Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori (seventh left), CEO of Qatar Stock Exchange, with all the award winners during the 2nd Annual Investor Relations Excellence Program Awards ceremony held on Monday. Picture: Abdul Basit/The Peninsula
Ooredoo, QNB, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Salam International and Al Khaliji Bank were announced winners of the 2nd Annual IR (Investor Relations) Excellence Program Awards in a ceremony orgnansied by Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) at Four Seasons Hotel on Monday.
Developed and executed by Iridium, the IR Program surveyed the expert opinion of the domestic and international investment community. The program also featured a detailed ranking of corporate investor relations websites.
Ooredoo was announced winner in the ‘Best Qatari Company overall’ category while QNB emerged winner in the ‘Best large cap company’ category.
Commercial Bank of Qatar won award in ‘Best mid cap company’ category while Salam International won award in the ‘Best small cap company’.
Ramzi Mari of Qatar National Bank of QNB was winner of ‘Best Chief Financial Officer’ and Mohammed Al Namla of QNB won ‘Best Investor Relations Officer’ award. Ooredoo, Al Khaliji Bank and Mannai Corp won awards in the ‘Best investor relations website’ category.
“For the second year running, we have rewarded companies and individuals that have demonstrated the highest investor relations standards in the country,” said Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori, CEO of QSE.
“The IR Excellence Program reflects Qatar Stock Exchangedesireto achievebest international practice among our listed companies for a transparent investment environment. We want to see our listed companies committed to improving the flow of information in the market, because they are the corporate ambassadors for Qatar.
"These efforts are aligned to the Qatar National Vision 2030 and diversification plans of the national economy. This recognition is one of the most significant programs in the region rewarding listed corporates for their IR excellence,” he added.
Oliver Schutzmann, CEO of Iridium Investor Relations said: “The QSE’s IR Excellence Program is a testament tothe Exchange’s commitment towards achieving quality investor relations to improve market accessibility and support the development of successful capital markets. We would like to congratulate the Qatar Stock Exchange on their commitment to this initiative and the winners for raising the bar.”
Abdul Aziz Al Emadi, Director, Listing Department of QSE, said: “Qatar Stock Exchange has been actively promoting IR for a number of years but there has never been as much attention paid to the prospects of our listed companies since receiving emerging markets status and as we aspire to achieve developed market status.”
“We witnessed a good number of companies that upgraded their IR as a direct result of the Excellence Program. We look forward to seeing a stronger engagement from the remaining companies, in order to further improve the IR standards across all Qatar listed companies,” Al Emadi added.
The Excellence Program was launched in 2015. The Program is globally benchmarked against best practices to ensure a transparent methodology. The methodology and all ranking criteria were made public via the QSE’s website and other public channels.
This enabled all listed companies to review categories and selection criteria, and gave them several months advance notice to improve their investor relations efforts. The IR Excellence Program is not available for sponsorship to avoid any conflicts of interest.
