Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA) today announced the winners of the 7th Investor Relations Awards 2021 (the IR Awards or the Awards).
Now in its seventh consecutive year, the Awards has been recognizing and honoring investor relations (IR) excellence and best practices among Hong Kong-listed companies and IR professionals. As the COVID-19 pandemic gradually eases, physical events have started to resume. This year’s IR Awards Conference and Awards Presentation Ceremony was held in a hybrid mode for the first time, where IR experts and professionals were invited to conduct discussions with regard to strategies, latest trends, effective processes and best practices of investor relations from different perspectives. HKIRA is particularly honored to have Dr. Kelvin Wong, Chairman and Non-Executive Director, Financial Reporting Council, as the guest of honor and keynote speaker at the Awards Presentation Ceremony.
The 7th IR Awards 2021 enjoyed widespread support from listed companies and the investment sector. A total of 167 companies participated in the Awards this year, reflecting a growing awareness of investor relations. Just like previous years, the award winners were first nominated by the public and then selected by eligible voters from buy-side and sell-side investors via online polling. Over 890 investors took part in the voting for award winners this year, representing a 33% jump from last year. The growing support demonstrates again the investor community’s recognition of the IR Awards.
Of all the award categories, “Overall Best IR Company” is the most prestigious since the judging panel makes their selection from the winners of all the award categories – honoring companies that have demonstrated exemplary and all-round excellence in investor relations. This year, the winners of Overall Best IR Company by company size – Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap – are China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (stock code: 00291); Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust (stock code: 00778); and Xtep International Holdings Limited (stock code: 01368) respectively.
With investor relations becoming an increasingly valued area for the industry, HKIRA has announced the launch of a new IR Pledge Program. The IR Pledge Program is designed to recognize Hong Kong-listed companies with a commitment to following best practices in investor relations. Ultimately, it aims to set a new benchmark in the investment community and act as a key identifier for investors to recognize companies that are willing to devote more resources in IR. The program is now supported by four industry peers, namely, Financial Services Development Council, CFA Society Hong Kong, Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute and Research Institute for Business of Hang Seng University. During the Awards Presentation Ceremony, a total of 12 companies were awarded the HKIRA Pledge Certificates. All of the awarded companies are IR Award-winning companies more than three times in the past years which demonstrated they are well-recognized by the investment community and confirmed their commitment to investor relations.
Dr Eva Chan, Founding Chairman of HKIRA, said, “We are certainly thrilled to be able to meet all of you in person again at our events this year. It’s been a while since we’ve organized a physical event of this scale where our member companies, IROs and friends of the investment community can gather in person. Besides, our events were also live streamed so that a wider audience could join us online, making this year’s event a hybrid one, which we believe is a post-pandemic new normal adopted widely in the financial industry. I would like to express my gratitude to the participation of various parties and their assistance provided during the preparation.”
Dr Chan added, “HKEX mentioned in its document issued in April of this year that in order to enhance investors’ understanding of a company’s decision-making process, listed companies are suggested to send experienced IROs to attend board meetings. We believe that such a move would help to further optimize investor relations work. Knowing how the board considers related issues and their decision-making process would help IROs in formulating their promotion strategies. Therefore, we hope that the suggestions made by HKEX and the insights offered by guest speakers will help the board or management of listed companies to improve internal communications with IROs.”
Strategic Public Relations Group is once again proud to be the Official Public Relations Partner and Diamond Sponsor of HKIRA IR Awards 2021.
Winners of the 7th IR Awards include the following companies (in sequential order of tickers):
Tickers / Company
14 Hysan Development Company Limited
16 Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited
17 New World Development Company Limited
35 Far East Consortium International Limited
102 Summit Ascent Holdings Limited
135 Kunlun Energy Company Limited
178 Sa Sa International Holdings Limited
291 China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited
388 Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited
486 United Company RUSAL Plc
551 Yue Yuen Industrial (Holdings) Limited
659 NWS Holdings Limited
700 Tencent Holdings Limited
726 DIT Group Limited
778 Fortune Real Estate Investment Trust
806 Value Partners Group Limited
823 Link Real Estate Investment Trust
868 Xinyi Glass Holdings Limited
887 Emperor Watch & Jewellery Limited
968 Xinyi Solar Holdings Limited
1044 Hengan International Group Company Limited
1070 TCL Electronics Holdings Limited
1112 Health and Happiness (H&H) International Holdings Limited
1200 Midland Holdings Limited
1337 Razer Inc.
1361 361 Degrees International Limited
1368 Xtep International Holdings Limited
1381 Canvest Environmental Protection Group Company Limited
1383 Suncity Group Holdings Limited
1458 Zhou Hei Ya International Holdings Company Limited
1608 VPower Group International Holdings Limited
1788 Guotai Junan International Holdings Limited
1810 Xiaomi Corporation
1811 CGN New Energy Holdings Co., Ltd.
1971 Redsun Services Group Limited
1996 Redsun Properties Group Limited
2020 ANTA Sports Products Limited
2103 Sinic Holdings (Group) Company Limited
2313 Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited
2628 China Life Insurance Company Limited
2688 ENN Energy Holdings Limited
2778 Champion Real Estate Investment Trust
3383 Agile Group Holdings Limited
3868 Xinyi Energy Holdings Limited
3913 KWG Living Group Holdings Limited
6158 Zhenro Properties Group Limited
6958 Zhenro Services Group Limited
For the complete list of winners, please visit: http://www.hkira.com/awards/ehall2021.php
Judging Panel
Professor Louis Cheng (Chairman of Judging Panel)
The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong – Dr. S H Ho Professor of Banking and Finance, Director of Research Institute for Business
Mr. Daryl Choy
Tricor Services Limited – Chief Marketing Officer
Mrs. Amy Donati
EDICO Holdings Limited – Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer
Ms. Ashley Khoo, CFA, CPA
CFA Society Hong Kong – Past President and Board Director
Mr. Bruno Lee
Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited – Regional Head of Retail Wealth Distribution, WAM Asia
Hong Kong Investment Funds Association – Past Chairman
Mr. Andrew Look
CITIC Resources Holdings Limited – Independent Non-Executive Director
Ms. Victoria Mio, CFA, FRM
FIL Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited – Director, Asia Equity
Mr. Wilfred Yiu
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited – Managing Director and Head of Markets
Ms. Helen Zee
Luk Fook Capital (HK) Limited – Managing Director
The Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies – Past Vice-Chairman
About HKIRA
Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA) is a non-profit professional association comprising investor relations practitioners and corporate officers responsible for communication between corporate management and the investment community. HKIRA advocates the setting of international standards in IR education, advances the best IR practices and meets the professional development needs of those interested in pursuing the investor relations profession.
HKIRA is dedicated to advancing the practice of IR as well as the professional competency and status of its members. To date, HKIRA has over 1,000 members most of whom are working for companies primarily listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. About 68% of the Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock companies are currently members of HKIRA. HKIRA’s members are from a wide spectrum of professions including IR, finance, accounting, company secretarial to corporate investment and hold positions at different corporate levels, including top executives responsible for IR and management of listed companies. For more information about HKIRA details, please visit our website http://www.hkira.com.
About the IR Awards
The HKIRA Investor Relations Awards (the “IR Awards”) is an annual campaign that aims to encourage, recognize and reward the excellence in investor relations practices by individuals and companies listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Since the launch in 2015, each year the Awards seeks out and highlights the incredible achievements of individuals and companies with high standards in investor relations through their role modelling to the investment community.
The Awards ceremony, consisting of a conference in the morning and presentation in the afternoon, is a spectacular gathering of IR specialists and industry professionals that applauds and publicizes the year’s achievements in investor relations. For details of the Awards and online nominations, please visit http://www.hkira.com/awards.
Media enquiries:
Strategic Public Relations Group
Cindy Lung T: +852 2864 4867 E: cindy.lung@sprg.com.hk
Rachel Ko T: +852 2114 2370 E: rachel.ko@sprg.com.hk
Rachel Lau T: +852 2864 4824 E: rachel.lau@sprg.com.hk
W: www.sprg.asia
Hong Kong Investor Relations Association
Mandy Lee Tel: (852) 2117 1846 Email: irawards@hkira.com
W: www.hkira.com