Winners of the AIC Shareholder Communication Awards 2021 announced

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has announced the winners of its Shareholder Communication Awards 2021. The awards recognise exceptional shareholder communication by AIC member investment companies and their managers.

The judges were Simon Elliott, Head of Research at Winterflood Investment Trusts, Tim Cockerill, Investment Director and Head of ESG at Rowan Dartington, Moira O’Neill, Head of Personal Finance at interactive investor, and David Stevenson, financial journalist and commentator.

For the first time, the Shareholder Communication Awards include an award for ESG Communication.

Chair of the judging panel, Simon Elliott, Head of Research at Winterflood Investment Trusts, said: “There were more entries to the Shareholder Communication Awards than ever before this year, and the standard continues to be very high. It’s particularly pleasing to see investment companies developing their report and accounts in digital formats and making use of video. The Best Report and Accounts – Alternative category continues to be extremely competitive, with companies bringing to life specialist strategies in an imaginative way. The increase in social media interest was also marked this year, with more entries to the category and a wider range of companies using social media to communicate with shareholders. On behalf of the panel, I’d like to offer my congratulations to the winners for the very high quality of their work.”

Ian Sayers, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “It’s very encouraging to see how the industry has communicated with shareholders in such creative ways during a difficult year. In a year when shareholders might have felt more distant, investment companies have worked hard to keep them informed, from annual reports and factsheets to PR and social media. Our new award for ESG Communication highlights the growing importance of this area to shareholders. I would like to thank all those who entered the awards and applaud the winners who set the standard for the industry.”

The winners are:

Best Report and Accounts – Generalist

Winner: The Merchants Trust

The judges highlighted several sections of The Merchants Trust’s report and accounts as being outstanding, especially the new director Q&A, the response to COVID-19 and the top holdings.

Best Report and Accounts – Specialist

Winner: Allianz Technology Trust

The panel agreed that the design of Allianz Technology Trust’s entry and its level of detail were superb. They noted the extensive range of content such as the thematic essays which brought the technology sector to life in an engaging way.

Best Report and Accounts – Alternative

Winner: Oakley Capital Investments

The panel praised Oakley Capital Investments’ report and accounts for its innovation. They noted that the complementary digital report which combined interactive graphics and video was particularly effective.

Highly commended: 3i Infrastructure

The judges said 3i Infrastructure’s use of design and colour created a report and accounts which was visually appealing and engaging. They also noted the quality of the manager’s report, sections such as ‘how we create value’ and the discussion of megatrends affecting the portfolio.

Best Report and Accounts – VCT

Winner: Baronsmead Venture Trust

The judges said Baronsmead Venture Trust successfully used colour and imagery to bring its report and accounts to life. They also highlighted its level of disclosure as being particularly useful for investors.

Best ESG Communication

The judges selected two winners in this category in response to the quality of the two winning entries and their different strategies.

Winner: Civitas Social Housing

Civitas was judged highly effective in measuring and demonstrating the impact of its work. The judges praised its use of graphics and a wide range of communication methods, from public relations to video, to communicate its message.

Winner: Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust

The judges highlighted Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust’s ESG magazine ‘Trusted’ and its ‘Think sustainability: 6 reasons to invest’ as excellent. They added that its communication of its approach to ESG was clear and impressive throughout.

Best Factsheet

Winner: VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund

The panel said the winning factsheet covered a specialist area extremely well. They felt it balanced macro and micro information and provided all the key information in a highly effective way.

Highly commended: AVI Global Trust

The judges commended AVI Global Trust’s factsheet for its use of design and colour. They noted the significant improvement of AVI Global Trust’s factsheet in recent years and praised its level of detail.

Best Marketing Campaign

Winner: Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust

The panel said the winning entry had helped stimulate significant demand for Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust. They noted that the investment company’s premium at the time of the campaign was strong evidence of the campaign’s success.

Best PR Campaign

Winner: Janus Henderson Investors for the Cost of Cash Campaign

The judges said the winning entry was an impressive campaign which communicated an important and positive message for the whole investment company industry. They also noted the impressive level of media coverage the campaign had achieved.

Best Social Media

Winner: Martin Currie Investment Management for Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust

The panel praised the winner for the success of its social media posts in driving website traffic. They said the winner had chosen the right measures of success, allowing them to demonstrate how social media had helped the company.

Best Website

Winner: Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust for https://www.martincurrie.com/uk/global-portfolio-trust

The judges remarked that Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust’s website used a wide range of content types such as videos, podcasts and stock stories, as well as high-quality performance data. The panel noted that the high proportion of returning traffic to the website demonstrated its success.

-ENDS-

Notes to editors

The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) was founded in 1932 to represent the interests of the investment trust industry – the oldest form of collective investment. Today, the AIC represents a broad range of closed-ended investment companies, incorporating investment trusts and other closed-ended investment companies and VCTs. The AIC’s members believe that the industry is best served if it is united and speaks with one voice. The AIC’s mission statement is to help members add value for shareholders over the longer term. The AIC has 362 members and the industry has total assets of approximately £257 billion.
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