Winners of the Shareholder Communication Awards 2023
The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has announced the winners of its Shareholder Communication Awards 2023.
The Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has announced the winners of its Shareholder Communication Awards 2023. The awards recognise exceptional shareholder communication by AIC member investment companies and their managers.
The judges were Anthony Leatham, Head of Investment Company Research at Peel Hunt, Genevra Banszky von Ambroz, Partner at Evelyn Partners, Moira O’Neill, investment journalist, and David Stevenson, financial journalist and commentator.
The awards were presented on Tuesday 19 September 2023 at Fortnum & Mason, London.
Chair of the judging panel, Anthony Leatham, Head of Investment Company Research at Peel Hunt, said: “We were delighted with the quantity and quality of entries to the Shareholder Communication Awards this year. The categories attracting the most entries were Best Website, Best ESG Communication and Best Report and Accounts, with shortlisted entrants meeting an exceptional standard.
“The Best Report and Accounts categories continue to be extremely competitive. It was particularly pleasing to see companies using imaginative strategies to bring their companies to life with the help of engaging and interactive formats.
“It’s also reassuring to see more and more investment companies realising the benefits of multi-channel marketing campaigns that bring together advertising, PR, social and digital media to creatively communicate with shareholders. On behalf of the judging panel, I’d like to congratulate all the winners.”
Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), said: “We are proud of investment companies’ initiatives to engage and communicate effectively with their shareholders. This year we have seen an increase in targeted, eye-catching and memorable campaigns to new and existing investors.
“I’d like to congratulate the winners and thank all those who entered the awards. We very much appreciate their work to improve the quality of shareholder communications.”
“We are proud of investment companies’ initiatives to engage and communicate effectively with their shareholders. This year we have seen an increase in targeted, eye-catching and memorable campaigns to new and existing investors. I’d like to congratulate the winners and thank all those who entered the awards. We very much appreciate their work to improve the quality of shareholder communications.”
Richard Stone, Chief Executive of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC)
The winners are:
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Best Report and Accounts – GeneralistWinner: AVI Global Trust The panel praised the enticing design and imagery in AVI Global Trust’s report and accounts. They commended the clear statement of the company’s investment philosophy and noted the report’s effortless navigation. |
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Best Report and Accounts – SpecialistWinner: Polar Capital Technology Trust The judges highlighted the effective combination of graphics and text which brought the report alive. They commended the manager’s commentary which was well written and struck a good balance between macro views and investment themes. |
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Best Report and Accounts – AlternativeWinner: 3i Infrastructure The panel praised the report’s clear messaging and uncluttered design, recognising that the key content was easily accessible and structured to encourage investors to gravitate towards important information. Highly commended: Pantheon International The judges praised the report’s clear and effective design and its excellent content. |
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Best ESG CommunicationWinner: SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust The judges highlighted that SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust’s report was clear and concise, with good use of examples that brought the report to life and demonstrated the company’s ESG impact. Highly commended: Foresight Sustainable Forestry The judges commended the beautiful design and user-friendly navigation of the report. |
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Best FactsheetWinner: Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income The panel lauded the winning factsheet for providing the key information to investors in a thoughtfully designed and easy-to-read format. They admired the concise presentation of essential information such as performance data, portfolio holdings, charges and contact details. |
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Best Marketing CampaignWinner: Alliance Trust The judges praised the winning entry in this category which stood out with the powerful campaign message: ‘Profit from Patience’. They described it as an impressive multi-channel campaign that was able to demonstrate convincing measures of success. |
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Best PR CampaignWinner: F&C Investment Trust The judges said the winning PR campaign followed a clear strategy ensuring it was topical, relevant and resonated with its audiences. F&C’s effective campaign resulted in substantial and measurable coverage across a variety of publications, including high quality and insightful content in national titles. |
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Best Social MediaWinner: Augmentum Fintech - Twitter: @AugmentumF Linkedin: Augmentum Fintech The panel praised the winner for its inventive, engaging communications across several social media channels. They noted that Augmentum had deployed consistently memorable content to raise the profile of the company. |
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Best WebsiteWinner: F&C Investment Trust (visit site) The judges congratulated F&C Investment Trust for the dynamic design and colour scheme of its website, and its ability to draw in visitors. They described the site as engaging, with an exceptional user experience which encouraged exploration of the site. The clear navigation allowed investors to easily find and access key information along with an array of helpful investment tools. Highly commended: Seraphim Space Investment Trust The judges praised the site, describing it as engaging and informative, and “an opportunity to get lost in space”. |
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Consistent Communications AwardWinner: Templeton Emerging Markets This new award recognises consistency across an investment company’s communications. Templeton Emerging Markets’ “65% campaign” has delivered a comprehensive strategy including advertising, PR and social media to win over current and potential shareholders. |
PLEASE CONTACT THE AIC COMMUNICATIONS TEAM FOR
PICTURES OF THE WINNERS
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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 vision is for closed-ended investment companies to be considered by every investor. The AIC has 347 members and the industry has total assets of approximately £264 billion.
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