Nareit’s Investor CARE (Communications & Reporting Excellence) Awards honor those Nareit corporate members that interact most effectively with their investors online, in writing and orally, as well as those member companies that provide those investors with the most comprehensive, clearly articulated and useful information in the most efficient manner. All Nareit publicly traded corporate members, both equity and mREITs based within the U.S., automatically are considered with respect to their relevant activities during the twelve months before the award year. Judges are solicited from the universe of analysts, portfolio managers and academics that advise, study and service our corporate members.

This year, Nareit presented gold, silver and bronze awards for large cap as well as small cap equity REITs. Nareit also presented a gold award for mREITs.

In the past, Nareit focused on corporate members’ annual reports and websites and did not split out any member categories. This year, the criteria for choosing the winners consisted of the following:

1)  Online Presence—consider the presentation, design and content of the company’s website, including graphics, photography, video clips and technological innovations, and the originality of the overall design; ease of use; i.e., how easy it is to find information and to move from one section of the site to another; and the amount and relevance of data available on the site;
 
2)  SEC Filings—consider primarily the supplemental filings, including the frequency of these filings, whether they contain special disclosures about developments, high risk events or other relevant occurrences during the past year, and data transparency; and
 
3)  IR Practices—consider primarily earnings calls (frequency; consistency, quality and relevance of information provided; how efficiently the information is provided); management accessibility, including participation on calls, conferences and road shows; the quality and depth of  answers to questions, particularly after earnings calls; and the quality of information contained in press releases