SM Investments joins hall of fame for excellence in good governance

MANILA, Philippines — SM Investments Corp. was recently cited as a Hall of Famer in the Corporate Governance category of the Asia Responsible Enterprise Awards (AREA) 2022.

In giving the award, AREA recognized SM Investments for “demonstrating transparency and completeness of disclosure and reporting of governance practices in their annual report.” This is “while also safeguarding integrity in financial reporting, promoting ethical decision making through a structured board of committee, respecting the rights of shareholders and remunerating fairly and responsibly.”

“We are pleased to receive this award which is a recognition of our practices as we endeavor to uphold good governance and transparency in our businesses,” SM Investments president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio said.

“As SM is a company that touches different industries in the country, we ensure our publicly-listed business units produce a transparent report through our Integrated Reports that tell the story of our sustainability across the group’s wide ecosystem of businesses,” DyBuncio said.

Widely regarded as the gold standard for CSR and sustainability practice, the AREA is the most prominent CSR recognition program across Asia initiated by Enterprise Asia. The AREA aims to recognize and honor Asian businesses and leaders for championing sustainable and socially responsible business practices.

Since 2011, the AREA has been recognizing businesses from various industries while honoring their achievements in the categories of Social Empowerment, Investment in People, Health Promotion, Green Leadership, Corporate Governance, Circular Economy Leadership, Responsible Business Leadership, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting. This year, a total of 260 submissions across 19 countries have undergone a stringent judging process which is based on the three criteria of effectiveness and reach, relevance, and sustainability.

The conferment of the awards was done virtually last July 21.

In recent years, SM Investments’ awards have reflected excellence in management, governance, investor relations, and sustainability.