To select the members of Extel’s 2026 All-America Executive Team, we surveyed buy-side analysts, money managers and sell-side researchers at securities firms and financial institutions that cover the region, including those who cast and received votes in this year’s 2026 All-America Research Team survey. We asked voters to name the best chief executive officers, chief financial officers, and investor relations professionals at the companies in their coverage universes. 2,895 money managers and buy-side analysts and over 269 sell-side researchers provided their candid feedback.
All votes are weighted by rating (five, four, three, two and one). We also asked them to rate the companies’ IR programs on the following five performance attributes: in Quality of Engagement, “Responsiveness,” “Earnings Calls,” and “Virtual Meetings/Presentations”; and in Financial Disclosure: “Consistency,” and “Granularity.” These ratings were aggregated to produce an overall IR Program rank for each company. Nominations for Company Board, ESG, and Investor Events were also solicited from the voters as a separate distinction.
The overall rankings in each rankings category are based on combined buy- and sell-side votes. Separate rosters (buy side, sell side) are also available for each award classification.
To earn the designation of Most Honored Company, a company must achieve a weighted score of at least 15 for its published positions in the Best CEO, CFO, IRO, IR Program, Investor/Analyst Event, ESG, and Company Board categories. Each first-place position is worth three points; second place, two; and third place, one. In the 2026 All-America Executive Survey, 1,949 companies were nominated across 44 sectors.
Most Honored designations in the Mega-Cap (>=$200B) rankings follow the same methodology, but firms must achieve a weighted score of at least 18 points based on their combined buy- and sell-side results. For the Large-Cap ($50B - $200B), firms must achieve a weighted score of at least 18, and for the Large-Cap ($10B - $50B) firms must achieve a weighted score of at least 17 points based on their combined buy- and sell-side results.
Most Honored designations in the Small & Mid-Cap rankings follow the same methodology, and firms must achieve a weighted score of at least 12 points based on their combined buy- and sell-side results. Most Honored designations in the Small & Mid-Cap rankings are based on receiving the highest total weighted score from the seven categories, per category.
To be eligible for inclusion on the 2026 All-America Executive Team, a company must be headquartered or have operational or executive headquarters in the region. We keep confidential the identities of the survey respondents to ensure their continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count.
November 3, 2026
The pace of global change—and complexity—is hitting an all-time high, but that is where the opportunities lie, according to some of America’s top executives.
In the payments space, this has meant that technology and commerce evolved faster than ever over the past year, according to Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa, the American multinational payment card services corporation headquartered in San Francisco.
The industry saw profound shifts, from AI and agentic commerce to stablecoins and new ways to pay, alongside growing expectations from governments to play a more active role in payments, McInerney told Extel. While that makes the ecosystem more complex, it also creates enormous opportunity for companies like Visa.
The American Executives on the Leading Edge November 3, 2026
Methodology summary
Survey Information CONTENTS
