The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, according to the Scottish poet Robert Burns, and at the IR Magazine Awards – US 2021 the winners demonstrated excellence in their responses to the pandemic.
It’s customary at the IR Magazine Awards for there to be at least one company that takes home four or five trophies, but this year the 27 categories were split between 24 different companies. Four companies – Hilton Worldwide, Medtronic, Nvidia Corporation and Owens Corning – won two categories each.
Indeed, there are 11 new entrants in the top 20 companies as ranked in the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – US 2021, which details the independent research that supports the awards.
Medtronic, Axon and Matador Resources won the best overall investor relations awards in the large, mid and small-cap categories, respectively. In the individual categories, Matthew Gugino at Danaher won best large-cap IRO while American Airlines’ Daniel Cravens picked up the best IRO award in the small to mid-cap category. And Nvidia Corporation and Owens Corning won the awards for best IR by a senior management team in the large and small to mid-cap categories, respectively.
The IR Magazine Awards – US 2021 were held virtually on March 25, 202, marking the second time the awards have been staged in this way.
While many of the winners demonstrated remarkable resilience and transparency during such a turbulent year, the awards also recognized Maureen Wolff’s commitment to these values, and the IR profession’s development, crowning her this year’s lifetime achievement award winner. As CEO of Sharon Merrill Associates, Wolff has spent more than 30 years counselling C-suite executive about how to raise the level of their communications, build credibility and maximize shareholder value.
The IR Magazine Awards – US 2021 are decided using two different methodologies. The winners of the 20 awards-by-research categories are selected based on an independent survey of the investment community, while winners of the awards-by-nomination categories are selected by a judging panel based on entries from or on behalf of IR teams.
This year’s judges were:
- Ben Ashwell, editor, IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary
- Sally Curley, founder and CEO of Curley Global IR
- William Galligan, former IR professional at Kansas City Southern
- Gary LaBranche, president and CEO of NIRI
- Carol Murray-Negron, president of Equanimity.
Please click here for a full list of the nominees and winners of the IR Magazine Awards – US 2021.