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

Download our awards entry pack for more information, including awards timeline, tips and ideasDownload entry pack

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.

BEST ANNUAL REPORT - OPEN FOR ENTRIES

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.

View the full list of 2022 winners by clicking here

awards-by-nomination Categories
How winners are chosen

Best annual report

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.

Best ESG reporting

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

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!

Best investor event

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Meet the judges

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.

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.

How do I submit a list?Please send an Excel file with the name, firm, direct telephone number and email address of your contacts to [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].

View the full list of 2022 winners by clicking here

Researched categories
How the winners are chosen

Best overall investor relations

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

Best investor relations officer

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