The IR Magazine Awards – South East Asia will once again welcome more than 150 attendees on December 7, bringing together the investor relations community from across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand – this internationally renowned event will look at the very best the IR community has to offer through our forum and awards.
With each judge a powerhouse in their own right, the following experts will be taking part in our rigorous selection process, carefully picking out those leading the way in IR, resulting in the decision of this year’s awards-by-nomination short list. Will yours make the cut?
JUDGING PANEL
Our judges have given us an exclusive insight into what they look for from your entries…
Why are the IR Magazine awards important for the South East Asia IR community?
Harold Woo:
The awards has a long history, running since 2006 and are prestigious since there are regional awards across major sectors in addition to individual awards with each country. Award winners become role models of best practices in the delivery of effective IR and serve as case studies worthy for other IR practitioners to learn and emulate. It creates a virtuous circle where the quality of work is raised higher and higher year after year, to match the standards of developed markets.
Joshua Lee:
It is well known that practice makes perfect, and highlighting best practices improves the corporate reporting standards for the community! In addition, the South East Asia IR community is a great place for networking among like-minded individuals.
Vijay Natarajan:
Nothing beats your hard work being recognized by a prestigious magazine which has been recognizing such talents for three decades. The awards will also help the IR community in terms of benchmarking some of the best practices in the region and motivate to excel further in setting new benchmarks. Last but not the least this awards event also allows you to network with like-minded colleagues in the industry and learn from them which is invaluable.
Professor Roy Ling:
The IR team’s function is to be your interface with the capital markets, investors, shareholders and sector analyst groups. This means it should play a central role in allowing the strategic decision makers in organizations to get a thorough understanding of sentiment and trends in the wider investment landscape. The IR Magazine awards celebrates and recognizes the best-in-class IR practices for the South East Asia IR community.
Jeannie Ong:
Simply because it is the Oscars equivalent for our profession! IR Magazine itself is highly regarded by the IR community in SEA as it gives us access to best practices elsewhere, with detailed reports on topical issues which are of importance to us. IR Magazine awards showcases the best in class, and the winners very often than not, raise the standards even higher for the rest of us to follow.
What are you not so keen on seeing, or what do you see too much of on entry forms?
Harold Woo:
Companies need to stand out from their competitors by differentiating their entries, perhaps by highlighting a compelling storyline, showing quantifiable data, less wordy but making good use of infographics.
Joshua Lee:
Some markets are seeing a trend of lesser or more opaque disclosures, which is quite unfortunate in terms of governance. It’s always good to provide more rather than less substance.
Vijay Natarajan:
I would prefer not to see long essays but would rather appreciate a simple approach in explaining their efforts and differentiating factors in short bullet points along with necessary supporting attachments.
Professor Roy Ling:
Fluffy imprecise wordings and language to fill the space.
Jeannie Ong:
No need for a lengthy write up, let your work speak for itself.
What is the common mistake IR teams have made this pandemic? What is something someone has done right?
Harold Woo:
The common mistake in any crisis is to pull back on being transparent and close up. On the contrary, every crisis presents an opportunity that should not be wasted. IROs must thrive to be innovative and dare to try new ways, be it virtual meetings, use of smart technology to make up for the absence of physical meetings, convince their boss to invest in technology and the value of being candor.
Joshua Lee:
Tweaks from the usual way of physical presentation is required. Some areas that can be improved are: (1) reducing the number of presenters during a short virtual call; (2) a more succinct and impactful message; (3) coffee or meal deliveries to remind and keep participants.
Vijay Natarajan:
This pandemic has made various IR teams make a great leap of transition into the digital space of communication. However, IR teams need to keep in mind some of the constraints faced by different types of investors who may lack in-terms of IT knowledge and accessibility constraints. Thus, companies which have adopted a hybrid approach where possible have been able to better reach the investors in my view.
What would you say to someone dubious of entering their work for an award?
Harold Woo:
Be confident of their own work especially if they have given their best effort to put it together. Take it positively as a learning discovery process.
Jeannie Ong:
You have nothing to lose but everything to gain by submitting your work for award entries.
What is the one thing the pandemic has taught you?
Harold Woo:
Black swan events do occur so avoidance is not a solution. Adopt a structured problem-solving approach, study the situation, evaluate the complication then make the best risk-adjusted decision and monitor its impact. Sometimes it helps being paranoid but remember there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Jeannie Ong:
That what was frowned upon previously is now the accepted norm. I am referring to video calls instead of physical meetings with institutional investors.
Joshua Lee:
Given widespread remote working, staying focused but flexible can help to achieve the same goals. Sometimes with lesser effort!
Professor Roy Ling:
Covid-19 had disrupted and reshaped how many companies undertook strategy work. While many boards would be tempted to refocus from long-term growth to short-term survival due to Covid-19, this would be a grave mistake. Instead, you should capitalize on the Covid-19 opportunity to reposition and pivot your company to strengthen its positioning and come out ahead. Specifically, Covid-19 gave rise to many unknown certainties and fluid changes. I instructed my company's management to prepare for fast responses. The point isn’t to have the right answer. The point is to build organizational capability to learn quickly why your answer is wrong and pivot faster than your peers do.
Vijay Natarajan:
Change is the only constant – be adaptable, agile and be prepared to start all over if needed. The pandemic has also taught me to focus on the things that really matter the most and to treasure them.
We’re looking forward to receiving your entries, the deadline to submit the awards-by-nominations is fast approaching. The extended deadline for submissions is midnight (SGT) on Friday, August 20.
For more information on how to submit an entry, go here.