Small- and mid-cap firms lead the way at gala event celebrating the best IR practitioners in the US capital markets
Newmark Group and Central Garden & Pet Company emerged as the frontrunners at the IR Impact Awards – US 2026, with both companies picking up three trophies each at a gala event in New York City.
Both companies picked up the best overall investor relations trophies, with Newmark, a Nasdaq-listed real estate advisory company, taking home the mid-cap award and the title of best in sector – real estate. The firm’s head of investor relations Jason McGruder was also named best investor relations officer (mid cap).
Central Garden & Pet, meanwhile, won the grand prix for best overall investor relations (small cap) and the best investor relations officer (small cap) award for Friederike Edelmann, vice president of investor relations and corporate sustainability, as well as the title of best in sector – consumer discretionary.
Behind them were a quartet of companies each picking up two gongs. Newmont Corporation, the world’s largest gold mining company, scooped the awards for best overall investor relations (large cap) and best in sector – materials, while energy firm Chevron’s Jake Spiering was named best investor relations officer (large cap).
Online marketplace Etsy won recognition for best IR website, while its senior director of investor relations Sarah Marx shared the rising star award with FedEx’s Matt DeBerry. Mining and construction equipment maker Caterpillar came out on top in the best investor event (large cap) category and was named best in sector – industrials.
The well-contested best IR impact award, which recognizes IR teams which go above and beyond to deliver strategic impact at their companies, was awarded to medical technology company Orthofix Medical.
For a full list of winners, click here.
The IR Impact Awards – US 2026 recognized leading IR practitioners across 32 categories at a black-tie event held at the Ciprani 25 Broadway in New York City.
Those awards are split into two distinct categories – researched and nominated awards – both celebrating companies that are leading the way in IR across the US. In both categories, any publicly listed company in the US had the opportunity to win an IR Impact award.
For researched categories, companies did not submit nominations but instead were hand-picked by hundreds of analysts and investors who cast their votes in a national survey conducted by IR Impact.
The nominated categories, meanwhile, invited companies to submit written entries to articulate their success and achievements over the past year. The winning entries were picked by a panel of expert judges.
This year’s judging panel comprised:
- Sally Curley, CEO, Curley Global IR
- Matt Latino, VP, finance and CFO Americas, Xylem
- Carol Murray-Negron, president, Equanimity
- Thaddeus Pollock, executive vice president, head of equities
- Maureen Wolff, CEO, Sharon Merrill Associates
- Laurie Havelock, editor, IR Impact.
Winners of the best overall investor relations and best IR professional awards were also admitted to the IR Impact Hall of Fame, an exclusive alum organization reserved for best-in-class IR teams.
For full details of the awards process, click here.
