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Young Investors Recognize Cool Annual ReportsBOSTON, July 23, 1997 -- Who has the coolest corporate annual report in the land? The Walt Disney Company. That's the verdict of the young investors who judged the first annual Liberty Financial Young Investor Cool Annual Report Awards."Annual reports present an excellent way for individual investors to learn about the business and strategy of a company," said Porter P. Morgan, Senior Vice President and Investment Strategist of Liberty Financial. "Investors can gain a wealth of knowledge about a company that goes beyond the financials from an annual report. We inaugurated the Liberty Financial Cool Annual Report Awards to encourage companies to make their annual reports interesting and educational. We also want to encourage children and teenagers to study annual reports as a way of learning about investing and corporate America." Each year more than 9,000 publicly traded companies publish an annual report. Corporate annual reports are used to provide investors with important commentary on the company as well as a financial review of the preceding year. The average annual report costs $4.50 per copy to produce, according to the National Investor Relations Institute. This year the Liberty Financial Young Investor Cool Annual Report Awards recognize annual reports in the following categories: Coolest Overall, Coolest Cover, Coolest Theme, Coolest Graphics, Coolest CEO Picture, Coolest Educational and Coolest Smelling Annual Report. In addition, the investment professionals at Liberty Financial judged three additional categories: Most Readable, Coolest Multilingual and Coolest Online.
Judging Process The first round of judging was conducted by the investment professionals at Liberty Financial. Finalists were then presented to a group of 40 Stein Roe Young Investor Fund shareholders ages 7 to 16 selected randomly from the Boston area. The young investor judges met and ranked the finalists in each category. Each winning company will receive an elegant crystal trophy.
About Liberty Financial Companies Liberty Financial Companies (NYSE: L) is an integrated asset management organization. It has more than $47 billion in assets under management in an array of fixed, variable and indexed annuities, private and institutional accounts, and 74 mutual funds that meet the investing needs of over 1.5 million investors worldwide. Liberty Financial's operating companies include Keyport Life Insurance Company, The Colonial Group, Stein Roe & Farnham, Newport Pacific Management, Independent Financial Marketing Group, and Liberty Asset Management Company.
1997 Cool Annual Report Winners Coolest Cover - PepsiCo. An annual report's cover has to capture the imagination of the reader and invite them in to read the report. PepsiCo.'s 1996 report featured the photograph of a "Cat's Eye Nebula" taken from the Hubble telescope. Runners-up included Nike and Time-Warner. Coolest Theme - Coca-Cola A theme is often used in an annual report to provide a focal point for the text and graphics. Coca-Cola chose the theme "Thirsty?" The company describes the nature of thirst and explains why Coca-Cola will benefit as consumers strive to slake their thirst. Runners-up included Kodak and KinderCare. Coolest Graphics - The Walt Disney Company With 101 Dalmatians on the cover and scenes from theme parks and movies on the inside, it's no wonder that Walt Disney Company was recognized for its cool graphics. Runners-up included PepsiCo. and Polygram. Coolest CEO Picture - Chrysler Corporation Only a handful of the annual reports included CEO photographs that were more than a simple head shot. Chrysler Chairman and CEO Bob Eaton was photographed in the door of a 1996 Dodge Viper GTS Coupe sportscar wearing a cool racing jacket instead of the usual suit and tie. Runners-up included Home Depot and Mattel. Coolest Educational Annual Report - McDonnell Douglas. Annual reports often provide an overview of the company's industry. McDonnell Douglas was voted coolest educational annual report because of its outstanding narrative of the history of aviation, which included a poster-sized foldout chart of the development of their aircraft. Coolest Smelling Annual Report - McCormick & Co. Probably the most unusual award goes to McCormick & Co. The spice company's annual report smells like cinnamon. The paper used for the financials also are made with the company's ground black pepper. But don't expect the financials to smell like pepper. Financials, after all, are nothing to sneeze at. Most Readable Annual Report - KinderCare Learning Centers Annual reports can be very hard to read. KinderCare, a child care company, has written the majority of its annual report from two perspectives: that of an adult and that of a child. It has also condensed its financials onto two pages and left the rest for the accompanying 10-K. Coolest Multilingual Annual Report - Callaway Golf As investors worldwide look to American companies as investments, a growing number of companies are translating their annual reports into multiple languages. Callaway Golf's annual report includes text in Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German, French and English. Coolest Online Annual Report - IBM More and more companies are providing online versions of their corporate annual report on the Internet. However, the majority are simple reproductions of their printed versions. Computer maker IBM has taken its printed version a step further by employing animated graphics, Java scripts and interactive data charting.
### Note to Editors: Photos and/or a video news release of the judging are available by calling Jeffrey Cathie at 617-371-2268.For more information, please contact William Rice at (617)371-2357 or Email comments_lib@lib.com[Return to Liberty Financial Corporate News Releases] Copyright © 1997, Liberty Financial Companies, Inc. 600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 617-722-6000 |