De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms, London
The IR Magazine Awards – Europe 2024 will take place on Thursday, June 20 at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms. This very special event honors excellence in the investor relations profession across Europe and we are excited to welcome everyone for an evening of fine food and lots of celebrating!
Since the annual event first launched in 1990, tens of thousands of analysts and investors have voted in the surveys behind the awards. The result: vital benchmarking information on which companies do the best IR. In recent years, the awards program has expanded to recognize more aspects of an IRO’s role as we add new categories to the list and give IR teams the opportunity to nominate themselves.
By popular demand, we presented two types of award categories – researched and nominated – both celebrating the success of those individuals and companies that are leading the way in IR across Europe.
For our researched categories, companies do not submit nominations. Instead, hundreds of analysts and investors cast their votes and give their opinions on which companies provide the best IR service. In our nominated categories, companies submit written entries to articulate their success and achievements from the past year, giving any publicly listed company the opportunity to be considered for an award.
For our awards-by-nomination categories, individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.
We are no longer accepting nominations. All entrants will be contacted about their submission by the end of April.
View the full list of 2023 nominees and winners by clicking here.
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call +44 20 8004 4989.
The awards-by-nomination categories differ from our traditional researched awards, as individuals and companies are given the opportunity to submit written entries, free of charge, to be put forward to a panel of expert judges made up of investment professionals and IR Magazine editorial team members.
The judging process consists of three simple phases:
Phase one: Once the entry deadline has passed, the IR Magazine editorial team reviews all submissions and produces the short list
Phase two: The short-listed entries are shared with an independent judging panel made up of industry experts. The judges review each short-listed entry and select their top two picks per category
Phase three: The judges come together to discuss, debate and select the final list of winners who will go on to win an award
The judges’ votes are not made public, but their comments may be published in articles or reports after the event. Judges are not required to make comments against every submission.
We are delighted to announce our judging panel for the 2024 awards! Click on each photo below to find out more.
Heinrich Ey
Director, Co-CIO German and European mid/small caps
Allianz Global Investors
Heinrich Ey has worked at Allianz Global Investors since April 2006.
He is Co-CIO for European Small caps since 2016 and manages in his function retail and institutional money together with a team of 5 members. Before taking on his current role, he was managing an analyst team of six regional telecom and media analysts and covering 30 telecom stocks with his own modelling and formal recommendations. He was also the lead portfolio manager for the Allianz Telemedia funds, which has won several awards from Lipper and Euro Finanzen in the last couple of years. His focus had been also on digital disruption trends and their impact on traditional business models within his industries, and he is part of the jury for the German Stevie Awards since 2016.
Before taking on this role, Ey worked for four years as an analyst at AGI. Prior to that, between 2000 and 2002, he managed European and global equity funds for institutional and retail clients and was a member of the TMT sector team at Allianz Asset Management. He started his career in asset management in 1995 as a buy-side trader for equity, fixed income and derivatives at Allianz.
Simon Gleadhill
Head of corporate, ESG and IFRS Reporting
Howden Joinery Group
Simon’s current role combines best practice corporate and ESG reporting with IFRS technical accounting and reporting. He leads the Howdens Annual Report team as well as the interpretation and implementation of new IFRSs and makes sure that the Group stays ahead of new developments in corporate and ESG reporting.
Simon is a specialist in ESG reporting, strategy, business model and culture reporting. He leads the process and development of the Howden Joinery Group Annual Report & Accounts and the Group’s Sustainability Report, which have won several awards in recent years. He was a member of the Advisory Group for the UK Financial Reporting Council’s recent project on The Future of Corporate Reporting and is a current member of the FRC Advisory Panel.
Simon qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC, where he worked with a variety of consumer and industrial companies in London and Oman. He is a member of the Investor Relations Society and holds their Certificate in Investor Relations.
Dr. Agnes Neher
Head of responsible investment
Baloise Asset Management
Agnes Neher is Head of Responsible Investment at Baloise Asset Management. In her role, she is further expanding responsible investment across all asset classes for Baloise Group. Agnes previously worked at Bank J. Safra Sarasin as an ESG analyst and Corporate Sustainability Manager.
Agnes completed her doctorate at the German University of Hohenheim on the materiality of non-financial risks in the financial markets. Her focus was on ESG reporting by institutional investors, the relationship between ESG ratings and government bond yields, and the regulation of responsible investment in the EU.
Agnes holds a Diploma in Economics from the University of Tübingen and a MSc in Philosophy of Social Sciences from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.
René Nicolodi
Head of equities, deputy head of asset management
Zürcher Kantonalbank
René Nicolodi is the head of Equities and deputy head of Asset Management at Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank. After starting his career at Swiss Bank Corporation and UBS, he held several positions in Investment Bank and Asset Management at Zürcher Kantonalbank prior to his current function. René received his Ph.D. in the area of ‘Sustainable Pension Fund Engagement’ from the University of Zurich (2006), and since 2009 has been a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA). He also holds an Master in Digital Management from Hyper Island (2022). René is part of the ESG Commission of the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS) and is Vice-President of Swiss Sustainable Finance.
Madeleine Szeluch
Investor relations ESG director
Novartis
Madeleine Szeluch is the Investor Relations ESG Director at Novartis, where she specialises in advisory and communications on ESG topics. Previously, Madeleine was Head of Investor Relations at the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (2015 – 2020). She led global engagement with foreign governments, industry and investors, addressing regulatory and business themes, with a focus on low-carbon energy, climate change and sustainability themes. Within the UK government, Madeleine advised ministers across departments on emerging global policy, market risk and public-private partnerships and developed thought-leadership research on market trends and policy impact for government, industry and investors.
Prior to joining the UK Government in 2015, Madeleine was Senior Manager at GLG, the largest global insights consulting firm, where she advised corporates and investors on primary research, compliance and business and regulatory risk. Madeleine grew the company’s Emerging Markets business and established the Sub-Saharan Africa practice. Madeleine has worked in Europe and North America, she has degrees in Commercial Law and International Relations, and is a Member of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Gervais Williams
Head of equities
Premier Miton Investors
Gervais Williams is Head of Equities at Premier Miton Investors and manages a number of funds and trusts that aggregate to over £1.5bn, he joined the group in 2011. His fund management career extends over 30 years including 17 years at Gartmore Group Ltd, where he was Head of UK Small Companies investing in UK smaller companies and Irish equities. Gervais is a member of the AIM Advisory Council, and President of the Quoted Companies Alliance. He was a member of the Patient Capital Review panel with the Chancellor of the Exchequer six years ago where the recommendations were put into legislation in the subsequent budget. Gervais Williams has published three books, ‘Slow Finance’ in the autumn of 2011 (Bloomsbury), ‘The Future is Small’ published in November 2014 (Harriman House) and ‘The Retreat of Globalisation’ published in December 2016 (Harriman House).
Laurie Havelock
Editor-at-large
IR Magazine
Laurie Havelock is a journalist, writer and podcaster who has worked with IR Magazine for more than a decade. He was previously assistant business editor at the Daily Telegraph and acting business and money editor at the i newspaper. In his spare time, he is a keen boardgamer and hosts a podcast about them called Idle Fantasy. He lives in London with his husky, Mischa.
Our awards-by-research nominees are determined by the input of hundreds of analysts and portfolio managers, who give their opinions on which companies provide them with the best IR service in Europe. Every year we invite any publicly listed company to submit their list of buy and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers, so that they have the opportunity to vote via our survey.
View the full list of 2023 nominees and winners by clicking here.
If you have any questions about this process or wish to access our data sharing agreement, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. For any further queries about the research process, please contact [email protected].
The first thing to explain is that our awards are different from most others: for our awards by research, companies do not submit nominations. The winners are identified by in-depth research and any publicly traded company is eligible to be considered. This survey is the only one of its kind to go directly to the investment community, via a combination of an electronic survey and one-to-one telephone interviews, canvassing the opinions of the people who matter to you most.
November – December 2023: Sample selection
IR Magazine has been building investment community databases for more than 30 years. As part of the updating process, listed companies are contacted every year for details of the professionals who currently cover their stock.
January – February 2024: Electronic survey
IR Magazine then conducts an electronic survey of buy-side and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers. The electronic survey typically receives 300 individual responses from the investment community. These responses then go to Mary Maude Research for initial analysis. The research firm determines what will constitute a representative sample, weighted for Europe’s industry sectors and geographical regions.
December 2023 – February 2024: Telephone survey
The telephone survey then gets under way. The researchers conduct in-depth interviews with 300 portfolio managers and analysts across Europe. Many of them participate in the study year after year, but there is always a healthy proportion of new respondents each year as well. As the research progresses, the sample is adjusted to ensure appropriate weightings are maintained.
Results analysis
Once the survey stage of the research is completed, the final analysis is undertaken. The companies with the highest scores make the short lists for the awards categories, and the points are further analyzed to identify the best exponents of IR by sector. The independence of our research is crucial to the integrity of the whole awards program, so IR Magazine sees the results only once the research is complete. This ensures a transparent, independent set of results that IROs can trust as a valuable bench-marking tool.
April 2024: Short list compiled
IR Magazine receives the results and contacts the short-listed companies to give them the good news. The short list is then published to the entire IR community the month before the event.
June 20, 2024: Winners announced
And finally… the winners are announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday, June 20, 2024!
June 2024: Report published
Shortly after the awards, the Investor Perception Study – Europe 2024 report is published and made available to IR Magazine subscribers.
Attendees at this event are leading IR practitioners from across Europe. Each participant is someone with an established track record and a strategic IR role within his or her company.
Below is a sample of the attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company | |
CFO | illimity | Head of IR | Aker Solutions ASA | |
Chief sustainability officer | ČEZ | Head of IR | Entain | |
Deputy head, IR | OMV | Head of IR | Ignitis | |
Director IR and sustainability | Galata Wind | Head of IR | Vonovia | |
Director, IR | Technip Energies | Head, corporate and ESG reporting | Howden Joinery Group | |
Director, IR | Barco | Head, financial reporting | MJ Gleeson | |
Director, IR | GSK | Head, group, IR | UniCredit | |
Director, IR | National Grid | Head, sustainability | Kenmare Resources | |
Director, IR | St. James’s Place | Institutional IR lead | JLEN | |
Director, IR | WPP | IR | Novo Nordisk | |
Director, IR and sustainability | NCC | IR and ESG senior manager | Vodafone | |
Director, marketing | Augmentum Fintech | IR capital markets interface manager | Airbus | |
Director, communications | Sobi Orphan Biovitrum | IR, director | Schneider Electric | |
Director, sustainable business | Britvic | IR, manager | Nestle | |
ESG IR manager | TotalEnergies SE | IR, sustainability director | Turk Telekom | |
Finance director | Warehouse REIT | Senior IR manager | Johnson Matthey | |
General manager, London branch | Intesa Sanpaolo | Senior IR manager | Wood | |
Global head of IR | IG | VP, IR | Azerion | |
Group financial controller | Harworth Group | VP, IR | BP | |
Group head, sustainability | CMC Markets | VP,IR | Valemt Oyj |
Why partner with us?
Our awards provide a unique opportunity to get in front of some of the most influential people in the European IR community. As a partner, you will gain an extensive amount of exposure through a wide range of print and digital marketing materials, both pre and post-event, as well as on the day itself. Additionally, you can use the event to align yourself with IR excellence and network with key decision-makers from across the region – the ones pushing the profession forward through innovation.
Partnering with the event will provide:
All our partnerships are created using a mix of branding, thought leadership, lead generation and meetings with your target audience. You tell us your objectives and we will work with you to create you a package that’s makes sense for your company and will help you achieve those objectives. To find out more get in touch with Sébastien Dutrieu or call on +44 77315 33165.
Awards partners
Bank of America is one of the world’s largest financial institutions, serving large corporations, small and middle-market businesses and individual consumers in more than 150 countries with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. BofA Securities, the institutional broker dealer business of Bank of America, is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. The company provides, through various banking and broker-dealer affiliates, M&A advice, equity and debt capital-raising solutions, lending, risk management, treasury, liquidity and payments management. Bank of America Corporation is listed on the NYSE.
For more information, please visit www.bofaml.com
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates regulated markets for trading 12,000 U.S. and international securities. Our data-driven disclosure standards form the foundation of our three public markets: OTCQX® Best Market, OTCQB® Venture Market and Pink® Open Market.
Our OTC Link® Alternative Trading Systems (ATSs) provide critical market infrastructure that broker-dealers rely on to facilitate trading. Our innovative model offers companies more efficient access to the U.S. financial markets.
To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit otcmarkets.com.
Q4 Inc. is the first IR Ops Platform with the world’s largest set of proprietary investor data, purpose-built to remove obstacles between public companies and their investors. Q4 gives investor relations leaders and their teams the tools to attract, manage, and understand investors — all in one place. The AI-enabled Q4 IR Ops Platform boasts a simple yet powerful IR website management system, frictionless events software, a robust analytics engine, a streamlined investor CRM, and shareholder intelligence with enhanced metrics to elevate investor targeting strategies. Q4 delivers the data, insights, and workflows that give IR teams the power to focus on what really matters: strategy, relationships, and driving premium valuations for their companies.
The company is a trusted partner to more than 2,600 public companies globally, including many of the most respected brands in the world, and maintains an award winning culture where team members grow and thrive.
Q4 is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in New York and London. Learn more at www.q4inc.com.
Supported by
For 12 years now, the Association of Bulgarian Investor Relations Directors /ABIRD/ has been actively working to unite the interests and improve the qualification of local Investor Relations Directors – members of the organization, to improve the investment climate in Bulgaria and introduce high standards for presentation of the Bulgarian public companies to investors in the country and abroad.
We unite more than 110 Investor Relations Directors of public companies and other issuers of securities, and in 2016 we opened the doors of ABIRD for all colleagues who disclose information in accordance with the Bulgarian and European legislation, and communicate with institutions such as the Financial Supervision Commission, BSE – Sofia and the Central Depository.
ABIRD is an active participant in the Bulgarian capital market, a basic corrective in terms of amendments to the regulation and implementation of the European legislation. Our activities are focused on enhancing the professional qualification of Investor Relations Directors and all of the other officials engaged with investor communication and communication with the institutions on the capital market with the purpose to improve the best disclosure and transparency practices in the activities of public companies and other issuers of securities. We actively cooperate with all institutions and participants in the Bulgarian capital market.
The Association of Bulgarian Investor Relations Directors is a collective member the National Corporate Governance Commission, the Capital Market Development Council in Bulgaria, the Corporate Social Responsibility Council to the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association. Together with our national partners we strive to make Bulgaria a more attractive place for investments.
Contacts: +359 2 9882413 and [email protected]
Web: www.abird.info
Since 1991, AERI has been bringing together the most relevant IR professionals and other stakeholders in Spain, focusing on the development of best practices, but also on providing the best possible options for networking. AERI Members are well known for their top performance in the capital markets, always developing the highest standards in the Investor Relations world.
For more information, please visit www.aeri.es
About DIRF
The Danish Investor Relations Society (DIRF) was established by investor relations officers, financial and communications executives in a few Danish companies in 1988. The objective was and still is to promote communication between listed companies and their investors thereby increasing investor interest in Danish shares and company bonds.
DIRF represents some 270 members from approximately 100 companies. Members are primarily listed companies, and the member base represents about 95 per cent of the Danish market cap. However, also not-listed companies, organisations, service providers and consultants working with financial communications are represented, cf. DIRF members list.
DIRF activities
The DIRF network seeks to meet its objectives by arranging members’ meetings and conferences dealing with current IR-topics, sessions with academics researching in IR-related areas, trends and new ways of performing the IR-profession, new media developments, new evaluation methods, and once a year the Copenhagen Stock Exchange hosts a network meeting etc. Members’ meetings normally take place 5-6 times a year.
For more information, please visit www.dirf.dk.
IR Club is a well-established investor relations community that allows IR professionals to network with peers from all over the world.
IR Club was formed in 2011, to address the need for an online investor relations community. Since then, it has become an overwhelming success and has around 1,400 members!
The main objectives of IR Club include the promotion of networking, communication, exchange and transfer of knowledge among investor relations professionals – we are particularly interested in the use of social media in investor relations.
IR Club is open to anyone interested in investor relations such as scientists, students and those wishing to make a career change. For the opportunity to mingle with practising IROs at all levels, as well consultants and service providers. Colleagues from the areas of private equity, open-end and closed-end funds, unlisted companies and of course all those who deal with the communication with lenders (creditor relations / fixed income) are welcome, too – we are all one ecosystem.
It takes no time to register as a member and it’s free of charge!
IR Club
Patrick Kiss
Email: [email protected]
Tel.: +49 177 232 0001
The IR club Schweiz was founded 1992 to promote the interests of the IR profession among Switzerland’s publicly-quoted companies. It is an interactive forum for the exchange of ideas, the discussion of current IR issues and the development of practical solutions.
For more information, please visit www.irclub.ch.
Turkish Investor Relations Society – TUYID, founded in 2009, is designed to foster collaborative ties among investor relations professionals and the constituencies which they serve such as management, shareholders, bondholders, private investors, analysts, employees, government, corporate customers and media, at both the corporate and personal levels, with a view to develop professional know-how, to be a reference center and to elevate Turkish investor relations applications on a par with global standards.
Our mission is to contribute to the promotion of the Turkish markets, provide assistance for Turkish companies to achieve fair market value for their capital market instruments and to support Turkish capital markets to gain depth and resilience.
For more information, please visit www.tuyid.org/en
Timings shown are British Summer Time (BST)
Please note: timings are subject to change
16:30 PM
Pre-registration opens
Football fans are welcome to join us for a drink from 4.30 pm to watch Denmark vs England (kick-off 5.00 pm), before the opening drinks reception.
The Spain vs Italy game at 8.00 pm will also be shown in the reception room later in the evening.
17:00 PM
Denmark vs England (UEFA EURO)
18:30 PM
Opening drinks reception
19:30 PM
Dinner and awards ceremony
22:15 PM
After-party and desserts!
23:59 PM
Event concludes
We are pleased to hosting our awards at:
De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms
61-65 Great Queen Street
London
WC2B 5DA
For transport options and directions to the venue, please click here.
Accommodation:
IR Magazine has arranged preferential rates for attendees at nearby hotels. View the hotels and rates by clicking here.
Dress code
Black tie
Warning: Please note the event may contain flashing lights or sudden loud sound effects.
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Taking place on the day of the awards ceremony, the IR Magazine Think Tank – Europe is an invitation-only event exclusively for senior IROs.
It is free to attend and our unique format enables participants to network extensively, discuss, debate and dissect topical issues affecting European IR. We have over 100 senior IR professionals attending each year.
It is far removed from the traditional conference set-up as the event consists of a series of panel sessions followed by roundtables on select IR issues. All discussions are confidential so you can have a free and open chat with your peers.
Visit our think tank website to view the list of topics we will discuss and request an invite.
Click below to book a first release ticket. There are only 20 individual tickets, 5 standard tables of 10 and 5 VIP tables of 10 available at this rate
Book now to avoid disappointment. The rate will automatically increase once they’re gone!
What’s included with a Corporate VIP table booking?
You will receive a bottle of champagne and a themed cocktail on arrival for your whole table, company branding on the table, a mention in the opening remarks by the MC and a member of the organization interviewed at the event.
If you are a non-corporate looking to book a VIP table, please contact Sébastien Dutrieu on [email protected].
Looking for individual seats?
Individual seats for the awards can be purchased by clicking here. The super early bird rate is currently £395, increasing to £595 for the standard rate. If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Williams on [email protected] or +44 208 090 2156.
Please note all prices are subject to 20% VAT. The price shown below is exclusive of VAT.
To protect customers from fraud, your card provider may require you to complete further authentication checks which might include authentication using the mobile banking app, one-time passcode via text, one-time passcode using a card reader, one-time passcode via a landline or one-time passcode via email.
View the highlights from the 2023 awards ceremony
For partnership inquiries
+44 77315 33165
For awards inquiries
+44 20 8004 4989
For all other inquiries
+44 208 090 2156