The Investor Relations Annual Report is the most important written communication illustrating its progress, performance and personality to potential and current investors. Broadly considered, this report constitutes an opportunity to build a corporate reputation with a wider group of stakeholders.

In selecting those companies who are demonstrating excellence in this category, you should consider the following key areas:

Simplicity
The Annual Report should be of equal benefit to all stakeholders, irrespective of their level of specialist industry/sector knowledge.

Clarity
The Annual Report should be written in a coherent manner; the key information should be easy to find, easily understood and more complex issues should be clearly explained.

Consistency
The Annual Report should demonstrate a consistency in style and content allowing investors and other stakeholders to track progress on key issues and to make comparisons with previous reports over a sustained period.

Conciseness
The Annual Report should be precise and to the point – quantity alone does not inform and the quality of the communication is paramount.