Institutional Excellence Awards 2020: invitation to pitch
We are pleased to announce the launch of AsianInvestor's seventh annual Institutional Excellence Awards programme, which seeks to identify and recognise the leading asset owners operating in Asia Pacific.
As in previous years, these awards are only open for asset owners (pension funds, life insurers, sovereign wealth funds, central banks/reserve managers, endowments, foundations and so on), not third-party asset managers. We are asking for any of these institutional investors to self-nominate for these awards (please click here).
In addition, we invite fund managers, investment consultants, custodians and other advisers to offer nominations for what they feel are the region's most impressive asset owners, based upon their interactions (please click here).
You can get more information on the awards, including the rulebook, by going to the awards website (please click here).
The deadline for all submissions and nominations is about four weeks from today: November 20.
This year we have made a few changes to the awards to reflect the changing investment environment. We have sub-divided the Best Life Insurer and Best Pension Fund categories each into two: small/medium institutions and large institutions, to reflect the variety of organisations in the region.
In addition, we have modified the Proficiency award categories to recognise the rise in importance for modern asset owners of: environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors; alternative investing; and data and technology.
The award categories are only open to home-grown Asian institutions (which can include local Asian businesses of international insurance groups). The exception to this is the International Investor into Asia award, which is only open to non-Asia-headquartered institutions.
These awards will be selected by the editorial team in conjunction with a panel of judges, who are experts on institutional investors in Asia Pacific.
There are 17 awards to be decided upon this year, falling under three broad categories:
MARKET CATEGORIES
Australia/New Zealand
Greater China (China, Hong Kong and Taiwan)
Japan
Korea
Southeast Asia (Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand)
INSTITUTIONAL CATEGORIES
Pension Fund – Small/Medium
Pension Fund – Large
Life Insurer – Small/Medium
Life Insurer – Large
Sovereign Wealth Fund
International Investor into Asia
PROFICIENCY CATEGORIES
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Engagement
Investing Progress and Innovation
Technology and Data
Alternative Assets Investing
CIO of the Year
Response to Covid-19 pandemic
We have weighted several areas of qualitative judgement. The aim is to understand and compare asset owners' tangible progress as investing entities, rather than picking winners based on arbitrary snapshots of performance at any given time.
HOW TO PITCH
There are several ways to apply, and all submissions are treated in strict confidence. All institutions listed in AsianInvestor’s annual ranking of Asia's Leading Investors (formerly the AI300) will be invited to pitch.
For self-nominations, please click this link to fill out the online self-nomination form, outlining why you think your organisation deserve recognition. Please be sure to go through the entire nominations process to the end, to ensure that it is properly submitted. You may include additional or supplemental materials.
As stated, we also welcome nominations from third parties, including fund managers, consultants, custodians and other organisations. Please click this link to submit your nomination outlining which institutional investor(s) you think are most worthy of consideration and why. Please ensure you go through the entire nomination process before submitting it, so that it is well received and assessed.
Alternatively, we can schedule an interview with self-nominees or third parties, by phone or in person. Please email [email protected] if you would prefer a direct interview.
THE JUDGING PROCESS
AsianInvestor will invite a panel of experienced industry participants and advisers to provide feedback on the nominations that we receive, in addition to our own research.
Once we have received nominations and submissions, our editorial team will shortlist asset owners and interview them on a confidential basis. We will then confer with the judges before announcing the winners in early December, and will include write-ups explaining our decisions in the Winter edition of AsianInvestor magazine.
For sponsorship opportunities or to enquire about attendance, please contact AsianInvestor's head of business development, Tom Griffin, on +852 2122 5262 or by email at [email protected].
Best of luck!