The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation has claimed the top prize at the Australasian Reporting Awards (ARA), winning the prestigious 2021 Report of the Year Award for its 2020 Annual Report.

As well as being named Report of the Year, the report won a gold award for reporting at global best practice standards, along with the Best in Sector Award for Financial Services, and Best Cover Design.

Guardians’ CEO Matt Whineray welcomed the result, saying the award was a testament to a team-wide, concerted effort to develop and refine the organisation’s reporting approach over many years.

 
“We aim to meet global best practice reporting standards as a marker of our commitment to world class governance and transparency, and as a means of walking the talk with our investee companies, with whom we encourage disclosure on ESG and performance.

 
“We continue to strive to provide clear, relevant and fulsome information to our stakeholders,” he says.

Chair of the ARA Awards Committee Stephen Varady says the Guardians produced a very high standard report compiled with the needs of the reader in mind.

“It clearly links outcomes to strategic objectives and the discussions of performance are easily digestible. Excellent case studies deliver valuable takeaways on key elements such as stakeholder engagement and investment strategy.”

The Guardians’ Annual Report describes how the NZ Super Fund has performed relative to its benchmarks, and gives a breakdown of how the Guardians' active investment decisions have added value over the year.

It includes a detailed overview of the governance and risk management processes in place, a dedicated responsible investment report, and a list of the external managers and custodians used during the year.

The Guardians also reports on the progress of the Elevate NZ Venture Fund, established by the Government in 2019 to support New Zealand’s early stage growth companies and venture capital ecosystem.

As part of its commitment to best practice disclosure, the reports are indexed against the Global Reporting Initiative criteria.

The theme of the 2020 report was a fitting one: tā te wā whakamātau (the test of time). In managing the NZ Super Fund for the long-term, the Guardians’ role is to smooth the future increase in the cost of providing New Zealand Superannuation as a result of the aging population.

Annual Reports cover the year ended 30 June and are usually published the following October.

About the Awards

The Australasian Reporting Awards were created in 1950 as the Annual Report Awards to help improve the standards of reporting by organisations and enable the public to better understand their purposes, activities and performance.

Awards for excellence in reporting have been presented every year since then. Organisations enter their annual reports in the Awards to obtain an independent assessment to benchmark their reports against ARA world best-practice reporting criteria and their peers in their industry sector.