AsianInvestor journalists win multiple awards
AsianInvestor once again enjoyed great success at the prestigious State Street Institutional Press Awards Asia Pacific, with journalists representing the publication picking up a total of eight honours.
Most prominent was senior reporter Richard Newell, who was named journalist of the year for his pension issues coverage. In addition, reporter Christina Wang was highly commended in both the pensions and regulation categories, while editor Richard Morrow also gained commendations for his regulation and his investments coverage.
Former AsianInvestor reporters Toby Yiu and Bernadette Tio were also highly commended for their respective journalism in the categories of pensions and alternatives for the publication. And Alison Tudor-Ackroyd, managing editor of Haymarket Financial Media, was highly commended for her work covering alternatives on behalf of AsianInvestor.
With eight overall awards, AsianInvestor enjoyed more success than any other media publication in the region for the awards, which received almost 200 entries, according to organisers.
Pension failings
The prize for Newell was based on his feature published in the October 2016 edition of the magazine, which focused on the failure across Asia to save enough for retirement. His feature from the August/September edition of AsianInvestor looks at Beijing's slow efforts to reform its pension industry to meet its fast-aging populace's needs also caught the eye of the judges (part of this coverage can be found here).
Judges praised Newell's willingness to delve into the long-term trends of Asia's retirement systems, and the thus-far inadequate political and regulatory responses to them.
Wang followed Newell in her pensions coverage, impressing the panellists with her online story about a debut set of pension mandates by China's Public Pension Fund which would expand public pension funds into new asset areas, and the first interview with the former head of Taiwan's Bureau of Labor Funds, Huang Chao-hsi, following his retirement in January, in which he set out his view of how the institution should change. Yiu also impressed with a feature story in our February/March magazine about how China's pension reforms offered new product possibilities, and a November digital story focusing on the desire of Korea's National Pension Service to shake up its alternatives team.
Regulation was also a successful category for AsianInvestor. Wang's feature in our June/July magazine focused on how China's Bond Connect launch came ahead of a rating downgrade, while another story by her in the same magazine edition delved into how a China Insurance Regulatory Commission crackdown could force industry consolidation.
Meanwhile Morrow impressed with his analysis in the December 2016/January 2017 magazine about the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission's consultation paper on making fund commission rates more transparent, and a digital news op-ed on how Hong Kong's budget failed to address the city's mounting pension savings problem.
In the investments award category, Morrow received a commendation for his September 2016 cover story on the evolution of environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements in Asia Pacific, as well as his October 2016 feature focused upon the rise of passive investing among the region's institutional investors.
In the alternatives space, Tio stood out for her December 2016/January 2017 feature focused on the complicated relationship institutional investors in Asia have wth underperforming hedge funds, plus her focus on how Malaysia's Employees' Provident Fund aims to raise its alternatives exposure. Tudor-Ackroyd was similarly impressive, conducting a feature in the October 2016 magazine on Japan's rising love affair with private equity, and another in our December 2016/January 2017 issue on how institutional investors are directly competing with general partners in PE companies.
Haymarket success
Sister publications FinanceAsia and Corporate Treasurer also enjoyed some notable success in the awards. Ann Shi, a senior reporter at the former, was named journalist of the year for her work covering regulation. In particular, the judges were impressed by her feature about how the US foreign investment watchdog Cfius's increasingly dim perspective on acquisitions by Chinese buyers could stymie many such transactions, and also her examination of the row over Hong Kong bourse operator HKEx's idea of allowing dual-class share listings.
For Corporate Treasurer, editor Peter Shadbolt was highly commended for his writing on investment services and technology, and reporter Larissa Ku received an identical award in the financial technology category.
Daniel Flatt, editorial director of Haymarket Financial Media, said: "In what is both a complex and highly competitive marketplace, it is extremely edifying to see all our financial titles achieve success in these prestigious awards. The hard work and commitment of the editorial teams providing award-winning content to our demanding audiences is paying off. Well done to all!"
The State Street Institutional Press Awards, now in their sixth year in Asia Pacific, are decided by an independent panel of five judges from journalism, publishing, academia and non-profit bodies with investing expertise.
Copies of the submitted stories for the winners of all categories can be found at the homepage of the 2017 State Street Institutional Press Awards for Asia Pacific.