ALI top officials adjudged best in investment communications

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) continues to reap accolades in the international scene as its CEO Francisco H. Licuanan III and CFO Jaime E. Ysmael were adjudged the best in the Philippines by the Institutional Investor Research Group and Reuters. The two were chosen in terms of their effectiveness in meeting the information needs of the investment community.

In a survey of key investment decision-makers in Asia, sell-side analysts chose the best CEO and CFO in each of 11 Asian countries. The Asia Equities Investment Report underscored that the strength of a company’s leadership team is a key determinant in the investment process. It highlighted senior executives who were "aware of investor expectations, understand the factors that effect shareholder value, and are accessible to investors."

As further proof of Licuanan and Ysmael’s commitment to building and maintaining market relations, ALI was also cited by sell-side analysts for having the best and most improved company investor relations among real estate companies in Asia, and the best investor relations among all Philippine companies. Top Asian companies were judged according to 13 criteria, such as speed of response to inquiries, access to management, quality of ongoing relationship with investors, quality and depth of answers to inquiries, one-to-one meetings/phone calls, site visits, corporate web site, e-mail alerts, transparency and quality of financial reporting and disclosure, and assistance in making investors understand the company’s long-term corporate direction and comparative position in the industry. ALI’s investor relations unit is headed by Christine Reyes.

Sell-side analysts also chose Ayala Land from among 10 leading Philippine companies as best in corporate governance. Cited as an overriding corporate governance concern was the need for improved information disclosure, e.g. transparency and fair distributiion of information. The importance of board structure and its independence were also identified as key issues.

The Asia Equities Investment Report was sponsored by Reuters, the leading global provider of financial information, news and technology solutions to financial institutions, the media, businesses and individuals. It was developed, executed and published by the Institutional Investor Research Group, which has developed comprehensive market research reports based on published Institutional Investor magazine surveys since 1995. Its analyses are widely used by the security industry in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America.