Methodology

More than 640 analysts and portfolio managers at some 360 money management firms responsible for investing a combined $8.7 trillion in U.S. stocks participated in selecting Institutional Investor’s 2008 list of America’s Most Shareholder-Friendly Companies. These asset management professionals were asked to name the companies they consider the most shareholder-friendly in the industry sector (or sectors) for which they are responsible. In making their choices, voters were instructed to consider the effectiveness of companies’ governance and investor relations as part of their overall efforts to maximize shareholder value. Respondents gave their first, second, third and fourth choices, which we weighted to produce a score for each company. We name the most shareholder-friendly companies in 57 of the 59 industry sectors surveyed for the 2007 All-America Research Team.

Our America’s Most Shareholder-Friendly Companies ranking was compiled by Associate Editor Sivert Hagen under the guidance of Assistant Managing Editors Sathya Rajavelu and Tom Johnson and Senior Editor Jane B. Kenney.

To arrive at our list of Best U.S. CEOs, Institutional Investor surveyed portfolio managers, analysts and other investment professionals. We asked these individuals to name the best U.S. CEOs in the sectors in which they invest. Some 900 people at 425 institutions responded, offering first, second and third place votes in each of the sectors with which they were familiar. These votes were then weighted, with first place votes counting more than second place votes, and so on, to produce a score for each executive that we used to compile the rankings.