Candice de Monts-Petit reports on IR Magazine‘s annual awards in Asia
The end of the year is the season for IR Magazine’s much-awaited Asian awards and conferences, which took place last December in Singapore and Hong Kong, at Singapore Exchange and the Conrad Hotel, respectively.
Between 150 and 200 people attended the highly anticipated ceremonies, where the IROs and other delegates from winning companies in South East Asia and Greater China came up on stage to collect their prizes for outstanding IR performance.
The South East Asia awards, traditionally a winning arena for Singaporean firms, this year saw twice the number of companies outside the island state enter the South East Asia Top 25 list, with Malaysian banks CIMB and Public Bank, the Philippines’ PLDT and Thailand’s Kasikornbank and Minor International each taking home at least one award, and Malaysia’s AmBank Group making several short lists.
The regional top spot, however, went for the second year in a row to SingTel, which bagged a total of five awards – including the grand prix for large-cap firms – closely followed by fellow Singaporeans DBS and CapitaLand, each claiming three awards.
At the Greater China event, the regular top rankers from the Top 30 list – TSMC, Delta Electronics, China Resources Enterprise, Agile Property and Lenovo, to name a few – stood their ground, unchallenged.
This year, however, the rankings were shaken up by PetroChina, Pacific Basin Shipping and China Minsheng Banking Corp, which skyrocketed from unranked to the fourth, seventh and eighth positions, respectively.
China Telecom created an even bigger surprise, rising from eighth place in the 2011 regional rankings to the top of this year’s chart, winning an impressive six awards and dominating the IR Magazine Asia Top 50 (see table below).
A conference arranged around panel discussions and moderated by Neil Stewart, IR Magazine’s editorial director, took place during the day before each event (see Think tank comes to Singapore, below and Long-term stories amid macro noise, below, for details).
The IR Magazine Asia Top 50
The IR Magazine Asia Top 50 is a new benchmark introduced in 2011 in order to give recognition to companies that score well across the board overall, as well as to those that win one or more of the awards.
The IR league table ranks all the companies included in the Asia research, based upon the same criteria that go into determining the award winners at both the Greater China and the South East Asia awards. Below are the 10 top rankers for 2012.
Click to enlarge
This year, companies from greater China and Singapore again make up a large majority of the Top 50 list, with the notable exceptions of Malaysia’s Public Bank and Thailand’s Kasikornbank. China Telecom shines brightly, climbing from its 15th place last year to gain pole position with both the highest score and the most awards.
Other impressive upward leaps include PetroChina and China Minsheng Banking Corp – which enter the Top 50 in fourth and 10th place, respectively, China Resources Enterprise, Lenovo and Hong Kong-based Pacific Basin Shipping.
Singaporean telecoms giant SingTel, which topped the chart in 2011, as well as other award-winning regulars such as Taiwanese semiconductor major TSMC and Singaporean financial group DBS, all remain highly ranked in the top 10 this year.
It is worth noting that every company in the top 10 has won at least one award; in 2011 three of the top 10 – OCBC, CapitaMall Trust and Delta Electronics – did not win a single award between them.
For a full list of the winners by region, please visit www.irmagazine.com/gchina and www.irmagazine.com/seasia. The full rankings also appear in the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – Asia 2012/2013, a 103-page report featuring in-depth interviews with IROs and senior executives from highly ranked companies.
Greater China winners
China Telecom
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – large cap
Best investor relations by a mainland Chinese company
Best investor relations officer – mainland China
Best investor relations by a CEO or president – mainland China
Best investor relations by a CFO – mainland China
Best in sector – technologies & telecoms
Asia Top 50 ranking: 1
What the investment community says
‘China Telecom ticks all the boxes: access, delivery, corporate governance and excellent management’
What the company says
‘We shall continue to strive for dual leadership in innovation and service to achieve scale development and enhance value to our customers and shareholders’ – Wang Xiaochu, CEO
Delta Electronics
Best investor relations officer – Taiwan
Best investor relations by a CEO or president – Taiwan
Asia Top 50 ranking: 3
What the investment community says
‘I tend to meet senior management at Delta four to six times a year, which is well above average. It also hosts plenty of roadshows and investor conferences’
What the company says
‘Our former CEO [now chairman] understands the strategic importance of IR. He maintains a consistent exposure to investors, hosting quarterly analyst meetings, attending investment forums and traveling abroad two or three times a year to meet major investors and potential ones’ – Rodney Liu, IR manager
China Minsheng Banking Corp
Best in sector – banks & financial services
Asia Top 50 ranking: 10
What the investment community says
‘Minsheng discloses its banking activities every month. It has the most regular updates of all my companies’
PetroChina
Best in sector – energy
Asia Top 50 ranking: 4
What the investment community says
‘Wei Fang and Brian Xing are always exceptionally responsive and helpful’
What the company says
‘Our goal is to achieve a 100 percent response rate to investors’ visits and queries’ – Mao Zefeng (pictured), head of IR and senior assistant secretary to the board
TSMC
Best investor relations by a Taiwanese company
Best investor relations by a CFO – Taiwan
Best corporate literature
Best use of technology
Best investment community meetings
Asia Top 50 ranking: 2
What the investment community says
‘The CFO at TSMC is insightful about industry developments and IR uses technology creatively to keep me informed’
What the company says
‘At TSMC both the CEO and CFO always present quarterly earnings releases, and spend a considerable amount of time in preparing them, collecting data and carefully thinking about how the questions should be answered. That shows respect and dedication to shareholders’ – Elizabeth Sun (pictured), head of IR
Lenovo
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid or small cap
Best investor relations during a corporate transaction
Asia Top 50 ranking: 7
What the investment community says
‘The IR team at Lenovo gets back to you quickly about any requests or queries. Team members have taken the time to understand analyst expectations and put in the effort to communicate’
What the company says
‘We invited a few key investors and sell-side analysts to join our leadership workshop within the company, so they can share market and product trends with us. They have been in the industry for a long time, so talking to them helps us greatly to broaden our scope’ – Gary Ng, vice president of investor relations
Agile Property
Best in sector – real estate
Asia Top 50 ranking: 15
What the investment community says
‘Agile’s IR team, Jacky Chan and Maggie Mui, provide great corporate access to investors. Mui is very approachable, patient and helpful in providing timely and detailed information and data’
What the company says
‘We’ve been truly devoted to discussing and sharing ideas with the investment community in a frank and open manner. We are also proactive in gathering constructive views to optimize investor relations with regards to best practice and understanding market concerns’ – Domingo Chen, deputy head of capital markets and corporate affairs
China Resources Enterprise
Best investor relations by a Hong Kong company
Best investor relations officer – Hong Kong
Best in sector – consumer goods & services
Asia Top 50 ranking: 5
What the investment community says
‘Comprehensive IR program at CRE, including reverse roadshows, which no one else does and we find really useful’
What the company says
‘We’ve been actively participating in investor conferences, particularly in Hong Kong and China. This allows us to maximize client exposure within a minimal time’ – Vincent Tse, head of IR
Pacific Basin Shipping
Best investor relations by a CEO or president – Hong Kong
Best IR by a CFO – Hong Kong
Best corporate governance and disclosure
Best in sector – industrials, logistics & transport
Asia Top 50 ranking: 9
What the company says
‘We are in a cyclical industry and investors are trying to work out when the turning point will be, so it’s important for firms like us to be engaging continually’ – Andrew Broomhead (pictured), CFO
Long-term stories amid macro noiseAs IR professionals convened for the IR Magazine Conference – Greater China in Hong Kong in early December, it was against the backdrop of continued uncertainty, from China’s slowdown to the European debt crisis to the US fiscal cliff. Thus the theme of the event is best summed up by the subject of one of the panel discussions: making your long-term story heard above the macro noise.Chris Bailey, head of global direct investments at Close Brothers Asset Management in London, spoke from the perspective of a global fund manager, at a time when investment mandates are increasingly global. He described how investors in his position perhaps don’t see opportunities in fast-growing areas like China from a regional point of view, so companies may have to tailor their message to be less bullish. On the other hand, in a panel focusing on investment strategies and fund flows, Michael Liang, chief investment officer of Foundation Asset Management, fresh from a Bloomberg Television interview in which he said a bull market for Chinese equities was under way, stated that as the market gradually recovers, investors will be willing to take on more risks, such as smaller companies with higher beta. Clarence Yang, head of corporate governance for Asia ex-Japan and a member of the corporate governance and responsible investment team at BlackRock, said the integration of ESG factors in investing is happening faster in Asia than in it is in Europe. Egregious examples, whether they’re accounting issues, short-selling, environmental mishaps or labor issues, are clearer in Asia so, from a practical point of view, ESG strategies are imperative here. |
South East Asia winners
DBS
Best investor relations by a CEO or president
Best investor relations during a corporate transaction
Best in sector – banks & financial services
Asia Top 50 ranking: 8
What the investment community says
‘There is improved transparency at DBS due to the appointment of the new CEO who understands our need to know about each division and operational unit. He tries hard to keep us in the loop’
What the company says
‘This year, key business heads were introduced to speak at IR meetings, an initiative aimed at giving the investment community a better feel for the quality of our company’s management team’ – Michael Sia, senior vice president of IR
Frasers Centrepoint Trust
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid or small cap (jointly)
What the investment community says
‘Track record of minority shareholder treatment is top, as is access to properties and willingness to organize property tours’
What the company says
‘We have adopted a very open and flexible communications approach with our investors, as well as stepping up our efforts in providing more and timely information about our business and our views about the sector we operate in’ – Chen Fung-Leng, head of IR and research
Minor International
Best in sector – consumer goods & services (including retail)
What the investment community says
‘Very high standard of information disclosure at Minor International, as well as a high degree of openness, and very friendly’
What the company says
‘We are part of the strategic planning unit. We don’t just go out and speak about our strategy; we also try to get feedback on what is going on in the industry. We’ve been getting lots of updates about competitors, business trends and business opportunities’ – Jutatip Adulbhan, IR director
Singapore Airlines
Best in sector – transport
Asia Top 50 ranking: 39
What the investment community says
‘There is a large IR team at Singapore Airlines and it is well versed in company knowledge and can answer difficult questions’
CIMB
Best investor relations by a Malaysian company
Asia Top 50 ranking: 14
What the investment community says
‘Top management at CIMB goes the extra mile to communicate with shareholders. Steven Tan, the head of IR, does an excellent job juggling the organizational issues and also presenting the company’s message and financial information’
What the company says
‘We are very proactive. We know our investors well, we know what they want, we know what they need. Our success factor has been making sure they all get what they need, and more’ – Steven Tan, head of IR
PLDT
Best investor relations by a Philippine company
What the investment community says
‘PLDT is very knowledgeable and accessible, and provides very thorough disclosure’
What the company says
‘We have always been accessible to our investors, not only when things look good, but also – more importantly – when there are issues facing the business. Our level of disclosure in our management discussion and analysis is quite extensive’ – Melissa Vergel de Dios, vice president and head of IR
SingTel
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – large cap
Best corporate literature
Best use of technology
Best corporate governance and disclosure
Best in sector – technologies & telecoms
Asia Top 50 ranking: 6
What the investment community says
‘There is a consistency of information disclosure from SingTel that makes modeling the company easier’
What the company says
‘In addition to the regular face-to-face meetings we hold, SingTel commissions an annual investor perception study conducted by an independent consultant, in order to gather feedback from institutional investors and financial analysts. In these studies, we also ask investors to benchmark us against our peer group and tell us what they would like the company and the IR department to do more or less of’ – Sin Yang Fong, vice president of IR and corporate communications
StarHub
Best investor relations officer
Asia Top 50 ranking: 13
What the investment community says
‘Starhub has highly proactive IR. For instance, when there are any policy changes, the IR people contact us to let us know immediately so we don’t have to wait for the press release’
What the company says
‘Because we are StarHub, we felt compelled to be the first to have our annual report app on both the Android and iOS platforms. If we don’t walk the talk, who will?’ – Jeannie Ong (pictured), head of corporate communications and IR
Keppel Corporation
Best in sector – diversified industrials (including energy & agriculture)
Asia Top 50 ranking: 30
What the investment community says
‘Keppel provides interactive quarterly conference calls with plenty of access to management at results’
What the company says
‘As part of their training and development, we rotate our people across the department and to our business units in Singapore and overseas. This ensures they are given wide exposure and are well versed in the group’s businesses’ – Ying Ying Chua, assistant general manager of group corporate communications
Kasikornbank
Best investor relations by a Thai company
Asia Top 50 ranking: 34
What the investment community says
‘Meetings are arranged both before and after the results announcements and the firm gives us guidance about economics and the company’
What the company says
‘I believe the IR function reflects the relationship between the whole organization – as primarily represented by the CEO – and the shareholders. When the CEO at Kasikornbank clearly signals that the IR function is a part of his duties, the tone is set from the top, and Kasikornbank’s commitment to its shareholders is established’ – Dr Adit Laixuthai, chief investor relations officer
XL Axiata
Best investor relations by an Indonesian company
What the company says
‘Our management is actively involved in IR activity and engages directly with investors and analysts. There is always a balanced view and clear alignment with our strategy and execution that translates into our engagement and communications with the management team’ – Feiruz Ikhwan, head of IR
CapitaLand
Best investor relations by a CFO
Best investment community meetings
Best in sector – real estate
Asia Top 50 ranking: 11
What the investment community says
‘CapitaLand excels at technology and even provides a CD-Rom for analysts to help with analysis. In terms of disclosure, it is transparent and willing to divulge information’
What the company says
‘There generally seems to be a disproportionate amount of focus and attention on equity investors. In this day and age, as capital comes from both equity and debt investors, we make it a point to also target bond holders, which participate very strongly in all our board issues’ – Arthur Lang, CFO
Keppel Land
Grand prix for best overall investor relations – mid or small cap (jointly)
What the investment community says
‘Keppel Land began as a small subsidiary but has grown considerably in both China and Singapore. It has built itself a good name, and management gives excellent presentations. When you sit down with the firm, it explains strategy and how it is going to deliver it’
Think tank comes to SingaporeTargeting investors with buying power and interest in a stock like yours is the bread and butter of IR. But will they stick with your company as it evolves? At the recent IR Magazine Conference – South East Asia in Singapore, the common undercurrent in the discussions was the importance of finding investors that will still be a good fit as your strategy and business transform.Cameron Tough, head of IR at Indonesia’s Adaro Energy, likened looking for long-term investors to a finance director matching his company’s assets to its underlying funding. For example, as Adaro pivoted from coal mining to energy and partnered with a Japanese company, it began taking more trips to Japan to meet energy investors. Joseph Chia, general manager of the Investor Relations Professionals Association (Singapore), called this practice ‘alignment’; and Eugene Seah from Nomura’s Asia ex-Japan corporate and investor access team talked about managing investor expectations relative to the company’s outlook while forecasting your upcoming shareholder mix and preparing for it. Arthur Lang, CapitaLand’s group CFO and winner of the best IR by a CFO award, presented the C-suite’s view, saying the greatest value an IRO can bring is to understand what drives his/her firm as well as the key risks and challenges, so that it can be communicated both internally and externally. In a first for this event, two sessions followed IR Magazine’s think tank format, with the audience participating in roundtable discussions around the key themes of demonstrating IR performance and optimizing the shareholder base. |
Candice de Monts-Petit
Candice de Monts-Petit joined IR Magazine as a senior editor in 2012. Prior to this, she worked in investor relations, first as an IRO for oil and gas firms in Paris and Moscow and subsequently as an IR consultant in London. She graduated in business...
