HONG KONG, Feb 24, 2025 - (ACN Newswire) - Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA) is pleased to announce that public nomination is now open for the HKIRA IR Awards 2025 (the ‘Awards’). This will be the eleventh consecutive year of the Awards at which best IR and corporate governance practices are recognized among Hong Kong listed companies.

Dr Eva Chan, Founding Chairman of HKIRA, said, “Stepping into the 11th year of the IR Awards, HKIRA is glad to be witnessing over a decade of dedication and professionalism of Hong Kong’s IR professionals. It has been a challenging few years for the Hong Kong financial market. The IR industry has been taking up a more important role in regaining global investors’ confidence in Hong Kong stocks, the valuations of which are currently extremely attractive. It is also worth noting that with the development of AI, more will be expected from IR professionals, in terms of both responsiveness and awareness of latest market changes. HKIRA will continue to encourage best IR practice and support Hong Kong IR professionals’ development. We look forward to recognizing some of our most outstanding industry participants at this year’s IR Awards.”

Last year, 120 award entries were received from listed companies, over 480 eligible voters and over 277 voting institutions participated in the voting. 40 winners from various categories were recognized at the Awards. Among the winners, China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (stock code: 00291), Xtep International Holdings Limited (stock code: 01368) and CGN New Energy Holdings Company Limited (stock code: 01811) were awarded Overall Best IR Company by company size – Large Cap, Mid Cap and Small Cap – respectively.

The HKIRA 11th IR Awards 2025 is once again honoured to have Professor Louis Cheng, Dr. S H Ho Professor of Banking and Finance and the Director of Research Centre for ESG at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, as the Chairman of the Judging Panel. Being an advocate and a researcher of best practice of IR, Professor Cheng has in recent years been promoting the idea of integrating ESG into investors’ decisions. ESG-related awards have been added to the HKIRA IR Award categories since 2020. In addition, Professor Cheng has been working with HKIRA to continuously fine-tune the award criteria and categories to better recognise the latest development of IR activities and strategies in Hong Kong and Asia.

Public nomination for the HKIRA 11th IR Awards 2025 is now open to Hong Kong-listed companies. Nominated individuals and companies will be placed on the online voting list upon confirmation of their participation. The investment community, including buy-side and sell-side analysts, and fund managers, are eligible to vote. Nominees with the highest votes (weighted) in each award category will be shortlisted and then undergo a final assessment by the judging panel. Finally, the Most Progress in IR, IR Committed Company, Overall Best IR Company and Grand ESG Awards will be selected by the judging panel. Facilitating a fair and balanced evaluation, the judging panel comprises academics, representatives from professional associations and the investment community.

The HKIRA 11th IR Awards 2025 scheme has a total of 16 award categories honouring best IR practices of individuals and companies. Among these awards, 12 categories are open for nomination and voting, while the other 4 awards are selected by the judging panel. The award winners are to be announced at a ceremony to be held in Hong Kong in June/July 2025. For more information, please visit www.hkira.com/awards.

Strategic Public Relations Group is proud to be the Official Public Relations Partner and Silver Sponsor for the HKIRA IR Awards this year. Please find key dates relating to the Awards with its categories and criteria for selection listed in the Appendix.

About HKIRA
Hong Kong Investor Relations Association (HKIRA) is a non-profit professional association comprising investor relations practitioners and corporate officers responsible for communication between corporate management and the investment community. HKIRA advocates the setting of international standards in IR education, advances the best IR practices and meets the professional development needs of those interested in pursuing the investor relations profession.

HKIRA is dedicated to advancing the practice of IR as well as the professional competency and status of its members. To date, HKIRA has over 1,300 members most of whom are working for companies primarily listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. About 70% of the Hang Seng Index Constituent Stock companies are currently members of HKIRA. HKIRA’s members are from a wide spectrum of professions including IR, finance, accounting, company secretarial to corporate investment and hold positions at different corporate levels, including top executives responsible for IR and management of listed companies. For more information about HKIRA details, please visit our website http://www.hkira.com.

About the IR Awards
The HKIRA Investor Relations Awards (the “IR Awards”) is an annual campaign that aims to encourage, recognize and reward the excellence in investor relations practices by individuals and companies listed in Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Since the launch in 2015, each year the Awards seeks out and highlights the incredible achievements of individuals and companies with high standards in investor relations through their role modelling to the investment community.

The Awards ceremony, consisting of a conference in the morning and presentation in the afternoon, is a spectacular gathering of IR specialists and industry professionals that applauds and publicizes the year’s achievements in investor relations. For details of the Awards and online nominations, please visit http://www.hkira.com/awards.

Media enquiries:

Strategic Public Relations Group

Hong Kong Investor Relations Association

Website: www.hkira.com 

Appendix
Key Dates

Award Categories

* Companies which were listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2023 and 2024 are eligible to be nominated for this award.

Remarks: All awards will be further categorised by company market capitalisation into Large Cap, Mid Cap, and Small Cap, except Best IR Company for an IPO, Most Progress in IR and IR Committed Company Awards.

Judging Panel (Arranged in alphabetical order of last name)

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