IR Magazine

IR Magazine Awards – US
Celebrating IR Excellence

Thursday, March 25, 2021

Virtual event: Available on replay

About the awards

The IR Magazine Awards – US 2021 took place on Thursday, March 25 as a virtual awards ceremony. We once again brought together the investor relations community to celebrate and honor excellence in the IR profession.

Since the annual event first launched in 1996, tens of thousands of analysts and investors have voted in the surveys that fuel 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 the US.

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.

 


WINNERS CIRCLE – CLOSING BELL CEREMONY

We were delighted to partner with Nasdaq to host an exclusive winners circle event. Winners of our awards were invited to participate in the Nasdaq virtual closing bell-ringing ceremony on Tuesday, April 6.

Attendees had the opportunity to catch up with an intimate group of fellow award-winners, participate in a champagne toast and

hear from surprise guest speakers on what’s next for IR excellence. You can watch the ceremony again by clicking here.

Photography courtesy of Nasdaq, Inc.

What our virtual attendees say

"Great organisation. I was impressed by the intensity you put to create awareness of the event and ensure participation to the ceremony, as well as your ability to gather such a diverse population and large number of sponsors for a virtual event. Well done."

PRAEXO

"It was soo user friendly, engaging, exciting, and all around fun! The platform took a second to figure out but once I got the hang of it, it was seamless. Laurie was a fantastic MC and really made it enjoyable to watch. Everyone was awesome!"

Axon

"I liked that it was nicely planned out and it kept moving. We are all on zoom and video meetings all day so I appreciated the care that went into keeping us engaged and excited."

FIS

"I thought the program was brilliantly done and really enjoyed the networking session."

Anonymous

"Highly professional and efficient, user friendly format."

PMI Global Services

"We had a great time at the awards ceremony.  It was very well done.  Super fun!  "

Axon

"Fantastic event! Kuddos to the team!
"

8x8

"Interactive, entertaining!"

Telsey Advisory Group

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.

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

We are delighted to announce the winners for this year's awards.

View the full list of winners by clicking here

 

Best crisis management

Best crisis management

Have you recently dealt with an unexpected event threatening your company's business or reputation? How did your company respond to the Covid-19 pandemic? Tell us about your ‘crisis ready’ plan, the strategy you implemented when the storm hit, and how the IR team’s actions successfully protected or restored shareholder value.

Nominees

  • Ally Financial

  • Blackbaud

  • Hannon Armstrong

  • Hilton Worldwide Holdings

    WINNER

  • Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings


Sponsored by

Best ESG reporting

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?

Nominees

  • FIS

    WINNER

  • Hannon Armstrong

  • Henry Schein

  • Honeywell International

  • ONEOK

  • Philip Morris International

  • Verizon Communications


Sponsored by

Best investor event

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.

Nominees

  • Fiserv

  • Medtronic

  • Sempra Energy

  • Tractor Supply Company

    WINNER

  • Zillow Group


Sponsored by

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

  • First Horizon Corporation

  • Ideanomics

  • I-Mab Biopharma Co

  • T-Mobile US

    WINNER

  • Wright Medical Group

  • ZoomInfo Technologies


Sponsored by

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

  • Etsy

  • Intel Corporation

    WINNER

  • Tractor Supply Company

  • Voya Financial

  • Zebra Technologies Corp


Sponsored by

Best use of technology & social media for IR

Best use of technology & social media 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

  • Atlassian

  • Zoom Video Communications

    WINNER


Sponsored by

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 five years and has less than 10 years of professional experience.

Nominees

  • 1Life Healthcare, Rose Salzwedel

  • Amedisys, Nick Muscato

    JOINT WINNER

  • Atlassian, Martin Lam

  • Green Thumb Industries, Jennifer Dooley

  • Western Midstream Partners, Abby Dempsey

    JOINT WINNER


Sponsored by

Lifetime achievement

Lifetime achievement


Nominees

  • Maureen Wolff

    WINNER


Sponsored by

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

Click on the judges photos below to find out more


View our awards best practice guide for insights from our past winners and partnersAccess the guide

Lifetime achievement award

We are pleased to announce that this year’s lifetime achievement award winner is Maureen Wolff. 

Maureen is an accomplished visionary in the fields of investor relations and corporate communications with more than 30 years of success counseling C-level executives and directors to raise the level of their communications, build credibility and maximize shareholder value.  As a nationally recognized expert in the complex and ever-changing landscape of corporate governance and investor relations, Maureen is regularly called upon to bridge the intersection between the two fields. She has earned a reputation for providing clients with stellar advice on implementing best-in-class Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategies; navigating through proxy contests and activism campaigns; elevating proxy communications; raising capital and developing crisis communication strategies.

Read Maureen’s full bio here.

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 the US. 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.

If you have any questions on this process or wish to access our data sharing agreement, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. For any further queries about the research, please contact [email protected].

WINNERS ANNOUNCED

We are delighted to announce the winners for this year's awards.

View the full list of winners by clicking here

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 US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • Danaher

  • Equinix

  • Medtronic

    WINNER

  • Microsoft

  • Nvidia Corporation


Sponsored by

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 US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • American Airlines Group

  • Axon Enterprise

    WINNER

  • JB Hunt Transport Services

  • Owens Corning

  • United Airlines


Sponsored by

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 US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • Energy Recovery

  • Hersha Hospitality Trust

  • Koppers

  • Matador Resources Company

    WINNER

  • Stoneridge


Sponsored by

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 US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • Aptiv, Elena Rosman

  • Danaher, Matthew Gugino

    WINNER

  • Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Jill Slattery

  • Medtronic, Ryan Weispfenning


Sponsored by

Best investor relations officer (small to mid-cap)

Best investor relations officer (small to 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 US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • American Airlines Group, Daniel Cravens

    WINNER

  • Axon Enterprise, Andrea James

  • Horizon Therapeutics, Tina Ventura

  • JB Hunt Transport Services, Brad Delco

  • United Airlines, Michael Leskinen


Sponsored by

Best IR by a senior management team (large cap)

Best IR by a senior management team (large cap)

Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • Danaher, Rainer Blair, CEO & Matt McGrew, CFO

  • DR Horton, David Auld, CEO & Bill Wheat, CFO

  • Nvidia Corporation, Jensen Huang, CEO & Colette Kress, CFO

    WINNER

  • Teladoc Health, Jason Gorevic, CEO & Mala Murthy, CFO

  • Zimmer Biomet, Bryan Hanson, CEO & Suketu Upadhyay, CFO


Sponsored by

Best IR by a senior management team (small to mid-cap)

Best IR by a senior management team (small to mid-cap)

Market cap breakdown: Small cap = below US$2 bn / Mid-cap  = between US$2 bn and US$20 bn / Large cap = US$20 bn and over

Nominees

  • Ares Management Corporation, Michael Arougheti, CEO & Michael McFerran, CFO

  • Euronet Worldwide, Michael Brown, CEO & Rick Weller, CFO

  • Matador Resources Company, Joseph Foran, CEO & David Lancaster, CFO

  • Owens Corning, Brian Chambers, CEO & Kenneth Parks, CFO

    WINNER

  • Tempur Sealy International, Bhaskar Rao, CFO & Scott Thompson, CEO


Sponsored by

Most progress in IR

Most progress in IR


Nominees

  • Axon Enterprise

  • General Electric

    WINNER

  • JB Hunt Transport Services

  • Switch


Sponsored by

Best IR by a non-US company in the US market (excluding Canada)

Best IR by a non-US company in the US market (excluding Canada)


Nominees

  • adidas

  • BP

  • Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

  • Roche Holdings

    WINNER


Sponsored by

Best in sector: communications

Best in sector: communications


Nominees

  • Electronic Arts

  • Spotify Technology

  • Switch

  • Uber Technologies

    WINNER

  • Verizon Communications

Best in sector: consumer discretionary

Best in sector: consumer discretionary


Nominees

  • Aptiv

  • Axon Enterprise

  • DR Horton

  • Etsy

  • Hilton Worldwide Holdings

    WINNER

Best in sector: consumer staples

Best in sector: consumer staples


Nominees

  • Costco Wholesale Corporation

  • General Mills

  • PepsiCo

  • Philip Morris International

    WINNER

  • The Estée Lauder Companies


Sponsored by

Best in sector: energy

Best in sector: energy


Nominees

  • ConocoPhillips

  • Devon Energy Corporation

  • Diamondback Energy

  • Enterprise Products Partners

    WINNER

  • Matador Resources Company

  • Valero Energy Corporation


Sponsored by

Best in sector: financials

Best in sector: financials


Nominees

  • First Republic Bank

  • Goldman Sachs

  • JPMorgan Chase & Co

    WINNER

  • Progressive

  • The Blackstone Group

  • Voya Financial


Sponsored by

Best in sector: healthcare

Best in sector: healthcare


Nominees

  • Danaher

  • Johnson & Johnson

  • Medtronic

    WINNER

  • Pfizer

  • Teladoc Health

  • Zimmer Biomet


Sponsored by

Best in sector: industrials

Best in sector: industrials


Nominees

  • American Airlines Group

  • Cummins

    WINNER

  • General Electric

  • Honeywell International

  • Stanley Black & Decker

  • United Airlines


Sponsored by

Best in sector: materials

Best in sector: materials


Nominees

  • Ball Corporation

  • FMC Corporation

  • Newmont Mining Corporation

  • Owens Corning

    WINNER

  • The Sherwin-Williams Company

Best in sector: real estate

Best in sector: real estate


Nominees

  • American Tower Corporation

  • Equinix

    WINNER

  • Hersha Hospitality Trust

  • Host Hotels & Resorts

  • SBA Communications Corporation


Sponsored by

Best in sector: technology

Best in sector: technology


Nominees

  • Corning

  • Microsoft

  • Nvidia Corporation

    WINNER

  • Palo Alto Networks

  • PayPal

  • Salesforce.com


Sponsored by

Best in sector: utilities

Best in sector: utilities


Nominees

  • Eversource Energy

  • NextEra Energy

    WINNER

  • Xcel Energy

The first thing to explain is that our researched 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.

July 2020: 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. These details are combined with IHS Markets list of US investment community contacts to produce a total of around 50,000 investors and analysts.

September – November 2020: Telephone survey

The telephone survey then gets under way. The researchers conduct in-depth interviews with an additional 250 portfolio managers and analysts across the US. 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.

October 2020: Electronic survey

IR Magazine then conducts an electronic survey of buy-side and sell-side analysts and portfolio managers. The electronic survey typically receives 200 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 industry sector.

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.

January 2021: Short list compiled

IR Magazine receives the results in January and contacts the short-listed companies to give them the good news. The short list is then published to the entire IR community one month before the event.

 March 25, 2021: Winners announced

And finally… the winners are announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday, March 25, 2021!

March 2021: Report published

Shortly after the awards, the Investor Perception Study – US 2021 report is published and made available to IR Magazine subscribers.

 

Partners

Become a partner

Why partner with us?

The IR Magazine Awards – US brings together some of the most influential people in the IR community.

Partnering with us is the perfect way to raise your organization’s profile and cement your position in the IR community.

The unique buzz we create at our virtual awards enables you to:

  • Reach thousands of industry leaders through our multi-channel marketing campaign
  • Raise your organization’s profile with unrivalled brand exposure
  • Align yourself with those who excel in the industry
  • Put your brand in the spotlight and benefit from months of targeted, high profile publicity across multiple channels pre- and post-event.

We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience through the IR Magazine Awards – US. Get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 212 430 6865.

Who attended

Attendees at this event are leading IR practitioners from across the US. Each participant is someone with an established track record and a strategic IR role within their company.

Below is a sample of some of this year’s attendees:

Company Job title Company Job title
Henry Schein Chairman of the board and CEO Host Hotels & Resorts SVP, investor relations
Uber Technologies Director, head of investor relations The Estee Lauder Companies SVP, investor relations
Stoneridge Director, investor relations T-Mobile US SVP, investor relations
Hersha Hospitality Trust Director, investor relations Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings SVP, investor relations, ESG & corp comm
Xcel Energy Director, investor relations Palo Alto Networks SVP, investor relations, M&A finance
Medtronic EVP – chief financial officer Samsung Life Insurance US chief representative officer
FIS EVP, corporate finance and investor relations First Republic Bank VP, director of investor relations
Citi Global head DR IR JB Hunt Transport Services VP, finance & investor relations
adidas Head of investor relations ConocoPhillips VP, investor relations
Zoom Head of investor relations The Sherwin-Williams Company VP, investor relations
Intel Corporation Investor relations director Stanley Black & Decker VP, investor relations
Roche Holdings IR officer Atlassian VP, investor relations
Goldman Sachs Managing director, investor relations ZoomInfo VP, investor relations
Tractor Supply Company President & CEO American Tower Corporation VP, investor relations
CFA society San Diego Public awareness chair Zebra Technologies Corporation VP, investor relations
Better Capital First Senior director Switch VP, investor relations and FP&A
Ally Financial Senior director – IR CooperCompanies VP, investor relations and risk
Amedisys SVP of finance Equinix VP, investor relations and sustainability
Blackstone SVP, investor relations BP VP, investor relations, North America
Fiserv SVP, investor relations


Request full attendee list

Watch the show again

Don’t worry if you missed the virtual awards ceremony, you can view the full show below.

Register your interest for 2022

Please fill in the form below for updates about the IR Magazine Awards 2022.

If you have any questions, please contact Chloë Rutter at [email protected] or call +44 20 3002 0396.

 

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST


Coalition for the Homeless

IR Magazine are long-term supporters of the Coalition for the HomelessIn light of the Covid-19 outbreak, the coalition is doing all in its power to ensure that homeless New Yorkers get the help and protection they need during this crisis.

As our virtual awards are free to attend we encourage our guests to instead make a donation, of any size, directly to the coalition in place of the usual awards fee. To make a donation, please visit: coalitionforthehomeless.org/donate

Contact us

Privacy Policy

IR Media Group (USA) Inc, 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.