The Judging process and criteria

Each submission will be forwarded to the entire judging panel; the panel will consist of independent industry experts.

All categories are awarded based on the decision of an independent panel of judges. They determine their decision purely on the basis of the submission from the entrant or nominee.

If an instance occurs where a judge is also a representative of a nominated company or has a relationship with a nominated company which may affect their ability to be impartial, that particular judge will not submit scores for that category.

In the event of a tie for first place each company will be asked to submit a tie-breaker entry which will be assessed by the judges to identify the winner.

The judging process

The judges will give each submission a score between 1 and 10 (10 being the highest).
The average score will be calculated giving a winner and finalists, there will be one winner and up to six finalists in each category.
In the event of a tie for first place each company will be asked to submit a tie-breaker entry which will be assessed by the judges to identify the winner

Meet our judges...

Mark Smyth
Managing Director and Founding Partner
Failaka

Mark Smyth is a founding partner of the group and has contributed to Failaka's development since the firm's inception in 1996. Mr. Smyth began his financial career in 1992 with the Bank of Montreal's Harris Trust and Savings Bank in Chicago, gaining experience in lending, mortgage banking, and sales management. Afterwards, he became a partner with The International Investor of Kuwait, managing one of the firm's direct investments in New York before becoming involved with the firm's acquisition strategy from their Kuwait City office. In 2004, Mr. Smyth joined a leading commodities brokerage becoming a respected broker and currency analyst whose market commentary was widely syndicated online and in print

Mark O’Hare

Founder and Managing Director

Preqin Ltd

Mark O’Hare is Founder and Managing Director of Preqin Ltd, providers of research and information on the global private equity, real estate, hedge fund and infrastructure industries. Preqin provides information services to institutional investors, fund managers, advisors and others. These services include a) detailed information on fund returns, with transparent net-to-LP returns available for over 3,600 private equity and real estate funds globally; b) background information on over 5,000 private equity and real estate firms worldwide, with information on their assets and investment strategies; c) information on the institutions investing in real estate, private equity, infrastructure and hedge funds worldwide, with profiles for over 4,500 investors; and d) the terms and conditions applying to real estate and private equity funds of all types and sizes worldwide. This information is provided to customers as online databases, published hard copy reports and bespoke research, including our unique Fundraising Support service, targeting the best investor prospects for new funds. Preqin is an independent business with 52 staff and has over 2,500 customers spread across 62 countries worldwide. Prior to founding Preqin, Mark was a Manager with Boston Consulting Group, where he worked across a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, and financial services. In 1993 he founded another financial information business, Citywatch, which tracks the institutional ownership of listed equities. Citywatch was acquired by Reuters in 1998.

Paul Forsyth
Co-Founder and CEO

Apache Advisors

Paul Forsyth

Paul Forsyth, the Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Apache Advisors, is a senior and proven leader in the finance and investment industry with over 30 years experience. Apache Advisors incorporates the business of Forsythplus Consulting, which provided high-level, strategic consultancy services in the Middle East. Paul established the Forsyth Partners Group in 1991 and was Chief Executive between 1991 and 2007. Prior to establishing Forsyth Partners, Paul was managing director of Fidelity Investments (CI) Ltd, where he restructured Fidelity’s Jersey offshore funds into a new Luxembourg UCITS and handled the move of the operational capability to Luxembourg. Paul had previously spent 3 years in Fidelity’s international business division in London (focusing on the company’s entry into the French, Australian and Canadian markets). He also established Fidelity’s stock broking business. Previously, Paul spent four years at Rothschild in London having earlier qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Price Waterhouse.

home

how to enter