IR Magazine
IR Magazine Awards – Europe

IR Magazine Awards ‒ Europe
Celebrating IR excellence

Thursday, June 22, 2023

8 Northumberland Avenue, London

About the awards

The IR Magazine Awards – Europe 2023 will take place in-person on Thursday, June 22 at 8 Northumberland Avenue. 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 present 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.

 

Nominated categories      Researched categories

Awards by nomination

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.

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED!

We are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2023 awards! View the full list by clicking here.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected] or call +44 20 8004 4989.

Best annual report (large cap)

Best annual report (large cap)

Are shareholders and analysts raving about the quality of your annual print or online report? Give us your vision of good reporting practice. Judges will be looking for a well-articulated equity story, ease of flow or navigation, state-of-the-art design and consistency/complementary between different reports. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over.

Nominees

  • adidas

  • Banco Santander

  • Sage

  • St James's Place

  • UniCredit

  • WPP

Best annual report (mid-cap)

Best annual report (mid-cap)

Are shareholders and analysts raving about the quality of your annual print or online report? Give us your vision of good reporting practice. Judges will be looking for a well-articulated equity story, ease of flow or navigation, state-of-the-art design and consistency/complementary between different reports. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Aliaxis Group

  • Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings

  • Balfour Beatty

  • Britvic

  • Grifols

  • HUGO BOSS

Best annual report (small cap)

Best annual report (small cap)

Are shareholders and analysts raving about the quality of your annual print or online report? Give us your vision of good reporting practice. Judges will be looking for a well-articulated equity story, ease of flow or navigation, state-of-the-art design and consistency/complementary between different reports. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Halfords Group

  • Harworth Group

  • JLEN Environmental Assets Group

  • MJ Gleeson

  • NORMA Group

  • Warehouse REIT

Best ESG reporting (large cap)

Best ESG reporting (large cap)

Companies face growing demands to inform investors about the risk and opportunities - they face from a range of ESG issues. Describe how your company was able to meet the demands of shareholders looking for substance in ESG reporting? Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • ČEZ Group

  • Entain

  • Iberdrola

  • National Grid

  • Royal Philips

  • Unilever

Best ESG reporting (mid-cap)

Best ESG reporting (mid-cap)

Companies face growing demands to inform investors about the risk and opportunities - they face from a range of ESG issues. Describe how your company was able to meet the demands of shareholders looking for substance in ESG reporting? Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Barco

  • Ignitis Group

  • LANXESS

  • Leonteq

  • Swedish Orphan Biovitrum

Best ESG reporting (small cap)

Best ESG reporting (small cap)

Companies face growing demands to inform investors about the risk and opportunities - they face from a range of ESG issues. Describe how your company was able to meet the demands of shareholders looking for substance in ESG reporting? Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Blancco Technology Group

  • CMC Markets

  • Foresight Group

  • illimity Bank

  • Kenmare Resources

  • Volution Group

Best innovation in shareholder communications

Best innovation in shareholder communications

In this catch-all category, judges are looking for IR teams who have had to think out of the box in the past 12-18 months to update their shareholder communications campaign and keep up with the evolving needs and wants of the investor community. We’re looking for that tiny little spark of innovation that sets your company apart!

Nominees

  • Banco Santander

  • EDAG Engineering Group

  • Iberdrola

  • Royal Philips

  • Shell

  • Türk Telekom

Best investor event (large cap)

Best investor event (large cap)

Did you hold a capital markets day, site visit or other investor event that made your company stand out from the crowd? Tell us how you came up with an original initiative, the way you managed its organization, and how your audience’s expectations were met; audience feedback is also welcome. Both virtual and in-person events can be considered for this award. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Airbus

  • Diageo

  • Iberdrola

  • Mercedes-Benz Group

  • Shell

  • Unilever

Best investor event (mid-cap)

Best investor event (mid-cap)

Did you hold a capital markets day, site visit or other investor event that made your company stand out from the crowd? Tell us how you came up with an original initiative, the way you managed its organization, and how your audience’s expectations were met; audience feedback is also welcome. Both virtual and in-person events can be considered for this award. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Barco

  • Criteo

  • Helios Towers

  • HUGO BOSS

  • LANXESS

  • Wood

Best investor event (small cap)

Best investor event (small cap)

Did you hold a capital markets day, site visit or other investor event that made your company stand out from the crowd? Tell us how you came up with an original initiative, the way you managed its organization, and how your audience’s expectations were met; audience feedback is also welcome. Both virtual and in-person events can be considered for this award. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Augmentum Fintech

  • Azerion

  • Galata Wind Enerji

  • illimity Bank

  • Immunic Therapeutics

Best IR during a corporate transaction

Best IR during a corporate transaction

How did your IR team go above and beyond to support a recent corporate transaction? Let us know the details. We’ll be looking at the IR team’s involvement in crafting/releasing the messaging for the financial markets and how it organized outreach and dialogue to gain approval from key shareholders.

Nominees

  • BBVA

  • BP

  • FLSmidth

  • LANXESS

  • Schneider Electric

  • Wood

Best IR website

Best IR website

The IR website is the first point of contact for an IRO’s audience. We want to hear from companies that have developed a best-in-class website displaying top-notch customer experience, engaging content that meets analysts’ and investors’ needs, and multiplatform access.

Nominees

  • BP

  • Britvic

  • CCC Group

  • Halfords Group

  • Schneider Electric

  • Unilever

Best retail IR strategy

Best retail IR strategy

IR teams have recently started to pay attention to and service the traditional blind spot in their shareholder base – the retail investor block. In this category, we’re looking for IR campaigns that include a retail shareholder communication strategy, how it differed from the usual program and the results of these efforts.

Nominees

  • Augmentum Fintech

  • BBVA

  • CaixaBank

  • Galata Wind Enerji

  • Iberdrola

  • Valmet

Best use of multimedia for IR

Best use of multimedia for IR

Are you a tech-savvy IRO always looking out for cutting-edge technological solutions for IR? Describe the innovative ways you have incorporated video, audio, infographics or webcasts into your IR program. Judges will be looking for evidence of heightened investor and analyst engagement via these channels.

Nominees

  • ABOUT YOU

  • Banco Santander

  • HUGO BOSS

  • Iberdrola

  • illimity Bank

  • Shell

Rising star

Rising star

This award seeks to honor individuals who bring fresh thinking and a unique approach to the profession. This category is open to anyone who has been working in IR for less than 10 years and has less than 15 years of professional experience.  

Nominees

  • Azerion, Marcela Louzada

  • Banco Santander, Gerardo Maya

  • FLSmidth, Jannick Denholt

  • Galp, João Gonçalves Pereira

  • Hansa Biopharma, Klaus Sindahl

  • TotalEnergies, Benoit Ribaud

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.

Meet the judges

We are delighted to announce our judging panel for the 2023 awards! Click on each photo below to find out more.

Awards by Research

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.

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED!

We are delighted to announce the nominees for the 2023 awards! View the full list 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].

Best overall investor relations (large cap)

Best overall investor relations (large cap)

This category covers companies that have most impressed the investment community with their overall IR program. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Allianz

  • ASML

  • Banco Santander

  • EDP – Energias de Portugal

  • Novo Nordisk

  • UniCredit

Best overall investor relations (mid-cap)

Best overall investor relations (mid-cap)

This category covers companies that have most impressed the investment community with their overall IR program. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • ASR Nederland

  • Aker Solutions

  • Barco

  • LANXESS

  • OTP Bank

  • Wacker Chemie

Best overall investor relations (small cap)

Best overall investor relations (small cap)

This category covers companies that have most impressed the investment community with their overall IR program. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Altri

  • Bertrandt

  • eDreams ODIGEO

  • Mondadori Group

  • NSI

  • Volution Group

Best investor relations officer (large cap)

Best investor relations officer (large cap)

This category is for individual IROs whose knowledge of their company and sector and whose ability to build relationships with members of the investment community and to be transparent, accessible and responsive, sets them apart. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Allianz, Oliver Schmidt

  • ASML, Marcel Kemp

  • Banco Santander, Carlos Berastain, Fernando Donoso & Begoña Morenés

  • Intesa Sanpaolo, Marco Delfrate & Andrea Tamagnini

  • UniCredit, Magda Palczynska

  • Vonovia, Rene Hoffman

Best investor relations officer (mid-cap)

Best investor relations officer (mid-cap)

This category is for individual IROs whose knowledge of their company and sector and whose ability to build relationships with members of the investment community and to be transparent, accessible and responsive, sets them apart. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Aker Solutions, Fredrik Berge

  • Banco BPM, Roberto Peronaglio

  • Banco de Sabadell, Lluc Sas

  • Barco, Carl Vanden Bussche

  • Gedeon Richter, Katalin Ördög

  • LANXESS, Eva Frerker & Oliver Stratmann

Best investor relations officer (small cap)

Best investor relations officer (small cap)

This category is for individual IROs whose knowledge of their company and sector and whose ability to build relationships with members of the investment community and to be transparent, accessible and responsive, sets them apart. Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below €1 bn / Mid-cap = between €1 bn - €7.5 bn / Large cap = €7.5 bn and over

Nominees

  • Bertrandt, Björn Voss

  • eDreams ODIGEO, David de la Roz Fernandez

  • LiveChat Software, Marcin Droba

  • Mondadori Group, Nicoletta Pinoia

  • NSI, Laura Gomez Zuleta

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 2021: 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 2022: 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 2021 – February 2022: 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 2022: 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 23, 2022: Winners announced

And finally… the winners are announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday, June 23, 2022!

June 2022: Report published

Shortly after the awards, the Investor Perception Study – Europe 2022 report is published and made available to IR Magazine subscribers.

 

Timings

Timings shown are British Summer Time (BST)
Please note: timings are subject to change

Who attends our events

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 people who have attended our event in the past:

Job title Company Job title Company
Assistant director Atrato Head of investor relations AstraZeneca
CEO Nexans Head of investor relations Cyfrowy Polsat
CVP Novo Nordisk Head of investor relations Deutsche EuroShop
Director Makinson Cowell Head of investor relations Polymetal International
Director of financial reporting and IR Great Portland Estates Head of PR & IR Severstal
Director of investor relations Avantium Head of research Zeus Captial
Director of investor relations Britvic Investor relations director InterContinental Hotels
Director of investor relations and FP&A Flutter Entertainment Investor relations director Össur
Director of IR and corporate communication Iberdrola Investor relations director Unilever
Director of public relations, US En+ Group Investor relations director MERLIN Properties
EVP finance, treasury & investor relations Infineon Technologies Investor relations director Valmet
Executive director, North America investor relations BBVA Investor relations director Vodafone
Group communications director Greencore IR ESG director Novartis
Group director, IR Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield IR principal Turkcell
Head of IR & sustainability Cembra President – corporate development Synthomer
Head of communications ArcelorMittal Senior analyst, investor relations Wolters Kluwer
Head of corporate communications National Express Group Senior investor relations officer Royal Dutch Shell
Head of digital engagement Ocado Group Senior vice president investor relations BASF
Head of ESG British American Tobacco SVP finance & investor relations Ocean Yield
Head of integrated thinking and reporting Garanti VP, corporate analysis Odfjell
Head of investor relations Aegon VP, corporate and financial comms Pearson
Head of investor relations SAP VP, investor relations TechnipFMC
Head of investor relations Schneider Electric VP, investor relations Technip Energies
Head of investor relations Subsea 7 VP, IR & corporate strategy Coca-Cola Partners
Head of investor relations Vonovia VP, investor relations Akbank
Head of investor relations and planning Roche VP, IR & corporate communications Aixtron
Head of investor relations BMW Group VP, IR & corporate communications Hyloris Pharmaceuticals

 

Request full past attendee list

What our attendees say

"Well done to everyone at IR Magazine for another very well organised and enjoyable event. It was a real treat to be mingling and spending time again with so many industry experts and seeing many new and familiar faces! "

Bank of America

"The evening went very smoothly with the transition between dinner and awards, and the pacing of the awards was great so it didn't feel like it dragged at all. The venue was also lovely."

Ocado Group

"Well organised, good venue and separate areas for networking. Nice sponsor touches with balloons. Good food, good service. Nice intro from James (editor). Good to hear from winners briefly.
Good event despite challenges - well done!"

Gather London

"I liked meeting with other corporate attendees, networking and the venue. Organisation was good."

HUGO BOSS

"Fantastic opportunity to see people in person again, and enjoy a "pre-covid" style event again"

Tesco

"It was all very elegant and beautifully laid out. The stage was very nicely decorated and the award ceremony was not too long."

Nexxar

Inquire about partnership

Partners

Become a partner

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:

  • A chance to network with qualified, senior decision-makers in the IR community
  • Increased awareness and credibility through association with the region’s leading awards
  • New business opportunities through higher-brand presence among current and potential clients
  • The chance to entertain clients at the most respected event of the year
  • Exposure as the market leader in your chosen area by sponsoring the awards category that best reflects your area of expertise

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 Ross Ingram or call on +44 78 2653 8072.

Early bird rate expires in

Book your place

Click on the button below to book your ticket.

The early bird rate expires on Friday, June 9, 2023. After this date, the price will increase to the standard rate of £445 for individual seats and £4,005 for tables of 10.

This year, we are offering VIP tables of 10 and the early bird rate is £4,105 and the standard rate is £5,005.

With our VIP tables, 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 on IR TV.

Please note all prices are subject to 20% VAT. The price shown below is exclusive of VAT.

If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Williams at [email protected] or +44 208 090 2156.

Highlights

View the highlights from the 2022 awards ceremony

Venue

Venue:
8 Northumberland Avenue
London
WC2N 5BY

Dress code:
Black tie – the theme for the evening is the Oscars!

Warning: Please note the event may contain flashing lights or sudden loud sound effects.

Accommodation:
The organizers have arranged for discounted rates at nearby hotels located a short distance away from the venue. Click here to view the hotels and rates.

Make a day of it: Join our think tank

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.

Visit our think tank website

Contact us

Privacy policy

IR Media Group Ltd, the owner of IR Magazine, Corporate Secretary and IRspace, respect the privacy of every person who visits, registers with or subscribes to our websites and online publications, and is committed to ensuring a safe online experience. This privacy statement applies to all IR Media Group’s websites as listed under the heading ‘Sites’ and outlines the information IR Media Group may collect and how we may use that information. It also explains what we do with information about you when you register to attend one of our events.
To view our privacy policy in full, please click here.