On the way back to normality?
Janet Dignan, founder of IR Magazine, introduces this year's report
This report documents the research undertaken by IR Magazine to identify the best corporate exponents of investor relations across Greater China – covering mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – and South East Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The research was carried out by means of an online questionnaire completed by investors and buy-side and sell-side analysts across Asia during Q2 and Q3 2021. This time last year, in the introduction to our 2020 investor perception study report, I wondered whether – and indeed hoped – our research would reflect a more normal situation a year on. Twelve months later, while a good deal has changed for the better, Covid-19 has continued to have a major effect. In IR Magazine’s recently published Global Roadshow Report 2021, we report that 48 percent of Asian firms were holding in-person roadshows, compared with 61 percent globally. Yet while 41 percent of European IROs agreed that current changes in activity were here to stay, just 23 percent of Asian IROs believed this to be true. Time will tell how IR develops and changes in practice, but two things are unequivocally evident from this report. The first is that Thailand is well ahead of its South East Asian peers in terms of the impact of its companies’ IR activity, and the second is that China Resources Beer is well ahead of its corporate peers in Greater China. China Resources Beer wins 10 of the 11 awards for which it was eligible, while Thai companies win 10 of the 11 award categories for South East Asian companies. Two impressive facts from this research report – but there are plenty more. And we offer our sincere congratulations to every company named in this study. They should all be proud of their achievements
