroshi Torii is so valuable a resource for investors in Japan’s real estate investment trusts that, “simply put, one cannot analyze the REITs market without Torii-san’s data,” declares one client of the SMBC Nikko Securities researcher. Echoes another money manger: ”Torii’s reports are staples of my workday.” Little wonder then that Torii, 37, remains at the top of this lineup, notching his fifth consecutive first-place showing. He monitors 43 J-REITs and plans to expand that number and add to his support staff in the year ahead. As it is, “he has by far the most extensive coverage in the sector, with historical data as well as weekly updates,” marvels a third backer. In July, the analyst boosted his rating on Japan Prime Realty Investment Corp. from neutral to outperform, citing potential gains from rent hikes. Shares of the Tokyo-based concern, whose portfolio features urban office buildings and commercial-use facilities, climbed 9.1 percent through mid-January, to ¥392,500, and led J-REITs overall by 8 percentage points — prompting him to shift his position back to neutral, on valuation. By mid-March, Japan Prime had advanced 15.8 percent further, to close at ¥454,500, while the domestic sector jumped 18.8 percent. Torii has remained bullish on Tokyo’s Invincible Investment Corp., a commercial and residential REIT whose shares he has rated outperform since revising his neutral stance in July, on earnings growth in its hotel business. As of mid-March the stock was up 27.9 percent, at ¥83,000, for a gain of 27.9 percent during a period in which its domestic peers climbed 16.4 percent. He projects a further rise to ¥90,000.