In the fifth Mainichi Economist annual analyst/economist poll, Morgan Stanley came in second for the fourth consecutive year with 4,961 points. Nomura Securities came in first with 5,668 points.

Deutsche Securities jumped to the third position (up from #8 last year), leapfrogging over Nikko Salomon Smith Barney, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, who in aggregate round out the top six.

Morgan Stanley repeated as the top ranked provider of industrial research (i.e., excluding macro research), with 4,853 points to Nomura's 4,754 points. Rounding out the top five in industrial research were Deutsche Securities (4,131), Nikko Salomon Smith Barney (3,645) and Goldman Sachs (3,369).

The Firm had 12 analysts ranked in the top three this year. These included three top ranked analysts, three #2 ranked and six #3 ranked analysts.

The Mainichi Economist poll, conducted from late July through late August, was distributed to portfolio managers at 140 major domestic (including foreign-affiliated) institutions, including trust banks, investment advisory firms, life and non-life insurers, and banks. Each company received 10 surveys. The Mainichi Economist received 448 valid responses back, for a response ratio of 32.0%.

The survey asked respondents to rank their top three analysts for each sector. A top ranking received three points, a second ranking two points and a third ranking one point. Final rankings were determined by the aggregated points.