Methodology
All the rankings, category point scores and charts included in this report of the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – US 2019 are based solely on a survey of 440 members of the investment community – the people who make up the most important audience for corporate investor relations professionals. All survey respondents are based in the US.
The first phase was to email US portfolio managers, buy-side analysts and sell-side analysts with an online questionnaire. In the second phase, Mary Maude Research telephoned additional members of the US investment community to ask them the same questions about the investor relations performance of US companies.
Points & rankings Each respondent was asked to make three nominations in each category of investor relations: first, second and third. Every first-choice nomination earns six points, a second choice earns three points and a third earns two. The points are then totaled by company for each category to establish the winners and the short lists for each of the research categories presented at the IR Magazine Awards – US in New York. The same points system is used for IR Magazine’s other investor perception studies in Europe, Canada and Asia.
The points totals are also used to rank all companies in the investor perception study. Rankings for each category except best IR by sector and by cap size are based on the points each company has received in the research for that category; for these two exceptions, the rankings are based on overall points. The overall IR rankings are based on the total points from all categories for which all companies are eligible.
Some categories are divided by market cap sizes. These are determined in line with the NYSE and Nasdaq indices as at September 2018, and are split as follows:
Below $2 bn: Small cap $2 bn-$20 bn: Mid-cap $20 bn and over: Large cap
Awards The investor perception research outlined above is also used as the basis for the IR Magazine Awards – US 2019 presented in New York on March 20, 2019. A list of the winners and runners-up can be found on pages 5 and 6 of this report.
Additional awards were also presented to winners of self-nominated categories. For these awards, companies submitted entries that were judged by an expert panel comprising IR Magazine editorial staff and investment professionals.