Hellenic Bank Group: Best Corporate Governance Cyprus 2015

In challenging or lean times, strict adherence to corporate governance best practices enables corporations to weather storms and streamline operations in order to hit the ground running when economic recovery sets in. More than just a survival strategy, the principles of sound corporate governance aim to improve corporate resilience and protect the bottom line in downturns and upswings alike.

In addition to solid corporate governance structures, banks stand to profit from applying liberal dosages of both prudence and common sense, avoiding market hypes and other risky distractions from their core business. Such was the formula, elegant in its simplicity, which saw the Hellenic Bank Group through the financial crisis that engulfed Cyprus in 2012-13.

The bank not only emerged from the recession, it deftly managed its affairs without appealing to bailout funds or other forms of state support. Hellenic Bank Group was the only Cypriot financial institution to do so, thus affirming its unique position.

Eschewing risk well before the crisis hit, and with a comprehensive governance framework ensuring full transparency already firmly in place, Hellenic Bank Group gained the trust – and admiration – of its . The bank has distanced itself from the pack by pursuing its business in a conservative, yet dynamic, fashion. That stance has since attracted new shareholders.

With a proven track record, and its corporate philosophy tried and tested under the most trying of circumstances, Hellenic Bank Group is now primed for expansion. The bank’s solid reputation allows it to access funds at lower interest rates than the competition. This performance bonus gives the Hellenic Bank Group an excellent foundation on which to build future growth – as ever pursued prudently. Within the next five years, the bank expects to claim the Nr 2 spot on the ranking of Cyprus’ largest financial institutions.

The key to the Hellenic Bank Group’s enduring success remains good corporate governance with the active involvement of all stakeholders and full compliance with global standards.

Given the impressive results obtained in the face of grave difficulties, the CFI.co judging panel considers the Hellenic Bank Group a most inspiring leader of the Cypriot financial sector. The bank’s dedication to top quality governance has not only paid off; it enabled the business to forego taxpayer support and prosper where and when others stumbled. Hellenic Bank Group is the undisputed winner of the CFI.co Best Corporate Governance Cyprus 2015 Award.


Mack International: Best Investment Manager Executive Search Firm United States 2015

For most family offices, finding the right professional to manage their wealth is a challenge fraught with danger and lined with uncertainty. The quest to identify that one professional with the expertise – and the personality – to best serve the interests of the client is not unlike looking for that elusive needle in the proverbial haystack.

In order to find the perfect match, Mack International deploys both rigour and creativity. As a first step, the executive search firm immerses itself in the business and culture of the client. This enables the experts of Mack International to sketch an outline of the ideal candidate and use this as a template from which to extract a clear search pattern; i.e. a strategy to find, vet, and retain the executive who is capable of managing the family office or enterprise in accordance with the client’s wishes and aspirations.

Mack International is a boutique consultancy offering highly personalised and bespoke services to single and multi-client family offices, wealth management and investment management firms in search of retained executives. Each client enjoys the benefit of a dedicated team of seasoned senior professionals led by the firm’s founder. Mack International maintains a large network of highly-valued contacts and referral sources built-up over time and reflecting the industry’s best practices.

Not constrained by the corporate off-limit areas suffered by generic executive search firms, and wholly dedicated to serving family offices/enterprises, wealth management and investment management firms, Mack International is able to tap into resources not available to others, thus deepening and broadening the talent pool.

The CFI.co judges consider Mack International a model niche company. The firm dominates its highly specialised market and serves it to perfection. In this particular business, many companies try to make a mark, but only few actually do. Mack International is one of those few search firms that have the capability to deliver the goods, time and again. If there is a needle in that haystack, Mack International will find it. The judges are pleased to offer Mack International the 2015 Best Investment Manager Executive Search Firm United States Award.


TD Bank: Best Green Bank North America 2015

While elsewhere in the world forests are cleared by the football field, in Canada they become protected at a similar clip. Since 2012, TD Forests – an initiative of TD Bank (Toronto-Dominion Bank) – has been working with The Nature Conservancy and Nature Conservancy of Canada to protect a wooded area equivalent to 2.5 football fields each and every day from developers and urban sprawl.

The bank has set aside C$13m to help protect forest ecosystems and habitats, and increase urban tree cover. To date, TD Forests has managed to extend protection to well over 33,000 acres of woodlands.

The initiative runs parallel to the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation – set up in 1990 long before corporate conservancy efforts became trendy – which has offered support to more than 20,000 environmental projects across Canada. However, TD Forests doesn’t stop at protecting woodlands; the programme also aims to manage – and reduce – the bank’s paper usage by shifting to electronic documents, digitising internal processes, and enhancing e-banking services.

Though the paperless bank may still be some time in coming, TD Bank is committed to expediting its arrival by cutting paper consumption by at least 20% and ensuring that the paper it does use is sourced from forests that are sustainably managed. The drive was inspired by TD Bank’s own clients who – when asked how the bank could further improve its environmental performance – requested the paperwork be reduced to a bare minimum.

The CFI.co judging panel noted that, according to a recent poll, close to 90% of TD Bank’s 86,000-plus employees agree that the company is an environmental leader. In fact, the bank was recently named one of Canada’s greenest employers. TD Bank also maintains the Green Nation Programme, a web-based tool that allows employees to start, or take part in, environmental initiatives in their own communities.

Already in 2008, the bank announced its intention to become carbon neutral, buying carbon offset credits to neutralise its remaining emissions and ensuring that new branch offices are housed in fully LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings which typically reduce energy usage by 50% or more.

In North America, TD Bank was the first of its kind to firmly commit to becoming carbon neutral. Since 2010, all the bank’s operations – including those in the United States and other international jurisdictions – are completely carbon neutral.

The CFI.co judges conclude that TD Bank has not just painted its corporate DNA green, but has successfully managed to modify its genetic makeup to embrace the full array of sustainability principles. Thus all the bank’s operations and processes were rigorously analysed, and subsequently retuned, to minimise their impact on the environment.

Steadfastly resisting the lure of shortcuts and half-measures, TD Bank became the greenest of North America’s large financial services providers. The CFI.co judges now hand TD Bank the award to match: Best Green Bank North America 2015.


Casinos Austria International: Best Gaming Operations Europe 2015

With gambling and gaming steadily moving online, the brick-and-mortar casino industry is meeting the challenge head-on by upgrading facilities emphasising the unique experience of class, fun, and social interaction that, for all its prowess, the virtual world has been unable to distil into bits and bytes.

Long gone are the days when the gambling known as business looked with austere disfavour upon the business known as gambling. While US journalist and satirist Ambrose Bierce may have been on to something in the early 1900s, today’s gambling industry is fiercely competitive, highly professional, and tightly regulated. Globally, the casino industry is expected to reach a turnover in excess of €160bn this year. Casinos are big business and run as such.

In Europe, Casinos Austria International (CAI) has established a well-deserved reputation for corporate excellence – combining tradition with innovation, integrity, and corporate social responsibility in order to stay at the top of its game. The company operates 32 casinos in eleven countries and aboard six cruise liners. CAI’s corporate parent, Casinos Austria AG, operates the country’s twelve casinos and can trace its origins to 1934. Employing over 1,700 people in Austria, and more than 2,000 abroad, Casinos Austria is also one of the country’s largest tax contributors.

Not merely a casino operator, CAI has also earned a peerless global reputation as a purveyor of expertise to like businesses looking to start or perfect operations. As such, CAI has helped establish and improve over 300 casinos in all corners of the world. The company not only offers its vast reservoir of knowhow specific to the industry, but also disseminates a unique set of principles aimed at improving the sector’s sustainability.

CAI actively promotes operational procedures and processes that seek to maximise the entertainment value of casinos while minimising the risk to clients, thus offering an optimised experience for guests. Ever conscious of its duty for care, Casinos Austria International has managed to set and maintain the benchmark for the global gaming industry by steadfastly respecting the limits of the business.

Taking the long-term view, and eschewing quick fixes and superficial solutions to complex issues, allowed Casinos Austria International to prosper even during the lean years of economic downturns. This thorough approach has also enabled the company to keep visitor numbers stable. By broadening – and redefining – the casino concept to include world-class shows and events, in addition to leveraging the exquisite settings of its premises to offer guests an exceptionally fine dining experience, Casinos Austria International has added significant value to its facilities.

The CFI.co judging panel wishes to congratulate Casinos Austria International on the success of its bold corporate strategy that, while steeped in tradition, is both innovative and daring. The judges are very pleased indeed to offer the company their 2015 Best Gaming Operations Europe Award.


Commonwealth Bank: Best Retail Banking Team Bahamas 2015

A financial partner to the working Bahamian since its foundation in 1960, Commonwealth Bank has become a cornerstone of the island nation’s economy. Now a household name, Commonwealth Bank dominates the retail market with a broad palette of services geared towards fulfilling the needs of the country’s strong middle class – working people who need no-frills, efficient, and convenient financial services to underpin their upward social mobility and with it the fortunes of the entire nation.

Initially a small consumer finance company and a subsidiary of the Canadian Laurentide Financial Corporation, Commonwealth Bank underwent a number of changes driven by the expansion of its operations. In 1984, a group of Bahamian investors took control of the company and broadened the scope of its products and services, transforming the small savings and loans institution into a full service bank catering to both private individuals and businesses. Sixteen years later, in 2000, Commonwealth Bank obtained a listing on the Bahamas International Securities Exchange with a significantly oversubscribed IPO.

A leader in personal banking services and widely recognised for its excellence, Commonwealth Bank also actively supports and underwrites a growing number of social initiatives aimed at improving the lives of all Bahamians. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is ingrained in the bank’s corporate DNA.

Already one of the most prosperous markets of the Caribbean, the Bahamas economy has managed to grow steadily on the twin pillars of tourism and banking. Commonwealth Bank has benefitted from the sustained growth of the local economy and has now embarked on a carefully traced trajectory towards further diversification. Investing in both people and high-end systems, Commonwealth Bank has kept its place at the forefront of the Bahamian financial services industry by constantly upgrading and optimising its performance.
The CFI.co judging panel appreciates the success a smaller bank may attain by sticking to its founding principles while embracing modern technology and canvassing the market with the right product mix. The judges have no doubt in proclaiming Commonwealth Bank the winner of the 2015 Best Retail Banking Team Bahamas 2015 Award.


Khan Bank: Best SME Bank Mongolia 2015

The bank with the largest geographical footprint in Mongolia, Khan Bank is determined to reach all levels of society through its formidable network of 535 branches and 372 cash machines. Operating in a sparsely populated but highly dynamic country, the bank is already now able to offer its full suite of up-to-date products and services to over 80% of the nation’s households. Khan Bank is Mongolia’s premier retail bank serving both private customers and businesses.

With an estimated $1.3tn in yet untapped mineral reserves, and sandwiched in between two major industrials powers, Mongolia is one of the world’s most exciting – and promising – economic frontiers. Though young, its financial sector is exceptionally competitive.

The country’s new government, often described as a dream team and led by Prime-Minister Chimediin Saikhanbileg, is now set to mine Mongolia’s vast potential by introducing new legislation to further encourage foreign investment. Mongolia is expected to once again become home to the world’s fastest growing economy.

Khan Bank, present in all far-flung corners of the country and boasting a solid e-banking platform, is singularly well placed to help empower the economic upswing and reap its rewards. The bank maintains a small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) development centre – the Khan Bank Incubator – which supports both established businesses and start-ups with training programmes, workshops, marketing, and counselling services.

The bank not only provides SMEs with credits, but aims to be an active partner of entrepreneurs. In this, Khan Bank takes the long-term view and strives to enable local business to seize opportunity and expand at a clip similar to, or indeed higher than, that of the overall economy.

Founded in 1991, Khan Bank has consistently invested in technology and innovation. That strategy paid off and the bank may now claim a 90% market share in rural Internet banking. Its mobile banking platform enjoys a 52% market share.

The CFI.co judging panel was pleased to see that Khan Bank has pioneered the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) principles in the Mongolian financial services industry. Through the Khan Bank Foundation, a growing number of initiatives are supported that help underwrite the economic and social development of the country. The foundation leverages the reach of the bank’s branch network to carry out more than twenty nation-wide campaigns and programmes.

The judges commend Khan Bank’s foresight in establishing the institution at the very heart of Mongolian society, thus ensuring the bank a privileged position from where it has embarked on a path of sustainable growth. The judges have no doubt that Khan Bank is an exceptionally worthy winner of the 2015 Best SME Bank Mongolia Award.


PwC: Best Corporate Advisory Services Nigeria

The Nigerian economy seems to possess the resilience required to keep its annual growth rate running at between five and six per cent. The smooth and violence-free process that ushered in a change of government earlier this year boosted the confidence of the entire nation and may well herald an economic upswing.

The senior economic spokesman at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Nigeria, Dr Andrew Nevin, agrees that the economy will continue to grow, but emphasises the need for long-term planning to underpin future expansion. Mr Nevin notes that the real economy is largely insulated against a drop in oil prices. He is also pleased to see the share of the energy sector in Nigeria’s GDP shrinking from 40% in 2000 to less than 13% now.

PwC has cautioned that whilst the infrastructure in Nigeria is relatively advanced by African standards, it nevertheless falls short of requirements and thus constitutes an impediment to more robust and sustained economic development. On the plus side, Nigeria boasts a large, young, and urbanised population; huge reserves of oil and natural gas; and a diversified economy. The country has also embarked on an accelerated drive to upgrade its transportation infrastructure.

The CFI.co judging panel finds that PwC’s stellar reputation for corporate advisory in Nigeria is easy to explain: the firm offers a wealth of services to companies presently doing business in Nigeria or those that mull taking the plunge into Africa’s most promising market.

The judges are pleased to see that PwC is fully engaged in programmes that aim to further improve leadership skills in Nigeria with a particular focus on youth and education. Training is at the heart of the PwC model and its tax academy enjoys a solid reputation. The firm also organises an Executive Master of Finance & Control Programme for the energy industry. This year PwC’s interesting Chess4Change Initiative challenges secondary school students to improve their analytical and mathematical proficiency by taking to the game with a passion.

PwC Nigeria benefits, of course, from the skills base of a formidable network of firms present in 157 countries and employing 184,000 people. The CFI.co judges are very pleased with the dedication shown by PwC to this part of Africa and, without hesitation, confirm the firm’s win of the 2015 Best Corporate Advisory Services Nigeria Award.


DLA Piper: Best Cross-Border Transaction Team Global 2015

Rationalising corporate operations and processes across markets and borders is both challenging and rewarding. The benefits to all stakeholders can be very high indeed. However, success is unlikely to be attained without proper tax and regulatory planning. These are the essential ingredients of any corporate cross-border streamlining. Without them, disaster is courted.

Major international law firms are usually the first port of call for companies seeking advice on corporate matters that span different jurisdictions. The CFI.co judging panel finds that DLA Piper boasts a strong and well-deserved reputation for delivering expertise in this highly complex area of law. The judges pointed out that the firm is a global leader in structuring large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

For one of its clients, DLA Piper worked across multiple practice areas and no less than 29 jurisdictions to accomplish the desired outcome – on spec and on time. The assignment was efficiently handled by a single office with the work billed out as agreed in just a single fee note, adding to the transparency of the undertaking. While the efficiencies are glaringly obvious, ultimate success is ensured and delivered by an exceptionally highly skilled group of lawyers working throughout the world and joined in a peer network. DLA Piper’s global legal reach is an argument hard to refute.

Governments and many Fortune 500 and FTSE-listed companies are regularly turning to DLA Piper for expert advice. The firm’s legal team stands out for its diversity, inclusion, and professional quality. DLA Piper also aims to empower bright young minds through its unique Break into Law Initiative. This global programme is focused on removing barriers to employment in the legal profession in order that underrepresented young professionals anywhere in the world may break through glass ceilings and develop their true and full potential.

DLA Piper lawyers are actively encouraged to undertake pro bono work including, significantly, activities outside their own domestic market. The firm also supports UNICEF in working for justice for children.

The CFI.co judging panel is delighted to confer on DLA Piper the 2015 Best Cross-Border Transaction Team Global Award.


Steward Redqueen: Best Emerging Markets ESG Advisory Team Global 2015

Incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) parameters into day-to-day business operations constitutes a classic case of easier-said-than-done. Though a great many companies are eager to comply, and recognise the paramount importance of putting their processes and operations on a sustainable footing, many struggle with defining and implementing ESG principles.

Even some big name brands may need a helping hand – and a word of advice – to measure their impact on nature and society. Steward Redqueen is able to offer both. From its head office in The Netherlands, and supported by its global SRQ Associates Network, the firm offers global companies bespoke consultancy services on a vast array of socio-economic issues and topics.

Steward Redqueen operates where the corporate sphere overlaps the surrounding environment. Its consultancy services aim to provide a seamless integration of both spaces. Dilemmas arise as corporations try to square their profit-driven existence in a competitive world with a growing awareness of the civic responsibilities this entails. Thus, the business side of operations may conflict with wider stewardship obligations.

It is at this point that Steward Redqueen is able to help. It does so by measuring the socio-economic impact of its clients’ operations. This data allows companies to adjust corporate policies to better dovetail with local realities, often transforming challenges into opportunities for all stakeholders.

Steward Redqueen has helped a major Dutch brewery gauge its impact on the emerging markets of Sub-Saharan Africa which, in turn, allowed the company to better engage with local communities. For a global asset manager, Steward Redqueen developed a tool that enables investment professionals to incorporate ESG parameters into decision-making processes and subsequently monitor a company’s ability to manage these issues. As a result, the client may now easily embed ESG factors in its risk rating and valuation models.

With a roster of clients akin to a who’s-who of the corporate world, including a number of Fortune 500 companies, Steward Redqueen has become the go-to consultancy for any company wishing to get a handle on its ESG performance and to improve the sustainability of its business.

The CFI.co judging panel considers the scope of the services provided by Steward Redqueen quite exceptional. This is not an outfit staffed by dreamers; rather Steward Redqueen keep its eye on the bottom line, finding opportunity where others may see trouble. In fact, the firm has found more than one way of fitting square pegs into round holes. That is an accomplishment the CFI.co judges wish to recognise. The judges are glad to extend Steward Redqueen the 2015 Best Emerging Markets ESG Advisory Team Global Award.


Ernst & Young: Best Tax Team Argentina 2015

For all its well-documented troubles, Argentina’s economy remains the third largest in Latin America. It is, however, in desperate need of a boost. All contenders for the country’s presidency solemnly promise to deliver the goods necessary for an economic revival, should the voters elevate them into the Casa Rosada – and power – come October 25 when elections are set to take place.

The incumbent Cristina Fernández, the widow of former president Néstor Kirchner, has presided over two debt defaults, a number of economic meltdowns, and a long series of scandals and affaires. She is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term in office.

President Fernández has repeatedly clashed with hedge fund managers – known locally as “vultures” – who are widely considered, and indeed are, the bane of the country. Billionaire investor Paul Singer, without doubt the top vulture, is suing Argentina over the non-payment of sovereign debt and trying to seize Argentinian assets with help of US courts. Mr Singer bought non-performing Argentinian bonds for pennies on the dollar and is now holding out for full repayment – seeking to make a killing of epic proportions in the process.

However, Argentina also holds great promise as emphasised by Brevan Howard in Europe and Bienville Capital Management in the US. Both are touting Argentina as offering outstanding investment opportunities in the run-up to the coming change of the guard. In early June, bond prices already indicated a boost in investor confidence.

No doubt the challenging economic realities Argentina now battles will persist for some time to come. That also holds true for the vagaries of the country’s rather Byzantine legal and regulatory environment. Still, opportunity beckons. In order to seize the moment, investors stand in need of top notch advisory services.

The CFI.co judging panel has long been impressed by Ernst & Young’s Argentinian member firm Pistrelli, Henry Martin y Asociados. The judges were pleased to see this award nomination come through for 2015. This year Pistrelli, Henry Martin y Asociados was appointed independent auditor to the world’s largest McDonalds restaurant franchisee, Arcos Dorados Holdings operating in twenty countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The partners in Ernst & Young Argentina boasts vast international experience and bring like amounts of expertise to the table. The firm has worked diligently to illuminate and navigate the recent changes to the Argentinian tax code. The judges were very impressed with this winner’s tax advisory work. The CFI.co judging panel is pleased to confirm Ernst & Young as the winner of the 2015 Best Tax Team Argentina Award.


MetLife: Best Insurance Company United States 2015

A good life insurance company inspires confidence in order that families may face an uncertain future with a much-reduced level of concern. However, a truly great insurance provider takes this level of assurance a few steps further and can support an entire nation – especially in times of crisis.

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) has supported individuals and families – and indeed the entire nation – throughout its distinguished corporate history spanning already 150 years. MetLife can trace its roots back to 1863 when it offered insurance coverage to soldiers and officers fighting the US Civil War.

By 1930, one in five Americans had signed up with the insurance company to protect the future well-being of their nearest and dearest. MetLife continues to be the largest life assurer in the United States. Today, the company provides a full range of innovative insurance, retirement, and savings products. MetLife is also active in sixty other countries. In Japan, it is ranked the second largest foreign insurance provider.

In 1909, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower was erected in New York to house the MetLife corporate head office. At the time, the emblematic building was the world’s tallest structure. It was to serve as the company’s corporate headquarters until just ten years ago. MetLife also helped finance New York’s world-famous skyline: in 1929, it provided the funds that made the Empire State Building possible and two years later assisted with the financing of the Rockefeller Center.

For its very beginnings, MetLife has attached great importance to its corporate social responsibilities. The MetLife Foundation, set up in 1976, remains an exceptionally generous, and financially well-endowed, donor. The foundation focuses on healthcare, education, community, and culture. Its donations support an impressive number of non-profit organisations. The foundation also invests heavily in community engagement.

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks, the company made one billion dollars available to prop up publicly traded stocks and help restore investor confidence. This was not a first: during the Second World War, MetLife placed more than half its assets in war bonds and became the largest private contributor to the allied cause.

This insurance company is widely recognised as one of the best managed corporations in the United States and was an equal opportunity employer long before the term was coined. MetLife reported Q1 2015 earnings of $1.6 billion – up 5% over last year’s result and representing a return on investment of 14.4%.

Noting that this is the second award MetLife claims, the CFI.co judging panel has no hesitation in confirming the win and naming MetLife the Best Insurance Company United States 2015.


Bank of New York Mellon: Best Wealth Manager United States 2015

Established in 1784 by Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States founding fathers and the first Secretary of the Treasury of the new-born republic, Bank of New York Mellon has endured throughout the centuries to become one of the largest deposit banks in the US. An institution as American as the proverbial apple pie, Bank of New York Mellon provides sophisticated and highly effective wealth management services to individuals, families, family offices, and institutions.

Client retention at Bank of New York Mellon is exceptionally strong thanks to a pronounced emphasis on relationship management and customer-centric processes. The contemporary incarnation of the bank is the result of a 2007 merger between Bank of New York and Mellon Finance. The corporate slogan reflects the bank’s unwavering dedication to excellence and its well-documented aversion to passing fads and gimmicks: “What Serves, Not What Sells.”

Director Jeffrey Mortimer of Investment Strategy of the Wealth Management Division presently advises clients to consider including international small cap equities in their asset portfolios. Mr Mortimer points to the encouraging developments in Europe and Japan as quantitative easing policies start to bite and economic activity picks up. Mr Mortimer reminds investors that smaller caps historically outperform their larger peers early on in a recovery.

Bank of New York Mellon has also pioneered a special appeal tailored to suit the specific needs of female investors. Women Investing with a Purpose – Why Women Investors Many Need a Different Approach to Reach Their Goals – starts from the premise that there is a mismatch between female investors’ needs and the products they are usually offered. The bank has found that women investors have distinct retirement priorities and risk tolerance profiles. Steps are now being taken to address the issue and design financial products and services perfectly suited to female investors.

The CFI.co judges are delighted to concede, for the second year running, their Best Wealth Manager United States Award to Bank of New York Mellon.


Assupol: Best Life Assurer South Africa 2015

Know your client, keep in touch, and refrain from bells and whistles. Insurance is a fairly straightforward business, or so it should ideally be: collect premiums and offer prompt succour should disaster strike. There is elegance in simplicity and South Africa’s Assupol understands this better than most.

The company offers insurance coverage to people who may not possess large reserves of ready cash with which to absorb setbacks. Assupol realises that it is precisely for this reason the company’s services are sought. Keeping both lines of communication and pay-out times short, the company fully processes claims within 48-hours of receipt.

However, and perhaps more importantly, Assupol also offers instant relief. Clients may use any mobile phone – not just smart ones – to report a claim and can expect an advance payment to cover initial expenses within the hour.

With its peerless agility, Assupol has become the trendsetter in South Africa’s highly competitive insurance market. Though significantly smaller than the behemoths that dominate the insurance industry, Assupol manages to spearhead customer-centric innovations that its competitors are only now waking up to. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Assupol has secured a degree of adulation that borders on the enviable.

Its success in procuring business from a previously underserved demographic is due to teamwork and a focus on the customers’ needs. With a 24/7 on-call phone facility, Assupol allows its customers easy access to a broad range of services aimed at offering close support and counselling in times of need.

In business since 1913, Assupol has grown from a provider of services to government employees – Serving Those Who Serve – to become a leading South African insurance company catering to the general public. Though Assupol remains focused on the provision of premier insurance services to people of more modest means, the company has recently made significant inroads into the middle- and high-income groups where its agility and excellence are appreciated as well.

In all fairness, the CFI.co judging panel cannot resist offering recognition to a company such as Assupol that shakes up an entire industry by inventing a better wheel. Setting out to offer a vastly improved experience to its clients, Assupol streamlined processes and eliminated bottlenecks, coming up with insurance products that satisfy needs in a straightforward manner. Moreover, it did so without recourse to those infamous tiny letters that leave clients bewildered, if not dazed and confused. The judges are pleased indeed to offer Assupol the 2015 Best Life Assurer South Africa Award.


Baker & McKenzie: Best Islamic Finance Team Bahrain 2015

In business since 1949, Baker & McKenzie is right at home in a shrinking world: since its very inception, the company thinks, acts, and works on a global scale. With a fee-generated revenue in excess of $2.5bn in 2014, Baker & McKenzie maintains a presence in 47 countries. The firm employs over 11,000 people in its 77 offices from which it serves – with notable distinction – more than 500 corporate clients who represent some of the world’s largest companies.

Baker & McKenzie is an industry partner to the World Economic Forum (WEF). Earlier this year, the company’s chairperson, Eduardo Leite, co-chaired the 10th regional WEF conference in Latin America.

In Bahrain, Baker & McKenzie ranks at the very top in several industry sectors and is widely recognised as an expert on Islamic finance. The CFI.co judging panel wholeheartedly agrees that the firm’s Islamic finance team stands out from the competition and has continued to power ahead convincingly since receiving an earlier award from CFI.co.

For the past thirty years, Baker & McKenzie has been a key player in the Middle East. The firm has been present in Bahrain since 1998. The company’s deep knowledge and understanding of the region remains unequalled. This breadth of experience coupled to the readily deployable – and massive – resources and its global footprint, make the Baker & McKenzie team the one to watch for clues and cues. Over the years, the firm has been involved in many hallmark Islamic finance projects. The training and expertise of its lawyers has proved absolutely superb.

The CFI.co judging panel is delighted to confirm, yet again, the leadership position of the Baker & McKenzie team and declares the firm winner of the 2015 Best Islamic Finance Team Bahrain Award.


HSBC: Best Global Research Team Banking 2015

This year, HSBC celebrates its 150th anniversary. The bank was established in 1865 with the express purpose of financing trade between Europe and Asia. This aim has remained unchanged throughout the years: HSBC still sees its role as one of connecting customers to opportunities, although now the bank’s raison d’être is applied on a global scale.

After last year’s slightly more difficult final quarter, HSBC Holdings is expecting a good run in 2015 with Q1 profits already up by 4% to $6.8bn. The bank excels at providing clients with solid advice and innovative ideas that combine local insights with global connectivity.

HSBC has gained a reputation for being quite opinionated and for calling phenomena by their proper name, not mincing words or engaging in doublespeak. This works brilliantly to the advantage of HSBC clients who benefit from frank assessments and clear messages.

The bank employs a wide range of platforms and formats to help clients make sense of volatile financial markets that are often near-impossible to gauge. The HSBC research team rightly considers itself strong in spotting promising investment opportunities, reporting on new developments as they unfold, and analysing the profit potential of specific events. HSBC aspires to be topical, relevant, and insightful – and succeeds brilliantly at this.

Reports produced by HSCB tend to set both the tome and the agenda. In recent times, the bank has published papers on the world as it might look in 2050, on south-south trade, and on the convertibility of the Chinese renminbi and its chances of becoming a reserve currency.

With such a highly diverse customer base, and in order to meet the expectations of all stakeholders, HSCB looks for diversity of backgrounds, business approaches, and opinions in its staff members. Employees are effectively empowered to add value to the services the bank offers its clients.

The judging panel is unanimous in its verdict that HSCB fully merits the 2015 Best Global Research Team Banking Award.


CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank: Best Internet Banking Services Caribbean 2015

At the forefront of Internet banking in the Caribbean, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank has invested significant resources in the development of a state-of-the-art Internet platform that offers a best-in-class customer experience while increasing both the speed and security of transactional processes. Headquartered in Barbados, CIBC FirstCaribbean maintains a branch network spanning seventeen Caribbean countries offering full retail banking services to both residents and non-residents alike.

CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank is listed on the Barbados Stock Exchange with cross-listings on the stock exchanges of Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Bahamas in addition to the East Caribbean Securities Exchange.

In 2006, CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce) upped its stake in the Pan-Caribbean bank to 91.4% after Barclay’s Bank exercised its option to exit the joint venture. Subsequently, the Canadian bank scooped up most of the remaining shares from smaller investors.

CIBC is no stranger to the Caribbean. The bank opened its first branch in Jamaica 85 years ago and treats the region as an extension of its home market. CIBC is the fifth largest bank in Canada by deposits and also maintains a prominent presence in the United States, Asia, and the United Kingdom. Bloomberg Markets rates CIBC as the strongest bank in North America and the third most solid worldwide.

CIBC FirstCaribbean is an active participant in the development of the region and supports hundreds of community initiatives and programmes throughout the Caribbean Basin. As the largest bank in the English-speaking part of the Caribbean, CIBC FirstCaribbean takes its corporate social responsibility seriously and has developed a number of projects that aim to insert the bank ever deeper into the local society.

The CFI.co judging panel applauds CIBC First Caribbean’s unswerving dedication to customer satisfaction. The judges recognises the bank’s successful efforts to offer its clients easy and convenient access to world class products and services, continuously adjusted and fine-tuned to best serve the local markets in which it operates. Pursuing inclusiveness and sensitive to local requirements and needs, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank is the undisputed winner of the 2015 CFI.co Best Internet Banking Services Caribbean Award.


Professional Traders Group: Best Capital Market Trading Services GCC 2015

Take $50,000 and trade it up to a cool million. It can be done, and the CEO of Professional Traders Group in Dubai is showing how. Using real money and a live account – no demos or other gimmicks here – Sushant Buttan trades his way to a million for all to see. In the process, Professional Traders Group is demonstrating what a difference a state-of-theart platform – backed up by an exceptionally strong infrastructure – can make for traders.

In 2007, with the full support of the Dubai government and the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), Professional Traders Group opened the first purpose-built trading floor in the Middle East with the express intent of creating a thriving community of expert traders. It has succeeded in doing so. The firm aims higher still: it now wants to become the world’s largest trading facility by 2020 – the year Dubai will host the World Expo.

Professional Traders Group provides traders with comprehensive and fully-featured trading desks that seamlessly plug into the global marketplace. Traders may choose their preferred platform from a broad array of options ranging from sophisticated industry staples such as TT Xtrader and Jtrader to more esoteric and specialised trading environments. A dedicated line connects the trading floor to a premier London clearing house, ensuring lightning-fast execution of orders over an uncongested stable live connection.

Due to the vast volumes of trade being conducted from its floor, Professional Traders Group offers associated traders the lowest rates and fees in the business. A number of programmes are maintained that reduce costs even further. The Eurex Trader Development Programme and the CME New Trader Incentive Programme enable professional traders to shave costs and up margins significantly.

The services offered by Professional Traders Group stretch far beyond the confines of the trading floor. The company helps traders willing to relocate to Dubai set up free-zone companies at the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre. Here, a trading license may be obtained that allows traders full ownership of their company. With income tax rates set at zero per cent and no limits on the repatriation of earnings, Dubai offers traders a welcome haven in a time zone ideally suited to conducting transactions on a truly global scale.

While the prospect of moving to Dubai may seem daunting to some, Professional Traders Group takes the sting out of the move by effectively managing all relocating aspects, thus ensuring the smoothest of transitions. The firms helps arrange everything from the kids’ schooling and leisure activities to the inevitable paperwork, housing, and even helping pets gain their footing in a new environment. No detail is deemed too insignificant to merit the full attention of the Professional Traders Group’s experienced support staff.

The CFI.co judging panel is deeply impressed by the range of services provided by Professional Traders Group. It is abundantly clear that no detail has been overlooked. This enables professional traders to pursue their passion with a vengeance while de-stressing their family lives. Having cracked the secret of success, Professional Traders Group is named Best Capital Market Trading Services GCC 2015.


Meikles Limited: Best Corporate Governance Zimbabwe 2015

A household name in Zimbabwe, and indeed one of the country’s flagship corporations, Meikles Limited employs over 6,000 people across a number of businesses. The company owns and runs the landmark 5-star Meikles Hotel in Harare’s business district as well as the emblematic and recently renovated Victoria Falls Hotel and the Cape Grace Hotel on Cape Town’s famous Victoria & Albert waterfront.

Meikles Limited is, however, not just a hallmark of quality in the hospitality industry. The company also operates Zimbabwe’s premier retail outlets. Its network of TM Supermarkets now comprises 52 stores. The iconic Meikles department stores, present in Zimbabwe’s three main cities, are direct descendants of the trading business set up in Fort Victoria by the three Meikle brothers John, Stewart, and Thomas who arrived from Scotland in the late 1800s.

More recently, Meikles Limited has diversified its operations into wholesale (Meikles Mega Market) and mining. With Tanganda Tea the company is also Zimbabwe’s largest grower, packer, and distributor of tea and tea products.

Meikles Limited remarkable trajectory to the very apex of private business in Zimbabwe is in large part due to the company’s long-standing adherence to strict standards of corporate governance. Meikles is one of only a handful of Zimbabwean businesses able to raise funds from international investors.

The company is currently considering to source up to $25m overseas to finance the expansion of its mining operations in Matabeleland. Last year, Meikles Centar Mining paid $10m for a 51% stake in DGL Investments, a subsidiary of Duration Gold Limited, with two producing assets. The company now mulls additional investments in the area as the first steps in a process that should see Meikles Centar Mining becoming a major player in the sector.

It offers living proof that an uncompromising stance on corporate governance ultimately pays off and, indeed, enables a company such as Meikles Limited to successfully operate in an environment not always overly friendly to private business.


Payment Express Ltd: Best Card Payment Services Provider Mauritius 2015

A driving force behind the surge in third party processing (TPP), Payment Express Ltd of Mauritius leads the industry through innovation and efficiency. Payment Express is certified as a TPP by both VISA and MasterCard. Managed by experienced professionals drawn from world class financial institutions, the firm offers a full suite of payment services covering all aspects of processing to banks, retailers, and others. Payment Express services are fully certified to comply with up-to-date EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa) standards, ensuring fast and flawless processing of large transactional volumes.

From its start, Payment Express has always been equipped to handle EMV Smart Card technology as a growing number of banks, merchants and customers adopt EMV-enabled terminals and cards. The company has built, and diligently maintains, a large network infrastructure which complies with the latest PCI-DSS (Payment Cards Industry – Data Security Standards), to support its ambition to become the key universal payment provider in the African market. Mindful of the fierce competition that characterises these buoyant markets, Payment Express has achieved economies of scale that allow the firm to offer sharp rates that consistently ensure added value to clients.

Likewise, the company has embraced a customer-centric approach to its business, aiming to exceed the industry’s benchmarks through an unrelenting quest for operational and procedural perfection. The firm powers its expansion with a high-tech platform that allows for rapid growth without sacrificing processing speed, thus ensuring that transactions are handled without any discernible delay.

Payment Express also offers its clients payment processing solutions tailored to their unique needs. Via continuous training and learning, the company makes sure that its staff is at all times skilled and well-versed in the latest technology. Payment processing is a fast-moving field where technology meets convenience and changes driven by out-of-the-box thinking lead to momentous procedural shifts. Premier payment processors such as Payment Express must be able to adapt fast in order to stay one or more steps ahead in this exceptionally dynamic environment.

At the forefront of payment processing in Africa, Payment Express has reached its position of leadership by continuously striving towards operational perfection. Payment Express currently has live and active customers in Mauritius, Namibia, Burundi, Angola, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Additionally, customers in some other African countries would be using the services of Payment Express shortly.

The CFI.co judges noted that the company does not rest on its considerable laurels and is now enlarging the firm’s geographical footprint to include new markets. The judging panel is confident that Payment Express will succeed in its corporate quest to become the region’s top payment processor. The company’s unwavering dedication to provide excellence in both products and services merits recognition. Payment Express Ltd is hereby given the 2015 Best Card Payment Services Provider Mauritius Award.


Unitel T+: Best Customer Satisfaction Cape Verde 2015

Young, dynamic, open, and socially aware: Unitel T+, the newest telecom operator in Cape Verde, offers a breath of fresh air. The company deploys the latest technology and does so with a wink and a smile. Unitel T+ succeeds in bringing people together via its broad range of telecom services. The firm aims for the top and is moving ahead at top speed as well, powered by a resolute dedication to world class excellence in the delivery of its services.

While top-notch service may be a given in most markets, Cape Verde was perceived as lagging slightly behind. That presented Unitel T+ with a golden opportunity to cash in on the nation’s thirst for prompt telecom services, delivered efficiently and courteously. With a booming economy and recently upgraded by the United Nations to the category of Small Island Developing State, Cape Verde is experiencing a growth spurt. Already near the very top of per capita income in Africa, the country is now cosying up to the European Union. Sponsored by former colonial power Portugal and the other islands of Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Madeira, and Azores), Cape Verde is now being considered for a special status within the EU, just short of full membership. The island nation ranks significantly higher on development indices than do some of the other countries being considered for EU membership.

Against this dynamic backdrop, the demand for telecom services has skyrocketed. Unitel T+ has filled the gap and done so with a keen sense of business and an exceptional acumen for local conditions. Adopting a customer-centric approach and offering upto- date voice and data services to both private individuals and business, the company has already claimed a significant market share thatis still expanding at a brisk pace. Tapping into a vast reservoir of pent-up demand for modern telecom services, Unitel T+ has, in fact, changed
the sector’s landscape pioneering new products and emphasising convenience and ease of use to grateful customers.

The CFI.co judging panel finds the approach taken by Unitel T+ both refreshing and praiseworthy. The company operates an efficient network and markets its products in novel ways, using multiple channels and social media to spread the news of its business. By doggedly adhering to a customer and demanddriven model, Unitel T+ is reshaping the Cape Verdean telecom sector in its own image. Unitel T+ is a most worthy winner of the 2015 Best Customer Satisfaction Cape Verde Award.


AfroCentric Group: Best Healthcare Management Team Africa 2015

Standing at the apex of the black economic empowerment initiative deployed by the South African government to redress the inequalities fostered during the apartheid era, the AfroCentric Investment Corporation has assumed a prominent role in promoting a more equitable development model for the country. The company manages a diversified investment portfolio geared towards businesses in high-growth sectors that contribute in a meaningful and sustainable way to South Africa’s economic and social advancement.

AfroCentric Health is one of the mainstays of the group’s corporate edifice – complemented by interests in the technology and resource sectors. Within AfroCentric Health, the Medscheme service provides comprehensive service packages for both health risk management and healthcare management. While the former offers customised programmes that deliver enhanced healthcare value, the latter provides healthcare management solutions with the build-in flexibility that allows providers to keep a competitive edge in this most dynamic of industries.

Leveraging the latest technology and a tightly integrated team of experienced professionals, Medscheme forges close partnerships with its clients – and maintains short lines of communications – to ensure the ready availability and delivery of support services and resources that enable healthcare providers to consistently operate at peak efficiency. Medscheme’s dedication to excellence is rooted in a continuous drive for improvement powered by the permanent monitoring of systems, processes, and customer feedback. The company obtained ISO 9001:2008 certification for the core areas of its business operations.

The CFI.co judging panel also noted that Medscheme is exceptionally conscientious in managing the public funds entrusted to the medical aid administrators – its clients. As with all companies under the AfroCentric umbrella, the pursuit of good corporate governance is considered of paramount importance to the enduring success of the business.

AfroCentric Health fully complies with all the provisions of the King III framework and diligently follows international best practices. The strict internal control systems and processes put in place are regularly benchmarked against the industry’s gold standard. The company has applied its expertise to other markets as well and maintains a strong presence in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe. Entry into other markets is currently being considered.

The CFI.co judges have no doubt that the integrated AfroCentric approach to healthcare management offers both the company’s clients and the wider society a wealth of benefits. As such Medscheme fulfils the corporate mission and vision of the AfroCentric Group in an exemplary fashion. The judges are pleased to offer AfroCentric the 2015 Best Healthcare Management Team Africa Award.


Clyde & Co (Hong Kong): Best Aviation Finance Advisory Team for Emerging Markets 2015

A market leader in aviation regulation and finance, the Hong Kong law office of Clyde & Co helps clients keep abreast of the latest developments in the fast-paced airline industry and consistently delivers world class legal assistance to the sector’s major players and those aiming for the top.

The firm has long been acquainted with the particular needs of the airline industry in emerging markets. It is precisely here that much of the industry’s growth is taking place, with new airlines spreading their wings and existing ones expanding route networks and fleets. Clyde & Co has been serving the aviation sector for over eighty years and boasts a solid track record in assisting airlines from emerging markets in Africa and elsewhere soar high – safely and securely.

Liability rules, global emissions trading frameworks, and other regulatory trends are carefully monitored and mapped by Clyde & Co’s in-house team of legal professionals and industry experts to help airlines deal with a constantly shifting business environment.

The firm operates on a global scale and is widely recognised as the elite team to call whenever highly complex matters arise. Clyde & Co’s vast experience in the aviation sector also allows it to offer clients sound advice on finance, insurance and reinsurance matters, fuel contracts, labour disputes, and other nuts-and-bolts questions that aviation executives habitually face.

In the aviation industry, Clyde & Co has become a byword for efficiency. The firm seeks legal solutions through straight-line-simplicity, with prompt conflict resolution – whether via litigation, mediation, or arbitration – considered of paramount importance.

The CFI.co judges expressed admiration for Clyde & Co’s proactive approach: clients not just benefit from the firm’s in-depth knowledge of a highly complex and heavily regulated industry, they also receive constant updates regarding changes in rules and practices which enables clients to promptly adjust business processes and thus keep a few steps ahead of the competition. The CFI.co judges are pleased to confer on Clyde & Co (Hong Kong) their 2015 Best Aviation Finance Advisory Team for Emerging Markets Award.


Virgin Money: Best Young Bank Global 2015

Hip, groovy, trendy, cool, and irreverent: these are not the timeless hallmarks of your dad’s bank. Then again, Virgin Money is not into staid or plaid. One of the UK’s youngest banks, Virgin Money is unashamed in its appeal to the up and coming generation of movers, shakers, and barnstormers.

Eschewing small-letter footnotes and legalese, Virgin Money is both upfront and out front. The bank aims for direct lines of communication, transmitting clear talk and straight messages. Investors in Virgin Money’s ready-made investment funds are told that they may get back less money than the amount invested. Devoid of ambiguity but armed with a comprehensive suite of world class products, Virgin Money may be young and bold; it is also quite mature and sophisticated.

Founded by Britain’s best-loved enfant terrible Richard Branson – investor and serial entrepreneur par excellence – Virgin Money currently operates in the UK and has signed up around three million customers. Virgin Money got a head start when it managed to acquire Northern Rock which had been nationalised in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Challenging the established order, Virgin Money makes no secret from the fact that its management team is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to improve and innovate. With a strong belief in the beneficial cumulative effects of small incremental change, Virgin Money tries to help customers reach personal goals by offering well-conceived products that respond to well-defined needs. Bells, whistles, and other add-ons are no-no’s. In a way, Virgin Money is bringing banking back down to earth.

The CFI.co judging panel was both surprised and impressed by Virgin Money’s fresh approach to banking. The company has cleared a path and ventured into a territory largely unexploited by its competitors. Virgin Money is the real thing: not an old bank trying to be hip, but a young bank being serious. The judges are thrilled to confer their 2015 Best Young Bank Global on Virgin Money.


UMEME: Best ESG Power Producer Uganda 2015

UMEME is Uganda’s largest electricity distributor and listed on the Uganda and Nairobi Security Exchanges. This company pays the utmost attention to the needs and aspirations of all stakeholders as was brought to the attention of the CFI.co judging panel by voters in the 2015 Energy Awards programme.

This winner lives up its stated purpose of providing an exceptional customer service in a safe, reliable, and cost effective manner, with a highly skilled and well-motivated workforce, generating sufficient profits to sustain and build the business while providing value to the shareholders.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, initiatives, and procedures are fundamental to the smooth running of this highly successful operation. The ESG committee, which includes chairman Stuart David Michael Grylis, is one of five key committees at the very heart of UMEME’s corporate organisation. The committee concerns itself with ensuring that business activities impact as favourably as possible on the lives of staff, visitors, contractors, and the wider community. UMEME is a transparent organisation that says: If you see something, say something.

UMEME serves the community with consideration and kindness. The miseries and hazards of low grade alternative sources of lighting and heating no longer blight the lives of around 600 village residents in Eastern Uganda. The inhabitants of Akarkwar received solar lanterns as a gift from UMEME so that they should not need to rely on candles, kerosene, and grass and wood burning – which can result in fire hazards as well as health issues.

The company supports Rotary Clubs of Uganda in the fight against cancer and helps the Association of Surgeons of Uganda so that they may operate on needy patients without fee. UMEME support of the Children’s Foundation helps give abandoned kids the chance of a better life. The company supports a number of other worthy charitable organisations in Uganda as well.


Edgars Stores: Best Customer Satisfaction Retailer Southern Africa 2015

The customer is always right. This old adage holds as true today as it did when the phrase was originally coined in the early 18th century by English retailers seeking an edge over the competition. At Zimbabwe’s Edgars Stores, the timeless pursuit of full customer satisfaction forms the cornerstone of a corporate philosophy that has raised the bar for the entire retail sector.

Pioneering the concept – simple to explain, yet surprisingly hard to properly implement – Edgars Stores has endeared itself to the shopping public. Even before setting foot in one of the retailer’s 28 outlets, customers know that any and all of their concerns will be promptly addressed. Edgars Stores is not merely in the business of selling competitivelypriced merchandise, but aims to offer an overall superior shopping experience.

The company has been in business for close to seventy years. The first Edgars Store opened in Bulawayo in 1946. Since then, Edgars Stores has expanded both the range of its merchandise and its geographical footprint. The company obtained a listing on the nation’s stock exchange in 1974. That same year, Edgars Stores acquired the Carousel Clothing factory to hedge against possibly erratic supplies from overseas.

In line with its policy of keeping all activities under a single corporate roof, Edgars Stores operates its own financial services company in order to offer clients preferential deferred payment plans with no or low interest. The ready availability of in-house credit facilities has significantly boosted Edgars Stores’ expansion drive and sets the brand apart from the competition.

The CFI.co judging panel noted that Edgars Stores has successfully leveraged its indepth knowledge of Zimbabwe’s retail scene to craft a set of services that dovetails to perfection with the requirements of the market.

Successful retailers need to move beyond stocking the right product mix, and offering convenient premises, to embrace all aspects of the shopping experience as an integrated package that sets consumers at ease, caters to all their needs, and offers a smooth nohassle ride from walk-in to check-out and after sales. Edgars Stores has mastered this routine to perfection and is the undisputed winner of the 2015 Best Customer Satisfaction Retailer Southern Africa Award.


First Registrars & Investor Services: Best Share Registrar Nigeria 2015

A registrar is responsible for keeping the records of shareholders and bondholders – who owns what and how much of it. The registrar ensures that the amount of shares outstanding in the market precisely matches the number of shares authorised by the issuing company.

First Registrar & Investor Services (FRIS) Nigeria offers a far wider range of services as suggested by the company style. FRIS expresses its core values as fidelity, integrity, respect, service, and tenacity. This translates into a consistently high standard of work and exemplary client services delivered by a committed team of consummate professionals led by managing director / CEO Bayo Olugbemi.

Mr Olugbemi is a successful pioneer of registration companies in Nigeria. He has strong experience in investment banking and portfolio management, and heads a team at FRIS that also claimed a CFI.co award win in the same award category in 2014.

This firm manages register accounts for some three million shareholders throughout the country. First Registrars has regional expansion plans which appear fully justified considering their stellar progress at home.

Having recently completed a successful re-branding exercise, FRIS reports strong performance in 2015 with business booked by the end of Q3 exceeding that of full-year 2014. The firm is clearly passionate about getting to know its customer and his/her requirements and takes pride in being in a position to assist in all ways possible. This attitude offers a bedrock upon which continuing success and business growth may be erected.

The CFI.co judging panel is always pleased to see a second consecutive year award win as this indicates that the progress and success noticed earlier has continued unabated. In the case of FRIS, much has been achieved over the past year and the panel is happy to confirm the 2015


PayShop (Portugal): Best Payment Solutions Portugal 2015

Managing a nationwide network of payment points, PayShop (Portugal) offers unsurpassed convenience to both businesses and their customers for the processing of bills. With some 4,000 outlets, PayShop serves in excess of 2.5 million people who regularly use the system to pay utility and other bills or to top up pay-as-you-go mobile phones.

Most PayShop outlets are open beyond standard business hours and provide customers with instant feedback. Payment processing takes places in real time with customers receiving issuer-approved receipts instantly. Associated businesses enjoy the convenience of giving clients additional payment facilities that reduce the stress on their own customer service and cashier departments.

PayShop approved outlets – mostly existing neighbourhood shops – benefit from increased footfall and often note a significant increase in sales revenue. PayShop terminals use a system that allows for ultrafast payment processing with most transactions taking mere seconds to complete. PayShop customers may also pay online purchases, obtain public transport tickets, and make donations to worthy causes at any of the company’s outlets.

Offering a simple, fast, and cheap solution to bill settlement, PayShop has positioned itself as the preferred provider of payment processing in Portugal. The company, set up in 2001 and owned by the Portuguese postal service CTT, now aims to leverage its accumulated knowledge and experience to expand its horizon and broach new markets.

The CFI.co judges applaud PayShop (Portugal) for streamlining the erstwhile cumbersome process of paying domestic bills. By focusing on convenience and devising a no-frills system that prioritises ease of use, the company offers a win-win-win solution that benefits customers, service providers, and terminal operators alike. As such, PayShop (Portugal) is proclaimed winner of the 2015 Best Payment Solutions Portugal Award.


UOL Group: Best Property Portfolio Management Team Singapore 2015

UOL (United Overseas Land) Group, founded in Singapore in 1963 and listed on the city state’s stock exchange the following year, operates as a consummate property developer in thirteen countries: the UK, the USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Australia, China, and Bangladesh.

Core business for UOL comprises residential/commercial and hospitality property development (including joint ventures), project management, and investment in securities. The company’s portfolio is well diversified – focusing on high growth regions – and the group has an enviable track record that includes close collaboration with overseas partners.

Total assets of UOL stood at close to $12bn at mid-year 2015 versus $3.5 billion ten years ago. The group’ story is one of outstanding growth, superb design work, a keen eye on quality, and strong and effective branding. The group’s corporate identity is a symbol of the spirit of enterprise and innovation.

UOL operates innovatively in an exceptionally competitive segment of the market and does so with great aplomb. Team strengths include flexibility and an eagerness to learn just what the market wants and needs. The management team is strong, talented, and intensely loyal. The company constantly maintains its focus on client needs. There is also a commitment to sustainability which merits recognition.

Pan Pacific Hotels Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UOL Group, operates and/or markets more than thirty facilities in Asia, Oceania, and North America.

UOL Group has an obvious commitment to the very highest standards in architectural design and development. The company’s determined management concentrates on steadfastly creating value for all stakeholders.

The CFI.co judging panel is very impressed with UOL Group on many levels. The group’s current property development portfolio looks extremely solid and there is ample evidence of promise for the years to come. The panel has no hesitation in awarding the group Best Property Portfolio Management Team Singapore 2015.


ABC Banking Corporation: Best International Bank Indian Ocean 2015

The financial services division of one of Mauritius’ largest, oldest, and best-known conglomerates, ABC Banking Corporation has built a solid and stellar reputation for the outstanding quality of its services, unfailingly delivered with integrity and care for the customer. The bank’s broad client-base includes both individuals and businesses who enjoy access to an exceptionally comprehensive array of products.

ABC Banking Corporation is also a fully-featured international bank with an expanding geographic footprint centred on the Indian Ocean – home to strong economies undergoing accelerated development. The bank is particularly focused on solidifying its international operations and boasts a highly experienced staff comprised of professionals well-versed in cross-border transactions.

ABC Banking Corporation is the newest division of the ABC Group of companies, founded in 1931 by Sir Moi Lin Jean Ah-Chuen whose contributions to the development of Mauritius were awarded with a knighthood by HM the Queen. He was also awarded a papal order of knighthood.

The Mauritius bank owes its success to a unique blend of tradition and innovation which is applied to all its operations. While carefully adhering to well-established international best practices, ABC Banking Corporation also aims to adapt its products and services to the fast-changing world around it. As such, the bank has assembled a comprehensive suite of innovative integrated financial amenities that offer both retail and corporate clients a seamless banking experience.

ABC Banking Corporation actively promotes Mauritius as an exceptionally convenient and welcoming hub for corporations looking to expand their presence in the nations bordering the Indian Ocean. The Mauritius Advantage includes solid protection for investors, a bilingual and highly educated workforce, a predictable and stable political climate, and a well-regulated and businessfriendly environment.

The CFI.co judging panel finds that ABC Banking Corporation has convincingly shown that a company dedicated to excellence can create and shape its own market. This bank has done so by getting things right from the get-go and remaining true to the original brief of consistently providing superior services to all clients.

As ABC Banking Corporation now eyes international markets, it deploys the exact same approach and may expect similarly strong results. The judges are therefore happy to extend
the 2015 Best International Bank Indian Ocean Award to ABC Banking Corporation of Mauritius


Nordea Asset Management: Best ESG Investment Process Europe 2015

Millions of customers entrust Nordea Asset Management not only with the management of their investments, but also with ensuring that the funds are invested in a responsible fashion. Investors increasingly demand their funds be used in ways that promote the common good while still delivering stellar returns. Instead of considering these demands a conundrum, Nordea Asset Management has developed a winning investment formula that incorporates the full spectrum of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) parameters in all actively managed fund products.

Nordea Asset Management is part of Nordea Bank AB, the largest financial services group in the Nordic Region that serves well over 11 million private customers and more than 700,000 corporate clients.

The bank’s asset management division is currently engaged in taking the concept of Responsible Investing (RI) to the next level by making sure that a thorough analysis of ESG values is carried out before funds are committed. Thus, ESG is no longer an add-on to the investment process, but has been relocated to its very basis.

Nordea Asset Management considers the application of ESG values as a primary way to mitigate risk and maximise opportunity. As such, ESG helps improve the performance of the bank’s comprehensive palette of investment products.

Nordea Asset Management has also gained a formidable reputation for its shareholder activism. Companies in which the bank has a stake are continuously monitored on their ESG performance. Should issues occur, the bank proactively offers solutions, encourages the adoption of improved corporate processes, and may even lend a helping hand in addressing potentially problematic situations.

Nordea Asset Management does not shirk from tackling dodgy corporate processes head-on. The asset manager has engaged with a number of companies in the extractive and infrastructure sectors – both often plagued by allegations of human rights violations and featuring an outsized environmental footprint – in order to gain a better understanding of prevailing practices, and their origins, with a view to offering ready-made innovative solutions that promise improved performance and compliance.

The CFI.co judging panel is again impressed by the breadth of Nordea Asset Management’s approach to the implementation of ESG-driven investment models. The asset manager has consistently been at the forefront of responsible investing and has regularly taken the lead, showing the way towards a more sustainable way of managing money and obtaining consistently healthy returns. For the second year running, the judges are unanimous in handing Nordea Asset Management the Best ESG Investment Process Europe Award.


Crédit Mutuel: Best ESG Risk Management Team France 2015

Partners rather than mere clients. Crédit Mutuel, one of France’s major financial services providers with over seven million account holders, is a bank that listens. As such, Crédit Mutuel has managed to elevate its interaction with the public to that of a mutually beneficial partnership.

In line with its well-established corporate philosophy, Crédit Mutuel also maintains a solid ESG (environmental, social, and governance) framework and offers a number of products and services tailored to further worthy causes. Crédit Mutuel boasts a range of socially responsible investment products that incorporate ESG values and parameters. The bank’s analysts are trained to identify investment opportunities at companies whose operations do not infringe upon human rights or harm the environment.

Crédit Mutuel also offers green loans to private individuals, professionals, farmers, and others to finance environmentally sound improvements to homes, offices, and business processes. People who have hit on hard times and struggle with unemployment or subsist on minimal income are welcomed at Crédit Mutuel. The bank has proactively joined the fight against financial marginalisation and exclusion and sustains a number of initiatives aimed at preventing or remedying precarious situations.

Crédit Mutuel works jointly with over a hundred associations, foundations, and organisations towards helping relieve social pressures on those unable to withstand them. The bank provides microcredits to people and small businesses who cannot otherwise access loans. Crédit Mutuel cooperates with other major microcredit providers to help starting entrepreneurs with skills training programmes.

By expanding its reach to all strata of society and offering its services and expertise to the entire nation, Crédit Mutuel has broken new ground. The bank thus offers living proof that financial services may be leveraged to further economic integration and bring a measure of hope in even the most challenging of situations. As such, the CFI.co judging panel considers that Crédit Mutuel constitutes an example both rare and welcome of an inclusive financial services provider. The judges are pleased to offer Crédit Mutuel the 2015 Best ESG Risk Management Team Award.


eDreams ODIGEO: Best Online Travel Partner 2015

Once upon a time, booking your next holiday adventure, business trip, or family visit involved many calls – in person or by phone – to airlines, travel agents, and other intermediaries. Coordinating flights and itineraries in order to obtain the best price used to be considered a dark art. All that changed as the Internet came of age and revolutionised the travel industry.

Aptly-named eDreams ODIGEO has been instrumental in ushering in this new era with an online platform that allows travellers to effortlessly book trips and obtain the best prices. The group of companies has also been at the forefront of marketing new tourist destinations.

eDreams ODIGEO has aggressively and successfully pursued a corporate strategy that is squarely aimed at making the company the preferred online travel agent in all the world’s major markets. The company is currently present in 44 markets spread over five continents. eDreams ODIGEO serves more than 16 million customers from fifteen offices. The company employs over 1,700 employees and last year moved in excess of $4.4bn in bookings.

With over 325 million unique page views per months, eDreams ODIGEO is Europe’s largest flight retailer and one of Europe’s most profitable ecommerce brands. eDreams ODIGEO is made up of five well-established online travel brands including eDreams, Opodo, Go Voyages, Travellink, and Liligo, and the group has expanded its palette of services to include travel insurance, hotel, cruise, and car rental bookings, thus becoming a premier provider of nearly all travel-related products.

Maintaining a customer-centric approach that places the best interest of travellers centre stage has enabled eDreams ODIGEO to expand its reach rapidly, taking new markets by storm. The company is well-known for its technological prowess, regularly introducing innovative add-ons to its already formidable trading platform.

The CFI.co judges noted that eDreams ODIGEO pays particular attention to the ergonomic dimension of the customer experience with its websites and apps offering unparalleled ease of use. The judging panel recognises that eDreams ODIGEO has introduced a number of “firsts” to the market such as apps that memorise customers’ preferences and search details. As a one-stop-shop for travellers worldwide, the eDreams ODIGEO group has reinvented an entire industry.

The CFI.co judging panel is pleased to offer eDreams ODIGEO the 2015 Best Online Travel Partner Global Award.

Dana Dunne, CEO of eDreams ODIGEO comments: “This award is a great recognition of our team that has been single-minded in delivering outstanding customer service.  Our customer experience has been improved across the board with a particular focus on mobile, as well as desktop.  We help customers get the best prices and fly at the most convenient times with our unique technology and booking platforms.”

“The investments we have been making are paying off and increasingly customers are turning to our websites to book their travel plans, including car hire and hotels.  In fact, we continue to increase our market share and we are today one of the world’s largest online travel retailers.”


Sage Group: Most Innovative Business Management Solutions Europe

Success in business often boils down to effective management of costs, human resources, assets, and the many other components of corporate life. However, shifting market conditions, cross-border ventures, and customers demanding more, faster, and better have transformed business management into a veritable multidisciplinary science.

The Sage Group, founded in 1981 and with millions of customers worldwide, takes the guesswork out of business management with a full suite of enterprise software solutions. Listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE100 since 1999, Sage Group employs over 13,000 people globally. The company is headquartered in the United Kingdom and maintains a network of offices in 23 countries.

From its very start, Sage Group has kept close to its customers in order to gain a precise understanding of their particular needs, wishes, and requirements. Software solutions are offered for all aspects of running a business such as payment processing, human resources, business intelligence, taxation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), accounting, payroll, amongst others. Sage Group also offers fully-featured e-business solutions and development platforms.

The company has registered steady growth, more than doubling its annual revenue over the last decade to over £1.3bn. Sage Group software is not just powering big business. The company’s products also help small and medium-sized enterprises control and manage all sides of their business. Additionally, Sage Group maintains a range of services tailored to the specific needs of start-ups.

Sage Group was an early adopter of cloud-based computing, recognising the immense advantages of software solutions that are not chained to a specific computer or local network, but available at any time and in any place. Sage Group’s renowned software engineers regularly come up with new products that enable users to keep their business running at optimum performance levels. Sage Live, a package that handles both front and back office tasks, was developed from idea to ready-to-market in under 27 weeks.

The CFI.co judging panel has noted that Sage Group not only produces state-of-the-art enterprise software, but also leads its sector in customer satisfaction. The company proactively looks after its customers, anticipating their needs and being ever mindful not to impose solutions; preferring instead to take its cue from the demands of the market. The judges are happy to offer Sage Group the 2015 Most Innovative Business Management Solutions Europe 2015 Award.


Paris Gallery: Outstanding Retail Leadership UAE

A hallmark of luxury living, Paris Gallery is a fixture of the vibrant UAE retail sector – and one of its most widely admired success stories. Growing out of a single shop, Paris Gallery now comprises a network of more than eighty stores with a footprint stretching across the Middle East.

A trendsetter par excellence, Paris Gallery caters to the region’s most discerning shoppers which has turned the company into a byword for luxury. Offering a decidedly upscale retail experience, Paris Gallery offers an exceptionally wide range of over 500 premier brands. Its vast range of products include the most exquisite fragrances and cosmetics, precision watches, eyewear, accessories and apparel. As such, Paris Gallery and its full suite of world class offerings enable patrons to pursue not only a lifestyle bathed in luxury and comfort, but also keep up-to-date with the latest trends in fashion and design.

In a region that has become synonymous to upscale indulgencies, it takes a formidable retailer to stand out from the crowd of luxury purveyors. Remaining ever true to its roots, Paris Gallery proudly upholds the time-honoured Arab tradition of hospitality. Patrons may enjoy choice refreshments while personal shopping assistants dispense expert advice and help customers navigate the, at times admittedly, overwhelming range of products available. Squarely aiming to make its patrons feel as royalty, Paris Gallery travels the proverbial extra mile, or two, in order to ensure full customer satisfaction.

The CFI.co judging panel recognises Paris Gallery as not just a pioneering business that has raised the benchmark of luxury shopping, but also as one of the UAE’s leading family businesses. It is precisely this family background that has enabled Paris Gallery to maintain its unsurpassed level of excellence in the delivery of retail services. As the company endeavours to continuously elevate the bar, the judges agree that its efforts merit recognition. Paris Gallery is hereby declared winner of the 2015 Outstanding Retail Leadership Award.


Hidrovias do Brasil: Best Commodities Logistics Solutions Team Latin America 2015

With over 60,000 km of inland waterways, moving bulk cargo in Brazil by river seems a given. Yet only about a fifth of the country’s navigable waterways are currently used as transport arteries. While last year about 45 million tonnes of cargo was moved by river, the vast network of Brazilian waterways has a carrying capacity in excess of 180 million tonnes annually.

Hidrovias do Brasil aims to leverage the unequalled power of Brazil’s great rivers to move bulk cargo efficiently and sustainably. One of only a handful of companies dedicated to providing logistic services over inland waterways, Hidrovias do Brasil operates a number of terminals and shipping lines across the country. In the north, the company as of next year is set to move grains from upstream terminals to a newly built private port facility at Barcarena, some 1,100 km down the Tapajós and Amazon Rivers and adjacent to Belém do Pará – the gateway to the lower Amazon Basin.

In the south, Hidrovias do Brasil already now exploits a number of shipping arteries on the Paraná-Paraguay twin river system, transporting iron ore, grain, and fertilizers. The company operates a large fleet of pusher tugs and barges to move bulk cargo. Hidrovias do Brasil has signed long-term contracts with customers to ensure a steady return on its sizeable investment.

The company recently received a $300 million cash injection from a consortium of investment banks – including the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group – that enables it to both consolidate present operations and launch new initiatives. The CFI.co judging panel applauds Hidrovias do Brasil for – quite literally – choosing the route less travelled: river-based transport is not only cheap and efficient; it also has a low carbon footprint and is, as such, part of any solution towards sustainable development. The judges are unanimous in their decision to offer Hidrovias do Brasil the recognition it is due and hereby hands the company the 2015 Best Commodities Logistics Solutions Team Latin America Award.


Asia Plantation Capital: Best Sustainable Forestry Management Team Global 2015

For all the trees it manages – around eight million – Asia Plantation Capital (APC) has not lost view of the forest. The company manages no less than 126 plantations on four continents and is both a global leader and trendsetter in sustainable forestry. APC has recently branched out into the production of essential oils, organics, and various bamboo by-products.

Earlier this year, APC subsidiary Eco Tech Asia launched a line of bamboo-based travel bags and light-weight bicycles to complement its range of bamboo flooring products. The APC Scientific Advisory Board has now joined China’s Institute of Tropical Bioscience to explore the medicinal benefits of oud oil obtained from agarwood. Fragrance Du Bois, another APC sibling, already uses oud oil for its premium perfume line which is marketed through exclusive concept boutiques in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and soon in Geneva, London, Paris, and Dubai.

More than just a forestry management company, Asia Plantation Capital is a full-service, vertically-integrated stewardship business that aims to bring sustainable forestry out of its niche and into the mainstream. As such, APC is fully committed to adhere to global best practices of corporate governance in order to facilitate access to the buoyant forestry industry by institutional investors and others looking to underwrite large-scale sustainable initiatives.

According to Forest Financing, a recent PwC report, the sector can no longer be absent from any well-balanced investment portfolio. One of the fastest-growing forestry management companies in the world, Asia Plantation Capital already has over $600m in assets under management. APC expects to pass the billion-dollar mark before long.

The CFI.co judging panel is pleased to note that Asia Plantation Capital continues on a growth path without relaxing its compliance with ESG (environmental, social, and governance) standards. The judges are therefore happy to confirm, for a second consecutive year, the Best Sustainable Forestry Management Team Global Award to Asia Plantation Capital.


APC Securitization SA: Most Innovative Forestry Bond Issuer Global 2015

Investor interest in “alternatives” stands at an all-time high. In excess of $7.5 trillion has already been ploughed into non-traditional economic sectors such as sustainable forestry management – a relatively new endeavour that couples the large-scale approach of the forestry industry to the forward-looking stewardship principles pioneered by environmentalists.

Sustainable forestry is ideally suited to satisfy the demand from institutional investors for extended time horizons, low-carbon footprints, and stable returns – trees grow and mature at predictable rates and do so regardless of market conditions. Leading investment experts are almost unanimous in their recommendation that sustainable forestry be an important, if not essential, component of any well-balanced investment portfolio.

Timber is the third-most traded commodity in the world with an aggregate annual volume of around $600bn. As an asset class, timber is tough as nails, returning an average of 15.1% annually since 1987 – more than almost any other class of investable assets. With the world economy picking up pace, along with its interest in renewables, demand for timber is expected to continue to outstrip supply well into the future.

Within the forestry sector, Asia Plantation Capital is spearheading the exploitation of carefully and sustainably managed agarwood timberlands. Agarwood produces essential oils, chips, and powder. The dark resinous heartwood has been traded for thousands of years for its distinctive and highly-valued fragrance. Since the aquilaria tree was listed as a potentially threatened species in 1995, top-grade agarwood – which is obtained from the tree – has becom eone of the most expensive commodities in the world.

The CFI.co judging panel fully agrees that sustainable forestry presents investors with an attractive, safe, and environmentally sound option. The agarwood plantations of APC, producing a scarce – and thus highly-priced commodity – stand at, or near, the apex of the forestry sector. With the launch of both a securitised capital growth bond and a securitised fixed income and capital growth bond, APC Securitization SA – part of Asia Plantation Capital – has introduced two well-designed instruments that environmentally-aware investors may leverage to put their capital at work not just for personal gain, but for the benefit of the wider society as well. The judges declare APC Securitization SA winner of the 2015 Most Innovative Forestry Bond Issuer Global Award.


Confidence Group: Best Engineering Innovation Team Bangladesh 2015

An engineering company with its eyes on the future, Confidence Group builds the very foundations of an ambitious nation. Evolving from its cement manufacturing roots, the group now comprises six distinct businesses with a combined annual turnover well in excess of $200m.

Taking pride in old-fashioned determination and hard work, the companies of Confidence Group are found at the forefront of engineering with innovative solutions to common challenges. In business for over twentyfive years, Confidence Group has been an early adopter of corporate social responsibility and gained a well-earned reputation for valuing the contribution of all stakeholders to its enduring success.

Recently, the company has welcomed a new crop of bright young engineers, delivered by the country’s most prestigious universities, who are expected to significantly add to Confidence Group’s technical prowess. Confidence Steel, one of the group’s constituent members, is broaching new overseas markets with its high quality galvanised transmission towers and telescopic steel poles that have found clients in Kuwait, Bhutan, and the Maldives.

Building on these first forays into foreign markets, Confidence Group now aims to leverage its accumulated knowhow and expertise to broaden and deepen its reach. The group operates across the full technological spectrum with its Digicon subsidiary becoming one of a select few premier interconnectivity providers in the Bangladesh telecom sector thank to its Tier 1 links with major telecom operators worldwide. Digicon offers an international gateway for both voice and data communication.

The CFI.co judges are hard-pressed to find fault with Confidence Group: the conglomerate has not merely introduced top quality products and services in Bangladesh, it also proactively pursues a corporate policy aimed at furthering the country’s development by locally manufacturing critical hardware that previously needed to be imported from abroad, taxing the country’s treasured foreign reserves. The judging panel is therefore pleased to confer its 2015 Best Engineering Innovation Team


Enso Hydro Energy: Best Hydroelectric Power Plant Operator Europe 2015

Long before green energy claimed centre stage, hydropower was the preferred option for producing copious amounts of electricity without polluting the environment. Today, harnessing the power of rivers is still considered the best choice for generating abundant power cheaply and sustainably. Advances in the design of turbines and ancillary hardware have made hydropower feasible with reservoirs of reduced volume and minimal head.

Enso Hydro Energy of Austria is riding the wave as hydropower finds new applications in downsized projects aimed at alleviating localised energy shortages. Fully-automated designs that emphasise low-cost maintenance have managed to eliminate the need for economies of scale. They also ensure that smaller-scale hydropower plants may be run at a profit. Emitting no CO2, and cheap to build and operate, small hydroelectric projects are now widely considered the way forward when it comes to greening power generation.

Historically, Austria has been at the forefront of hydropower development. Enso Hydro Energy fits this tradition. Founded in 1999, the company can trace it origins to the Frizberg family which has been involved with hydropower since 1902. From 2010 onwards, Enso Hydro Energy is focussed on the portfolio management of hydroelectric projects, leveraging the company’s considerable knowhow in the planning, financing, building, and operating of hydropower plants. The Austrian firm is the sole owner of two hydroelectric plants in Turkey and a majority stakeholder in nine Norwegian hydropower generators.

More recently, Enso Hydro Energy partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, to build a series of smaller dams in Albania. The IFC has invested $6m for a 20% stake in the joint venture that aims to increase Albania’s electricity generating capacity and thus reduce the country’s dependency on energy imports.

The CFI.co judging panel commends Enso Hydro Energy on its foresight: with high annual rainfall and a mountainous topography, Albania is ideally suited to hydropower. However, so far the country has only managed to develop less than a third of its hydroelectric potential. The judges find Enso Hydro Energy time-and-again at the leading edge of small-scale low-impact hydroelectric projects in Europe and consider the company a most worthy winner of the 2015 Best Hydroelectric Plant Operator Europe Award.


Ceredex Value Advisors: Best Mid-Cap Equity Investment Team United States 2016

Successful long-term investment is all about the search for value – hidden or otherwise. Whilst that may seem a simple enough proposition, the identification of value requires more than a cursory look at any given company’s fundamentals. Lasting value – of the sort that others may not have appreciated – is found by delving deep into corporate processes and how these relate to the broader market.

The required excellence in research – the end-product of expertise, knowledge, and experience – is to be found at boutique investment firms. Ceredex Value Advisors is one of only a select few investment companies that maintains a culture of craftsmanship. This is not a marketing gimmick: the US firm has gained a peerless reputation amongst investors for excellence, and did so the old-fashioned way – plenty of legwork, meticulous attention to detail, and leveraging the benefits of its vast reservoirs of industry-specific knowledge.

With more than $10bn in assets under management, Ceredex Value Advisors manages individual accounts and acts as an advisor to mutual funds. The firm goes a few steps beyond gathering and processing all relevant information – dividend policies, historic trading levels, etc.

At Ceredex Value Advisors, data is carefully interpreted not by exotic algorithms, but by highly distinguished professionals who apply their experience and instincts – and a touch of boldness – to reach spot-on decisions. The CFI.co judges are pleased to recognise Ceredex Value Advisors as winner of the 2016 Best Mid-Cap Equity Investment Team United States Award.

RidgeWorth wholly owns three boutiques, including Ceredex Value Advisors LLC, and holds a minority ownership in one. RidgeWorth offers a wide variety of fixed income and equity disciplines, providing investment management services to a growing client base that includes institutional, individual and high net worth investors.