IR Magazine US investor relations awards 2007 announced

By Dominic Jones

IR MAGAZINE’s awards for the best investor relations in the United States were handed out Thursday night in New York to the IR profession’s best and brightest in the opinion of investors.

Around 2,900 sell- and buy-side analysts, portfolio managers and retail investors in North America voted GE, Coach, Limited Brands and Applebee’s International as best overall in mega-cap, large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap categories. John Chambers of Cisco Systems was voted the best for investor relations by a chairman or CEO.

The categories we watch most are Best Investor Relations Website and Best Use of Technology. General Motors won the Best IR website category, with Russell Tiejema, GM Investor Relations manager, and Louise Giles, GM Stockholder Services special projects manager collecting the award.

General Electric won in the Best Use of Technology category. IR Magazine reports that Dan Janki, director of IR for GE expressed complete surprise. “This is great winning a tech award against Microsoft and Cisco,” he told the black-tie crowd.

Of course, the big story (which IR Magazine oddly ignores in its own coverage!) is four-in-a-row winner Carol DiRaimo, who is so darn good that she wins despite a proxy battle by an ex-SEC chairman, failing to provide a q&a on their latest conference call, and not including a balance sheet or cash flow statement in their latest earnings release. See separate story.

Congratulations to all our clients and readers who were either winners or finalists in the awards.
Here’s the complete list of winners and shortlisted firms:

Best annual report - large to mega-cap
Winner - Berkshire Hathaway
Aflac Incorporated
GE

Best annual report - mid to large cap
Winner - Expeditors International of Washington
Darden Restaurants
L-3 Communications, Inc
Limited Brands
Whole Foods Market

General Motors won for best IR website at the IR Magazine US Awards 2007

Best annual report - small to mid-cap
Winner - RPM International Inc
Baldor Electric Company
Copart
Fastenal Company

Best communications with the retail market
Winner - Aflac Incorporated
Berkshire Hathaway
GE
Microsoft Corporation

Best corporate advertising
Winner - United Technologies
Aflac Incorporated
Allstate Insurance Company
GE

Best corporate governance
Winner - GE
Cisco Systems
Microsoft Corporation
PepsiCo
The Procter & Gamble Company

Best crisis communications - large to mega-cap
Winner - Pfizer Inc
Boeing
DuPont
Merck & Co, Inc

Best disclosure policy
Winner - The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc
Cisco Systems
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
Time Warner Inc

Best investor relations by a chairman or CEO
Winner - Cisco Systems, John Chambers
Winner - The Procter & Gamble Company, AG Lafley
PepsiCo - Indra Nooyi

Best investor relations by a European company in the US market
Winner - Nokia
F Hoffmann-La Roche
Novartis Corporation
SAP

Best investor relations by an Asia-Pacific company in the US market
Winner - Toyota Motor
Honda Motor Co, Ltd
Infosys Technologies Ltd
Nidec Corporation
Sony Corporation
StarHub

Best investor relations for an IPO
Winner - Western Union
Chipotle Mexican Grill
J Crew Group

Best investor relations officer - large to mega-cap
Winner - Coach, Inc, Andrea Shaw Resnick
Cisco Systems, Blair Christie
Yum! Brands, Timothy Jerzyk

Best investor relations officer - mid to large cap
Winner - Limited Brands, Tom Katzenmeyer & Amie Preston
Cincinnati Financial Corporation, Heather Wietzel
E*TRADE Financial, Adam Townsend
Humana Inc, Regina Nethery
Intuit Inc, Robert Lawson
Southwestern Energy Company, Brad Sylvester

Best investor relations officer - small to mid-cap
Winner - Applebee’s International, Carol DiRaimo
Citrix Systems, Inc, Jeff Lilly
Harsco Corporation, Eugene Truett
Lyondell Chemical Company, Doug Pike

General Electric won for best use of technology at the IR Magazine US Awards 2007

Best investor relations web site - mid to large cap
Winner - General Motors Corporation
Goodrich Corporation
Limited Brands
Southwestern Energy Company

Best M&A investor relations
Winner - Hewlett Packard/Mercury Interactive
Abbott/Kos Pharmaceuticals

Best senior management communications
Winner - Cisco Systems
Intuit Inc
Lam Research Corporation
Varian Semiconductor Equipment

Best use of conferencing - small to large cap
Winner - Zions Bancorporation
Celanese Corporation
Humana Inc
Lyondell Chemical Company
NCI Building Systems

Best use of technology
Winner - GE
Cisco Systems
Microsoft Corporation

Most improved investor relations
Winner - DuPont
Circuit City Stores, Inc
GE
Genworth Financial
Oracle Corporation

Lifetime achievement
DeWitt Morrill

Grand prix for best overall investor relations - mega-cap
Winner - GE
AT&T Inc
Cisco Systems
Microsoft Corporation
The Walt Disney Company.

Grand prix for best overall investor relations - large cap
Winner - Coach, Inc
Praxair
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc
Yum! Brands

Grand prix for best overall investor relations - mid-cap
Winner - Limited Brands
Harsco Corporation
Lyondell Chemical Company

Grand prix for best overall investor relations - small cap
Winner - Applebee’s International
Celanese Corporation
Kyphon Inc
The South Financial Group

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