NEW YORK, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- MZ Consult NY ( http://www.mz-ir.com ), a leading investor relations and financial communications firm, jointly with IR Global Rankings sponsors, The Bank of New York Mellon, KPMG Independent Auditors, Arnold & Porter, Demarest & Almeida, Bloomberg, NYSE Euronext and Corporate Asia Network, invites all market participants to vote on the Investors' Choice Award (POP+) through January 9, 2009. You can register your vote via the website http://www.irglobalrankings.com .

For the 2009 edition, the Investors' Choice Award is for the category of Best IR Program and is the only award defined by direct vote. The Investors' Choice ranking complements the IR Global Ranking's technical evaluations and constitutes clear and direct feedback from the capital markets on the quality and effectiveness of investor relations efforts.

More than 160 companies from over 30 countries are registered for the 11th edition of IR Global Rankings: Abertis (MADRID: ABE); adidas (XETRA: ADS.DE); Aegon (NYSE: AEG); AkzoNobel (Euronext: AKZA); ALL - America Latina Logistica (BOVESPA: ALLL11); Alltop Technology (TWSE: 3526); AmBev (NYSE: ABV); Amil Participacoes (BOVESPA: AMIL3); AMP (ASX: AMP); AMS Homecare (TSX: AHCK); Arcadis (EURONEXT: ARCAD); Assurant (NYSE: AIZ); ASUR (NYSE: ASR); Banco Bradesco (NYSE: BBD); Banco Nossa Caixa (BOVESPA: BNCA3); Bancolombia (NYSE: CIB); Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO); BASF (XETRA: BAS.DE); Bayer (XETRA: BAY); BBVA (Madrid: BBVA); Bematech (BOVESPA: BEMA3); Brascan Residential Properties S.A. (Bovespa: BISA3); Brasil Telecom (NYSE: BTM); Braskem (BOVESPA: BRKM5); Cameco (NYSE: CCJ); CCR (BOVESPA: CCRO3); CHI MEI OPTOELECTRONICS CORPORATION (TSE: 3009.tw); China Agri-Industries Holdings (HKSE: 606); China Railway (HKSE: 390); China Telecom (NYSE: CHA); Chunghwa Telecom (TSE: 2412); Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO); CNinsure (Nasdaq: CISG); Coelce - Cia Energetica do Ceara (BOVESPA: COCE5); Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL); Copel (BOVESPA: CPLE6); COSCO International Holdings (HKG: 517); Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS); Crucell (Euronext: CRXL); CSN - Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (NYSE: SID); Danske Bank (OMX: DANSKE); DSM (Euronext: DSM); Dufry South America (BOVESPA: DUFB11); E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC); Embraer (NYSE: ERJ); Endesa Chile (NYSE: EOC); Energisa (BOVESPA: ENGI); Enersis (NYSE: ENI-US); EZTEC Empreendimentos e Participacoes S.A. (Bovespa: EZTC3); Far Eastern Textile (TWSE: 1402); FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX); First Financial Holding (TSE: 2892.tw); Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS); Galp Energia (EURONEXT: GALP PL); Gazprom Neft (RTS: SIBN); General Electric Company (NYSE: GE); Gerdau (NYSE: GGB); Global Sources (NASDAQ: GSOL); Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes (NYSE: GOL); GVT (BOVESPA: GVTT3); Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE: HAE); Homex (OTC: DHMXF.PK); HSBC (LSE: HSBA.L); HTC Corporation (TWSE: 2498); Hysan Development Company (HKSE: HYSNY.PK); IC RUSS-INVEST (RTS: RUSIG); Indra (Madrid: IDR); Infosys Technologies (NASDAQ: INFY); Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC); JBS (BOVESPA: JBSS3); Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ); Kotak Mahindra Bank (BSE: 500247); Lam Research (Nasdaq: LRCX); Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE); Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM); M. Dias Branco (BOVESPA: MDIA3); Marfrig (BOVESPA: MRFG3); Masisa (NYSE: MYS); Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT); Natural Beauty Bio-Technology (HKSE: 157); Net Servicos (BOVESPA: NETC4); Newmont Mining Corporation (NYSE: NEM); Nexen (NYSE: NXY); Norsk Hydro (OSLO: NHY); Novartis (VIRT-X: NOVN.VX); Oi (NYSE: TNE); Orascom Telecom (CASE: ORTE); Ossur (OMX: OSSR); Pampa Energia (BCBA: PAMP); Partner Communications Company (NASDAQ: PTNR); PDG Realty (BOVESPA: PDGR3); PEMEX (NONE: NONE); Perdigao (NYSE: PDA); Petrobras (BOVESPA: PETR3); Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (NYSE: PHI); Portugal Telecom (NYSE: PT); Positivo Informatica (BOVESPA: POSI3); PotashCorp (NYSE: POT); Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG); ProFarma (BOVESPA: PFRM3); PT Excelcomindo Pratama (JAK: EXCL); PT Indosat (NYSE: IIT); PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (NYSE: TLK); QIAGEN (NASDAQ: QGEN); Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM); Redecard (BOVESPA: RDCD3); RepsolYPF (MADRID: REP); Rodobens Negocios Imobiliarios (BOVESPA: RDNI3); Royal Ahold (Euronext: AH); Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RY); Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.B); Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHIA); RusHydro (RTS: HYDR); RWE (XETRA: RWE); Ryder (NYSE: R); Santander (NYSE: STD); Sao Paulo Alpargatas (BOVESPA: ALPA4); SAPPI (NYSE: SPP); Satipel (Bovespa: SATI3); Satyam (NYSE: SAY); Shin Kong Financial Holding (TWSE: 2888); Shinsei Bank (TSE: 8303); Shun Tak Holdings Limited (Hong Kong: 0242); Sonae (EURONEXT: SON PL); Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN); SpareBank (OSLO: MING); Statkraft AS (None: None); Sul America (BOVESPA: SULA11); Sulzer (SWX: SUN); Suzano Papel e Celulose (BOVESPA: SUZB5); Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC); Syngenta International (NYSE: SYT); Talisman Energy (NYSE: TLM); TAM (NYSE: TAM); Tatneft (NYSE: TNT); TD Bank Financial (NYSE: TD); Tecnisa (BOVESPA: TCSA3); Tegma Gestao Logistica (BOVESPA: TGMA3); Telecom Argentina (NYSE: TEO); Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI); Telekom Austria (VIE: TKA.VI); Telekomunikacja Polska (Warsaw: TPSA.WA); Telkom (NYSE: TKG); Terna (Bovespa: TRNA11); Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TOC); Total (NYSE: TOT); Totvs (BOVESPA: TOTS3); Tractebel Energia (BOVESPA: TBLE3); Turk Telekomunikasyon (ISE: TTKOM); Tyco International (NYSE: TYC); Ultrapar (NYSE: UGP); Unibanco (NYSE: UBB); URS (NYSE: URS); VimpelCom (NYSE: VIP); Votorantim Celulose e Papel (NYSE: VCP); WABCO (NYSE: WBC); Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG); Wendy's/Arby's (NYSE: WEN); Wipro (NYSE: WIT); Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM); Zurich Financial Services (SWX: ZURN).

To find out more about IRGR 2009 or download the IRGR 2008 magazine with the winners and best practices, please access http://www.irglobalrankings.com or type IRGR < GO > in your Bloomberg terminal.

For further information, please contact the IRGR Team by e-mail: irgr@mz-ir.com or phone: +1 (212) 813-2975.

About IR Global Rankings: Solid communication with the investment community is a key priority for investor relations and corporate governance professionals, once value creation (stock prices) and risk perception can be managed. The implementation of best practices in communicating with the capital markets and fair disclosure procedures do help companies in earning and maintaining investor confidence. The annual IR Global Rankings and Awards Survey is the most comprehensive auditing and ranking system for IR websites, corporate governance practices and financial disclosure procedures -- a great opportunity to benchmark IR efforts vis-a-vis peers and industry leaders. Based on extensive proprietary research of publicly held companies and investors, and supported by input from independent audit, corporate governance and legal experts, MZ's methodology is highly detailed, transparent and fully accessible to all participants. The annual IR Global Rankings and Awards Survey has grown each year since its inception in 1999.

SOURCE MZ Consult NY LLC