After three years of inflationary pressures, top executives in Europe are beginning to look beyond emergency measures against rising costs and start planning for the future.
Mark Schneider, who was once again rated the top-ranking chief executive in the food producer sector in Institutional Investor’s Developed Europe Executive Team, said Nestlé is analyzing web searches to detect consumer trends before rivals. Enrico Vita, top ranked in the medical technologies and services sector, said that Amplifon, which supplies hearing aids, is using digital technology to personalize its service in and out of stores. While Carlo Messina, who came first in the banking sector, said Intesa Sanpaolo is powering ahead of traditional competitors in Italy with a new cloud-based banking platform called isybank.
But innovation does not exist without investment, and many of Europe’s top chief executives are fearful that a more protectionist trade environment, coupled with ongoing inflation and interest rate rises, could dampen the appetite for invention. “What worries me is the war in Ukraine,” said Markus Krebber of RWE. He said that achieving decarbonisation will require stable investment, functioning supply chains, and a wider production of green technologies. “This is made even more difficult considering the current circumstances.”
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soirot, the top-scoring chief executive in the pharmaceuticals sector, fears the diversion of state resources to the military, which might weaken investment in healthcare. “Already today, innovation in healthcare in Europe is not incentivized and, as a result, it will continue moving to the U.S. and China,” he said.
To determine the members of Institutional Investor’s 2023 Developed Europe 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 Europe Research Team survey. Survey results reflect the opinions from 1,620 investment professionals at 746 financial services firms.
We asked the participants to rate the chief executive officers, chief financial officers and investor relations professionals at the companies in their coverage universes. CEOs were rated on their credibility, leadership and communication. CFOs were rated on their ability in capital allocation, financial stewardship and communication. For the Investor Relations programs, companies were rated on the following attributes: productivity of NDR/road shows/conferences; earnings calls; business and market knowledge; responsiveness; authority and credibility; quality/relevance of financial disclosure; consistency of financial disclosure; and granularity of financial disclosure. Additionally, voters also rated each company on the quality of analyst/investor events, company board, and ESG metrics.
All votes are weighted by rating (five being excellent; one being average) and attributes within each category were aggregated to create the CEO, CFO, IR Professional, IR Program, ESG, Company Board, and Analyst/Investor Event rankings. The overall rankings in each of the categories are based on combined buy- and sell-side votes. Separate rosters (buy side, sell side) are also available for each award classification.
The same approach as above was used to create the 2023 Developed Europe Large Cap and Developed Europe Small & Midcap Executive Team rankings. Companies with greater than $10 billion in market capitalization are considered Large Cap; companies with less than $10 billion in market capitalization are considered Small & Midcap.
Honored Companies are companies who achieved at least one published position. To earn the designation of Most Honored Company, a company must achieve a weighted score of twelve or more points across the seven categories in the combined, buy-side and sell-side rankings, wherein each first-place position is worth three points; second place, two; and third place, one. When a tie exists in the weighted score, companies are ordered according to the number of ranked positions they received.
To be eligible for inclusion on the 2023 Europe 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. All ballots are subject to review by our Research Operations Group.