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’Tis the season to go green, nurture social well-being, and deliver digitally
The Asset ESG Corporate Awards 2021 reveals the leading initiatives and investor relations teams in another Covid year
Asset Benchmark Research 13 Dec 2021

Covid is a stress test. Communities across Asia are learning to live with the new normal as vaccine rollouts accelerate. The Best Initiatives selected in The Asset’s ESG Corporate Awards 2021 reflect what matters the most as the Covid battle continues, and a new decade begins: to go green, nurture healthy living, and embrace innovation.

Winners of this year’s The Asset ESG Corporate Awards for Environmental Initiatives, for example, are trailblazers that set new standards for green funding such as in Hong Kong (New World Development); opting for a brighter solution by accelerating finance of solar power as seen in Taiwan (SinoPac); and developing schemes for community property that protect the ecosystem and preserve the local cultural heritage as illustrated in China (COLI).

Winners of The Asset ESG Corporate Awards for Social Initiatives are focussed on healthy living, which is as it should be with or without this health crisis today. In Taiwan, CTBC is focussing on anti-drug education, while Hong Kong’s Great Eagle is targeting the oral health of pre-school children, and PTTEP is giving back by funding extensive community health facilities in Thailand.

For The Asset ESG Corporate Awards for Best Innovation, winners are leveraging on the promise of digital technology. In the Philippines, Metro Pacific Investments created mWell, a wellness app that tracks appointments, enable video consultations, and share fitness programmes. In Taiwan, CTBC leveraged blockchain to verify green energy trading at the bank. PTTEP introduced carbon nanotubes technology to reduce GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions at the company.

The Asset ESG Corporate Awards for Diversity and Inclusion shine the spotlight on the winning companies’ progress notwithstanding Covid. In India, information technology company Infosys’ ESG Vision 2030 aspire to increase the number of women in the workforce to 45% by 2030, from 38.6% today. In Taiwan, Fubon Financial is intent on accelerating the participation of women across management and staff. Indeed, 66.8% of those promoted this year are women. In addition, it has adopted a comprehensive scheme to provide childbirth subsidy and maternity leaves.

The Asset ESG Corporate Awards’ Best Investor Relations Teams operated under an unusual and difficult market backdrop especially in reaching out to shareholders with limited face-to-face meetings. The winning teams harnessed technology to maintain communication between investors and senior executives.

A number of investor relations teams also provided updates on the impact of Covid-19 on financial performance. Comments picked up by Asset Benchmark Research (ABR) point to teams who were rolling out dedicated mobile applications or built-in programmes on social networks, which were efficient and accessible and created better investor experience. ABR expects to see more investor relations teams to adopt these practices in the coming years with digital playing an increasingly bigger role in corporate operations. Congratulations to the winners!

To view the list of The Asset ESG Initiative Award winners, please click here.

To view the list of The Asset Best Investor Relation Team Award winners, please click here.

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