IR professionals from three markets – mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – came together in December for the final IR Magazine events of the year: the Greater China Awards & Conference.
On this occasion, it was a mainland firm that came out on top at the awards: state-owned China Telecom, which counts hundreds of millions of Chinese people as customers, walked away with four awards including the coveted trophy for best overall investor relations by a large cap. China Telecom also rose to the top of the Greater China Top 30, a regional ranking of IR departments based on the total scores across all awards categories.
Other big winners on the day included Far East Consortium International, which claimed best overall IR for a small or mid-cap, and perennial favorite Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, which won for best use of technology plus two further awards.
As is the case each year, the winners and nominees were decided by an independent survey of portfolio managers, buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts who cover Asian companies. The full research behind the awards can be found in the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – Asia 2016/2017. The report includes rankings for more than 90 Greater China companies and verbatim comments from the investors and analysts who voted.
For all the photos from the night, see the gallery on our event mini-site.
Greater China Awards
Best overall investor relations
Large cap: China Telecom
What the investment community says:
‘Consistently among the best state-owned enterprises in terms of investor relations’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Small & mid-cap: Far East Consortium International
What the investment community says:
‘Far East Consortium International is very professional in its investor relations. It’s transparent and fast in its responses to investors’ needs’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Best investor relations officer
Large cap: Cathay Financial Holding – Sophie Chen
What the investment community says:
‘Very responsive and helpful IRO, far above the average’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Small & mid-cap: Far East Consortium International – Venus Zhao
What the investment community says:
‘Far East’s IRO is very professional. We get timely updates and good, transparent information’ – Hong Kong, buy side
Best IR by a senior management team
China Unicom – Xiaochu Wang, CEO
What the investment community says:
‘We get impressive presentations from top management at China Unicom’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Best financial reporting
China Telecom
What the investment community says:
‘We get monthly operating figures from China Telecom and updates are sent out regularly’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Best use of technology
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
What the investment community says:
‘All TSMC’s IR is first class – but that’s especially true of its use of technology: everything’s on the website and the company will even organize a video meeting for you if you have to miss something’ – Hong Kong, buy side
Best investor meetings
China Telecom
What the investment community says:
‘China Telecom holds lots of meetings – and good ones, at that. It updates us regularly and the meetings range widely in terms of what’s covered’ – Hong Kong, sell side
Best corporate governance
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
What the investment community says:
‘TSMC has very thorough disclosure, telling us the good with the bad. And that builds trust’ – Hong Kong, buy side
Best in sector
- Communications: China Telecom n Consumer staples & consumer
- Discretionary: Anta Sports
- Energy, industrials & materials: Kerry Logistics
- Financials: Cathay Financial Holding
- Real estate: Far East Consortium International
- Technology: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Conference recap
Earlier on the day of the awards, IR Magazine held its Greater China Conference where IROs, investors and brokers chewed over the changing face of investor relations in the region.
Liu Li-Gang, managing director and chief China economist at Citi, kicked off proceedings with a talk about macroeconomic opportunities and challenges in 2017. His speech covered a range of areas from how oil prices have affected sovereign wealth fund holdings to the outlook for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program.
In another session, Volkswagen, HSBC and Pacific Basin Shipping discussed ways to maximize the impact of your IR program. Emily Lau, IR and communications manager at Pacific Basin, said companies should make the most of sell-side relationships to bring in market feedback and bolster targeting programs. She also suggested companies consider extending their reach by using technology – for example, by using live webcasts for results presentations.
More tech talk came later when Venus Zhao, head of IR and corporate finance at Far East Consortium, gave a presentation on using social media and messenger apps for investor communications. Chinese companies are arguably the most advanced in this area, with many using platforms like Weibo and WeChat to engage with the market. Of vital importance, said Zhao, is to develop a corporate disclosure policy, with a clear explanation of roles and responsibilities across different departments.
The conference ended with two IR Magazine Award winners, China Unicom and Singapore’s CapitaLand, offering case studies of their investor relations programs – useful insight for any company hoping to be among the nominees in 2017.
This article appeared in the spring 2017 issue of IR Magazine
