Extel names 55 most honored Indian companies in 2026 Asia rankings

By AI, Created 5:10 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Extel released its 2026 Asia Executive Team survey results on May 13, highlighting 55 Indian companies that earned Most Honored Company status and 55 others with published positions. The rankings reflect responses from 5,581 investors, portfolio managers and analysts and are meant to benchmark leadership, investor relations and governance performance across Asia.

Why it matters: - Extel’s rankings are a market signal for how investors view corporate leadership, investor relations and governance. - The 2026 survey gives Indian companies a comparative readout against peers across Asia, which can shape institutional trust and visibility. - 55 Indian companies earned published positions in the ranking tables, a subset of the broader Asia results.

What happened: - Extel, formerly Institutional Investor Research, released the results of its 16th Asia (ex-Japan/ANZ) Executive Team survey on May 13, 2026. - The survey identified Asia’s leading CEOs, CFOs, investor relations officers, investor relations programs, ESG attributes and board attributes. - 195 companies received a published position across the categories, up from 126 in 2025. - 55 of those companies were named Most Honored Company. - The published Indian companies include Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Green Energy, Ajanta Pharma, Ambuja Cements, Angel One, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Astral, AU Small Finance Bank, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Forge, Bharti Airtel, Birlasoft, CarTrade Tech, Coforge, Deepak Nitrite, Escorts, Eternal, Exide Industries, Gail, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life Insurance Co., Hero MotoCorp, Hindalco Industries, ICICI Bank, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co., Indraprastha Gas, Infosys, Jindal Stainless, KEI Industries, Mahanagar Gas, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, Max Healthcare Institute, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, Navin Fluorine International, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Persistent Systems, Petronet LNG, Piramal Pharma, Radico Khaitan, Reliance Industries, Samvardhana Motherson International, Shriram Finance, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, TVS Motor Co., UltraTech Cement and United Spirits.

The details: - Extel said a company must reach a weighted score of 15 or more points across six categories in the combined buy-side and sell-side rankings to qualify as a Most Honored Company. - First place is worth three points, second place two points and third place one point. - A total of 5,581 investors, portfolio managers and analysts from 1,249 voter firms participated. - The respondents nominated 2,520 companies, up from 1,668 in 2025, and 2,728 individuals, up from 2,367. - The survey covered 23 sectors, five more than in 2026. - The buy-side sample included 4,743 professionals from 1,090 companies with an estimated $2 trillion in Asia ex-Japan equities. - The sell-side sample included 838 analysts from 159 companies. - Extel said five sectors were added in 2026 to better differentiate industries.

Between the lines: - Extel described a widening differentiation gap, with fewer companies reaching All-Star status by ranking first across all six performance categories. - More than 60% of top-ranked investor relations officers worked at companies whose CEO and CFO did not earn top rankings. - That points to investor relations teams taking on a larger role in managing investor expectations and technical questions. - Voter volume nearly doubled in telecommunications, autos and insurance. - Participation also rose sharply in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. - Extel said the gap between Mainland China and smaller Asian markets is closing, making the regional competition more even. - Carvin Lee, Extel’s commercial lead for Asia, said elite IR teams are becoming the primary drivers of institutional trust as investor engagement rises. - Lee also said Extel updated its sector frameworks and scoring systems for 2026 to reflect feedback from more than 5,500 buy-side and sell-side professionals. - Extel said the changes are intended to keep the ranking a benchmark for executive leadership and IR performance in Asia. - The company said the rankings reflect a more competitive capital landscape and a growing perception gap between companies and shareholders.

What’s next: - Extel directed readers to the full list of published winners on its website. - Extel said companies can contact its marketing team to license award logos and promote their ranking positions. - The company also said firms can request benchmark data and investor relations perception analysis for internal or external use. - Media contact information and Extel’s Asia commercial contact were provided for follow-up and data requests.

The bottom line: - Extel’s 2026 rankings show Indian companies remain deeply represented in Asia’s investor perception leaderboards, while investor relations teams are playing a bigger role in how companies are judged by the market.