It’s okay to be dull.
That’s the takeaway for some of the top-scoring leaders on Institutional Investor’s All-America executive team, who held back during the economic uncertainty of the past half-decade so they could be ready to fly when conditions improved.
“Basically, the biggest lesson I learned in 2023 is that it’s okay to be boring, and that it pays dividends in the end,” says Jack Fusco, chief executive of Cheniere Energy, who is recognized for his exceptional leadership by sell-side and buy-side voters in the II survey. Under Fusco, Cheniere has spent decades refining operations to capitalize on the expected exponential global growth in demand for natural gas in the next few years.
In June, Cheniere reached a 20-year deal to annually supply 1.8 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to China. The agreement came after Western nations sanctioned Russia, the globe’s foremost supplier of natural gas, leaving the world scrambling for alternatives. “Cheniere’s ability to confidently move forward on new, decadal infrastructure comes only because we have kept our heads down and focused for years on the details, on the core things that matter,” Fusco notes.
To select the members of Institutional Investor’s 2023/24 All-America Executive Team, we surveyed buy-side analysts, money managers and sell-side researchers at securities firms and financial institutions that cover the region, including those who cast and received votes in this year’s 2023 All-America Research Team survey. We asked voters to name the best chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and investor relations professionals at the companies in their coverage universes. Over 3,400 money managers and buy-side analysts and over 320 sell-side researchers provided their candid feedback.
All votes are weighted by rating (five, four, three, two and one). We also asked them to rate the companies’ IR programs on the following eight performance attributes: in Services & Communication, “Authority & Credibility,” “Responsiveness,” “Earnings Calls,” “Business & Market Knowledge,” and “Virtual Meetings/Presentations”; and in Financial Disclosure: “Consistency,” “Granularity,” and “Quality & Relevance.” These ratings were aggregated to produce an overall IR Program rank for each company. Nominations for Company Board, ESG, and Investor Events were also solicited from the voters as a separate distinction.
The overall rankings in each rankings category are based on combined buy- and sell-side votes. Separate rosters (buy side, sell side) are also available for each award classification.
To earn the designation of Most Honored Company, a company must achieve a weighted score of at least 12 for its published positions in the Best CEO, CFO, IRO, IR Program, Investor/Analyst Event, ESG, and Company Board categories. Each first-place position is worth three points; second place, two; and third place, one. In the 2023/24 All-America Executive Survey, 1,400 companies were nominated across 44 sectors.
Most Honored designations in the Mid-Cap rankings follow the same methodology, but firms must achieve a weighted score of at least 14 points based on their combined buy- and sell-side results. Most Honored designations in the small-cap rankings are based on receiving the highest total weighted score from the seven categories, per category.
To be eligible for inclusion on the 2023/24 All-America Executive Team, a company must be headquartered or have operational or executive headquarters in the region. We keep confidential the identities of the survey respondents to ensure their continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count.