Over the years we've asked an awful lot of questions. We've asked them of our sources when writing stories, and we've asked them of financial professionals in creating rankings, such as our All-America Research Team, whose appearance each October is awaited eagerly on Wall Street.

In this issue we introduce the results of our latest round of questions: Institutional Investor's newest ranking, America's Most Shareholder-Friendly Companies ("The Fairest of Them All," page 48). With so much attention being paid to corporate governance and investor activism, we thought it would be useful to survey portfolio managers and securities analysts to identify the companies that have been the fairest to their shareholders. In all, we received 1,300 responses to our questionnaire, allowing us to single out winning companies in 62 industry sectors corresponding to those of the All-America Research Team.

What do investors value most? Good financial performance and a strong share price clearly matter. Yet above all, investors say they want companies to be honest with them. Good communication often begins, of course, with investor relations, and in an accompanying article based on the same survey we present the highest-rated IR departments ("Who's Best at Investor Relations?" page 54).

The II person who formulates the pertinent survey questions and patiently gathers the answers is Senior Editor Jane Kenney. This month she celebrates her 25th anniversary with the magazine. When Jane came on board in 1981, II produced a handful of surveys. Today, working with Sathya Rajavelu, director of research operations, Jane and her group of project managers handle the formidable task of creating and executing dozens of rankings and ratings each year -- from our familiar research teams to our benchmark listings of the world's biggest money managers and hedge funds to our semiannual ratings of country creditworthiness.

The growth of our research franchise, and the strength of its reputation for accuracy and integrity, are a tribute to Jane's dedication, industry and knack for asking the right questions. And that, of course, is what makes her a genuine first-teamer.