On March 22 the US investor relations community braved the slushy aftermath of an unseasonable snowstorm – and widespread flight delays – to gather in recognition of the best and brightest in the profession. Danaher and Wright Medical Group took home three awards each, the former winning best overall investor relations (large cap), best corporate governance and best IR in the healthcare sector. The latter won best overall investor relations (midcap), best use of technology and social media, and best investor relations officer (small & mid-cap) for Julie Tracy, the company’s senior vice president and chief communications officer.
JPMorgan Chase & Co won best IR by a senior management team (large cap), recognizing the efforts of its CEO Jamie Dimon and CFO Marianne Lake, and best IR in the financials (including real estate) sector. Salesforce.com also netted two awards: senior vice president of investor relations John Cummings took home the best investor relations officer (large cap) award and the company won best in sector – technology.
William Galligan, who retired this year after more than 20 years in IR at Kansas City Southern, received the lifetime achievement award. He most recently served as the company’s vice president of investor relations. Blackbaud’s director of investor relations Mark Furlong won the rising star award, having proven to be an influential IR professional as well as an early recipient of the NIRI Investor Relations Charter credential.
The best overall investor relations awards were rounded out by World Wrestling Entertainment, which took home the small-cap gong.
Awards by research
Best overall investor relations (large cap): Danaher
What the investment community says: ‘Danaher always sends an email after each press release and earnings presentation with need-to-know key points. This is very useful for investors and analysts’ – sell side
Best overall investor relations (mid cap): Wright Medical Group
What the investment community says: ‘Wright’s IR is so proactive it calls us before earnings calls and then asks us for feedback. It is also very responsive and always willing to give us its time’ – sell side
Best overall investor relations (small cap): World Wrestling Entertainment
What the investment community says: ‘It’s a small company but WWE has a strong IR team. And CFO George Barrios is excellent’ – sell side
Best investor relations officer (large cap): John Cummings, Salesforce.com
What the investment community says: ‘Salesforce’s IRO, John Cummings, really knows his stuff. He is so well organized, as is the whole company. This runs down from the top and there is always a friendly face’ – sell side
Best investor relations officer (small & mid cap): Julie Tracy, Wright Medical Group
What the investment community says: ‘Wright Medical communicates well. The IR, led by Julie Tracy, is very accessible and refreshingly straightforward’ – sell side
Best IR by a senior management team (large cap): Jamie Dimon, CEO, & Marianne Lake, CFO, JPMorgan Chase & Co
What the investment community says: ‘Jamie Dimon has this ability to break down very complex things that are going on at JPMorgan in a human and straightforward way’ – buy side
Best IR by a senior management team (small & mid-cap): Leonard Comma, CEO, and Jerry Rebel, CFO, Jack in the Box
What the investment community says: ‘According to investor consensus, the CEO of Jack in the Box is the best’ – sell side
Best use of technology and social media for IR: Wright Medical Group
What the investment community says: ‘Wright Medical makes the biggest effort in its use of technology in communications’ – sell side
Best corporate governance: Danaher
What the investment community says: ‘The communications from Danaher about corporate governance are always clear and the strategy is fully explained’ – buy side
Most progress in IR: Citigroup
What the investment community says: ‘Although Citigroup had been providing good financial reporting and investor materials for several years, IRO Susan Kendall has made a huge difference to its IR: she convinced management to do the first investor day in many years’ – sell side
Best sustainability practice: Starbucks
What the investment community says: ‘Starbucks communicates efficiently on all IR matters but it’s especially good at explaining its sustainability strategy. The IR team is timely with responses and management is super-accessible’ – sell side
Best IR during a corporate transaction: Abbott – acquisition of St Jude Medical, January 2017
What the investment community says: ‘Abbott’s completed acquisition of St Jude Medical is perceived as strengthening Abbott’s future growth prospects’ – sell side
Best IR for an IPO: BlackLine
What the investment community says: ‘The CEO and founder, Therese Tucker, has the ability to explain the company really well. BlackLine makes accounting software, which could be considered pretty boring, but she makes it interesting and understandable’ – sell side
Best IR by a non-North American company in the US market: TechnipFMC
What the investment community says: ‘FMC used to be a US company and it still has its base in Houston, so I guess that makes it easier for it to do IR here. It certainly does it well’ – buy side
Awards by sector
Communications: T-Mobile US
What the investment community says: ‘T-Mobile is available, transparent and manages Street expectations very well’ – buy side
Consumer discretionary: McDonald’s
What the investment community says: ‘McDonald’s has all the IR resources and uses them to our advantage’ – sell side
Consumer staples: Philip Morris International
What the investment community says: 'There is good consistency and transparency from Philip Morris. They are also responsive to questions and investors’ needs generally. An IR role model' - buy side
Energy: ConocoPhillips
What the investment community says: ‘Consistent in its diligent communications with us and in meetings, it matters to ConocoPhillips that we understand the company’ – sell side
Financials (including real estate): JPMorgan Chase & Co
What the investment community says: ‘Most of the banks are pretty homogenous, but JPMorgan stands apart with its clean, clear and completely straightforward communications of its financial position’ – buy side
Healthcare: Danaher
What the investment community says: ‘A lot of effort goes into Danaher’s IR. On site visits it demonstrates operational strategies and shows examples of business systems. All of this is very interesting and helpful’ – buy side
Industrials: Fortive
What the investment community says: ‘Fortive has strong presentations and the IR team understands what investors want’ – buy side
Materials: International Paper
What the investment community says: ‘At International Paper there is good transparency and the IR team is proactive and very knowledgeable’ – sell side
Technology: Salesforce.com
What the investment community says: ‘The main IR guy at Salesforce and his team do everything really well. In fact, the whole organization runs well’ – sell side
Utilities: Sempra Energy
Awards by nomination
Lifetime achievement: William Galligan, Kansas City Southern
During William Galligan’s 20-plus years with Kansas City Southern, he has seen the company’s market cap grow, its analyst coverage increase and its business expand internationally. Now retired, Galligan dedicated his final years at the company to mentoring next-generation talent.
Rising star: Mark Furlong, Blackbaud
When Mark Furlong joined Blackbaud in 2014, he was the company’s first in-house IR professional. He called peers, mentors and contacts on the Street to put together a playbook for how IR at Blackbaud should evolve. Four years later, the company’s market cap has increased from less than $2 bn to $5 bn. Furlong was also part of the inaugural class of NIRI’s IRC credential.
Best crisis management: Banc of California
Banc of California endured a convergence of challenging situations, including an activist investor, a rogue blogger, the departure of the company’s CEO and CFO, and the replacement of five out of nine board members. A year later, the stock price had returned to the level it was at pre-crisis, thanks in part to the IR team’s frank communications with the Street.
Best investor meetings: Honeywell
Honeywell’s aerospace business had underperformed in 2016 and one activist was suggesting it should be spun off. Honeywell arranged an analyst day at its hangar in New Jersey, where it showcased its R&D efforts by taking investors for brief flights in the company’s aircraft to showcase the new onboard technology.
Best financial reporting: Zillow Group
Zillow’s IR people are innovators, and that shines through in the company’s financial reporting. Not afraid to experiment with new tools – from being the first company to source questions during an earnings call on Twitter to experimenting with a question-voting system where earnings call participants can select which questions they want management to answer – the IR team’s financial reporting stands out.
To find out more about the winners’ approach to IR, including a survey of their resources and objectives, subscribe to IR Magazine now to receive a copy of the Award-Winning IR – US 2018 report. Contact Reece Tan on +44 20 8004 5337 or email reece.tan@irmagazine.com.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2018 issue of IR Magazine.
Editor's note: this article was updated on November 27 to reflect Philip Morris International's win in the Consumer Staples sector.
