Awards event honors the GCC’s best chief executive officers based on quantitative data
Held in Dubai on March 30, 2015, the forthcoming Top CEO event celebrates the very best in GCC business leadership. The prestigious annual event, organized by TRENDS magazine and INSEAD – the leading international business school – sets the standard for business awards programs in the region by honoring only leaders from publicly listed companies.
The companies will be evaluated on the basis of their performance in 2014, when the combined market capitalization for stock exchanges in the GCC grew to AED3.78 trillion ($1.029 trillion).
Top CEO was established to acknowledge industry heads at the helm of growth in the Gulf equities market, which is increasing at a rate of 22 percent year on year. Recognizing that the region’s stock markets are the engines of the economy, the program celebrates the business acumen of senior GCC business figures and highlights those individuals who have excelled as supreme guiding lights for their respective listed organizations.
“Top CEO is a major awards ceremony held to recognize and celebrate the achievements of the region’s leading CEOs. Along with independent auditors, TRENDS and INSEAD will ensure the transparency of the process. In addition, Hawkamah – the corporate governance institute – helps us verify that corporate governance criteria have been adhered to. The awards’ stringent and open evaluation procedures make them the foremost leadership awards program in the region and a benchmark for business heads and their companies,” says Julien Hawari, Co-CEO at Mediaquest, the media company organizing the event and publishing TRENDS magazine.
First launched in 2011, Top CEO has stood out as a uniquely distinctive ceremony, as only the CEOs of listed GCC companies are evaluated. The awards are bestowed following an analysis of the financial statements of these companies, with the assessment process being fully audited and transparent. TRENDS magazine works with INSEAD to make sure that the ranking formula is accurate and with Hawkamah to ensure that corporate governance is part of the overall ranking. Applying an evaluation process of the highest standards makes Top CEO one of the most credible business leadership awards in the region.
“Too often, the role that business leaders play in driving the economy is taken for granted. At INSEAD, it is our goal to nurture those who add tangible and long-lasting value to their organizations and communities,” says Miguel Lobo, Associate Professor of Decision Sciences and Director of the Abu Dhabi campus at INSEAD. “We are delighted to partner with TRENDS magazine and formally honor those industry heads who contribute to the region’s economic growth and the betterment of society through their commitments and endeavors,” he adds.
To accurately and fairly judge leadership success for Top CEO, market reports are sourced from the GCC stock exchanges, with parameters including revenues, earnings per share, profits, EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and corporate governance (i.e. transparency, timely submission of financial reports and shareholder communication). The ranking is finalized using quantifiable statistics and figures that are readily available to external auditors.
The Top CEO award categories are: The 100 Best Performing Companies and CEOs, The 10 Most Transparent Companies, The Five Best Banks, The Five Best Telecom Companies and The Five Best Consumer Goods Companies. The organizers assert that winning recognition under these categories is not only a validation of excellence, but is likely to lead to tangible new business opportunities.
“The recent upgrading of the UAE and Qatar stock exchanges by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to emerging market status is encouraging growth and pulling capital into the region. Foreign investors are looking at benchmarks for corporate excellence, with the Top CEO results likely to be closely scrutinized by potential investors who are looking to enter the GCC market,” adds Hawari.