Awards for Bay advisers

Neil Craig

Bay of Plenty companies did well at this year's Institute of Finance Industry Professionals awards, taking out three of the 13 awards.

Craigs Investment Partners won two of the three most coveted awards, with the Tauranga-headquartered company winning the Sharebroking Firm of the Year and the Research Analyst of the Year awards.

The other major award for Fund Manager of the Year (Equities) went to Milford Asset Management.

Craigs' Ari Dekker, whose coverage includes Port of Tauranga and Fonterra, also won the top research analyst award last year.

Paengaroa-based Comvita won the Emerging Leaders Best Corporate Communicator award.

"It was a major event for Craigs to come in ahead of the other institutional brokers," said company founder Neil Craig.

"This is the only serious awards in New Zealand and they're voted upon by fund managers so they do rank."

Mr Craig noted that the firm had won for its institutional work, despite only having set up a full institutional brokerage and research team five years ago to to complement its retail business.

"And the award for analyst of the year was a major feather in Ari Dekker's cap," he said.

Craigs' Grant Swanepoel and Stephen Ridgewell were the other two finalists.

Comvita beat Abano Health Care in the category.