8 Northumberland Avenue, London
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.
Download our awards entry pack for more information, including awards timeline, tips and ideasDownload entry pack
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.
Please click here to access the entry form. Due to varying reporting deadlines, the deadline for Best annual report is midnight (BST) on Friday, April 14.
If you have any questions that are not answered in the FAQ section on the entry form, please contact [email protected] or call +44 20 8004 4989.
Please note that categories are subject to change based on the final number of submissions received. Some categories may be split by market cap size.
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.
The entry deadline for Best annual report is midnight (BST) on Friday, April 14.Submit an entry
We are delighted to announce our judging panel for the 2023 awards! Click on each photo below to find out more.
Mike Allen
Head of research
Zeus Capital
Mike is an experienced analyst, having worked at UBS Global Asset Management and Numis Securities, before becoming a founding director in the Panmure Gordon Liverpool office. In his current role, Mike is Head of Research at Zeus and has been instrumental in attracting a number of key corporate clients, and has also played a role in some of the company’s largest deals. During his career, Mike has been rated as a top three analyst in the business services sector in the Extel Survey and has also won numerous awards with Starmine and The Wall Street Journal.
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
Corporate reporting & IFRS technical controller
Howden Joinery Group
Simon’s current role combines best practice corporate and ESG reporting with IFRS technical accounting and reporting. He leads the interpretation and implementation of new IFRSs across the group and makes sure that the Group stays ahead of new developments in corporate and ESG reporting.
Simon has a specialism 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.
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 a board member of the Quoted Companies Alliance. He was a member of the Patient Capital Review panel with the Chancellor of the Exchequer two 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).
James Beech
Editor in chief
IR Magazine
James Beech joined IR Media Group as Editor in Chief in January 2022. He was a multimedia journalist, editor, client relationship manager, awards host and public speaker at Campden Wealth, for and about the global ultra-wealthy multigenerational family business and office community, in 2016-21.
The Englishman reported and photographed news and features for daily and weekly regional newspapers and websites, in New Zealand and Australia, including the Otago Daily Times and Canterbury-Bankstown Express, in 2006-15.
He wrote and edited market-leading consumer magazines and websites in Bournemouth then worked in public relations and media communications in London, in 1999-2006.
He graduated Bournemouth University with a BA (Hons) in Multimedia Journalism in 1999.
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.
How do I submit a list?[email protected]. 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].
Please send an Excel file with the name, firm, direct telephone number and email address of your contacts toThe 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 shown are British Summer Time (BST)
Please note: timings are subject to change
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 |
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
Notified is the world’s only communications cloud for events, public relations, and investor relations to drive meaningful insights and outcomes. Notified IR Cloud lets you manage stakeholder communications and regulatory requirements to maximize shareholder value. Tell your investment story with high-impact, multi-channel solutions – earnings announcements, press releases, webcasting, virtual events, and IR websites. Visit Notified.com to learn more.
OTC Markets Group Inc. (OTCQX: OTCM) operates the OTCQX® Best Market, the OTCQB® Venture Market and the Pink® Open Market for 11,000 U.S. and global securities. Through OTC Link® ATS and OTC Link ECN, we connect a diverse network of broker–dealers that provide liquidity and execution services. We enable investors to easily trade through the broker of their choice and empower companies to improve the quality of information available for investors. To learn more about how we create better informed and more efficient markets, visit www.otcmarkets.com.
OTC Link ATS and OTC Link ECN are SEC regulated ATSs, operated by OTC Link LLC,
member FINRA/SIPC.
Q4 is the fastest growing cloud-based investor relations and capital market solutions to the IR Industry with over 1,200 clients. Public companies the world over (many of which are Fortune 1000 brands) look to our leading web and intelligence solutions to power successful (and award winning) IR programs — and to better connect with their investors, make more effective decisions, and understand the capital markets.
Learn more at www.q4inc.com
Corporate Advisory, Reinvented
People
In a global community, relationships matter more now than ever before. Our team is comprised of world-renowned experts who laud the most effective strategic relationships, ensuring the best-case scenario for the future of your company.
Data
Business intelligence is more than information for information’s sake. The quality and timeliness of that data, reinforced by expert analysis of all pertinent information, differentiate business success from failure.
Process
As a public company, you need a partner who not only has the relationships, deep analysis, and access to real-time data to position your company for future growth, you need a visionary group that uses their unmatched experience to reinvent how things are done to achieve your goals faster and more effectively than anyone else.
We are Alliance Advisors.
For more information, please visit our website.
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
The Italian Investor Relations Association’s mission is to promote the professional profile of the Investor Relations Officer (IRO) and the quality of financial communication between companies and the Financial Community.
For more information, visit www.associazioneir.it
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 Ross Ingram or call on +44 78 2653 8072.
Click on the button below to book your in-person ticket.
The super early bird rate expires on May 5, 2023. After this date, the price will increase to the early bird rate of £345 for individual seats and £3,105 for tables of 10. The standard rate is £445 for individual seats and £4,005 for tables of 10.
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.
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Williams at [email protected] or +44 208 090 2156.
View the highlights from the 2022 awards ceremony
Venue:
8 Northumberland Avenue
London
WC2N 5BY
Dress code:
Black tie
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.
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.
For partnership inquiries
+44 78 2653 8072
For awards inquiries
+44 20 8004 4989
For all other inquiries
+44 208 090 2156