Citadel awards honour Marc Hasenfuss again

About 55 journalists from a wide range of media submitted more than 100 entries for the different categories, which created a challenging task for the judging panel.

"The judging was particularly tough this year as the entries for the 2011 award were of an exceptional standard. The country's top investment and personal finance journalists delivered reports of high quality, providing consumers and investors with valuable information," said Citadel CEO, Neil Brown, at the award presentation hosted late last week in Johannesburg.

Hasenfuss' entries covered different topics, ranging from investments in penny stocks to investment in Rupert-controlled companies and what this delivered for investors, which secured him a win in the category 'Best feature'. His entries also included thought provoking columns about a range of investment topics.

Other winners

• Breaking news electronic - the 2009 overall winner, Bruce Whitfield for his coverage on 702 Talk Radio and Cape Talk of the Kumba Iron Ore / ArcelorMittal saga.
• Breaking news print - property journalist Elma Kloppers, of Sake24 for reports about unscrupulous property investors costing home owners dearly. She was a finalist on more than one occasion in previous years but this is her first award.
• Consumer education - this category again attracted a significant number of entries and proved to be a particularly difficult category to judge, as the entries covered a variety of topics by different media. For this reason, the judges awarded two prizes - one to Huisgenoot's Pieter van Zyl for well written features about the new consumer act and property syndication swindles. The second award was won by Carte Blanche producers Sophia Phirippides and Jonathan Pienaar for programmes about Eskom price hikes and home owners' insurance.
• Newcomer of the year - this went to Finweek's Andile Makholwa for articles about Wal-Mart's proposed purchase of Massmart and what this would mean for investors and a series about Woolworths' decision to buy back franchises.
• Analysis and opinion category was the most popular this year, with experienced journalists entering columns, blogs, features and newsletters covering an array of topics. Brendan Ryan of Finweek won the category for his insights into mining investment and alternative asset classes.
• Chairman's Award for investigative Journalism - was awarded to Moneyweb's Lindo Xulu for his investigation into businessman Mandla Lamba and issues related to Kumba, ArcelorMittal and Sishen.
• Peregrine Award for reporting on alternative Investment - was won by Finweek's journalist Shaun Harris for his reports and educational pieces about asset classes not well understood by many investors, including hedge funds and derivatives.

Judges

The judges for the 2011 award were:

• Godfrey Nti, CEO of the Financial Planning Institute (FPI) and a long serving member of the judging panel;
• FPI board member Advocate Sankie Morata;
• Journalist Michael Coulson;
• Professor Pippa Green, head of the journalism department at the University of Pretoria.

The awards took place on Thursday, 19 May 2011.