Best Practices in IR Web Sites - PDF

BEST PRACTICES IN IR WEB SITES  RECENT TRENDS: MULTIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES “Many IROs do not “In the future, “(I see) consolidating know their companies investors will expect functions going broadly and need to IROs to be ju...

BEST PRACTICES IN IR WEB SITES  RECENT TRENDS: MULTIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES “Many IROs do not “In the future, “(I see) consolidating know their companies investors will expect functions going broadly and need to IROs to be just as forward to gain get a deeper good with the efficiencies and understanding of the numbers as the CFO, alignment … businesses they which will require far reporting directly to represent to be more financial the CEO.” respected as training than IROs in executives/ advisors to the past may have (C-suite) executives.” received.” Source: NIRI survey, 2019  RECENT TRENDS: MULTIPLE RESPONSIBILITIES 2005 NIRI Survey - how IR spends its time: Shareholder relations Financial analysis Corporate communications Financial media relations Corporate governance Strategic planning Public relations Employee relations  RECENT TRENDS: DECLINE IN SELL-SIDE COVERAGE Top 5 means of receiving financial information:  RECENT TRENDS: EVOLVING REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT Executive compensation E-proxy XBRL Accelerated filings Quarterly reporting condensed  RECENT TRENDS: MORE DEMANDING INVESTORS Information: more, better and faster Real-time = increased expectations Increased reliance on the Web Audiences expect greater access Increased scrutiny and expectations  RECENT TRENDS: TECHNOLOGY ON THE RISE Web 2.0 = interactivity Blogs RSS Podcasting Wikis Video IR WEB SITE IS MISSION CRITICAL APPLICATION:  IR WEB SITE IS MISSION CRITICAL APPLICATION: CORPORATE WEB SITE USAGE 47% of investment professionals find IR Web sites very or extremely important (Source: AIMR survey) 90% of institutional investors find a company’s Web site impacts their perception of that company (Source: Thomson Financial) 32% of portfolio managers said that corporate Web sites are more important since the passing of SOX (Source: Rivel Research)  BEST PRACTICES: COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT BEST PRACTICES: BE COMPLIANT  BEST PRACTICES: BE TRANSPARENT “A company can disclose a great deal of information and be in compliance with the rules and regulations. But, until that information is presented in a clear and understandable manner, it does not adhere to the spirit of good communication--it is not transparent.” - Lou Thompson, former NIRI President & CEO  BEST PRACTICES: INTANGIBLE ASSETS Account for 35% institutional investor stock decision factors – Measures That Matter, Ernst & Young 35% of professional investors' decisions are driven by non-financial data or by information about intangibles – Cap Gemini, Ernst and Young Comprise at least 50% of a company’s value – Baruch Lev, New York University  BEST PRACTICES: INTANGIBLE ASSETS Non-financial drivers  BEST PRACTICES: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE DISCLOSURE 2/3rds of investors say governance considerations may be a trigger to avoid investing in particular companies, and 80% said they would pay a premium for companies that are visibly well-governed (source: McKinsey & Co, Global Investors Opinion Survey) 73% of investment professionals say that a company’s disclosure practices and the quality of financial statements are very or extremely important factors in their investment decisions (source: AIMR member survey)  BEST PRACTICES: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE DISCLOSURE Board and management bios Committee composition Insider transactions Contact the board Policies, guidelines and documents Proxy information Alerting  Corporate Governance Highlights  Committee Composition  Insider Transactions  BEST PRACTICES: PROVIDE MULTIMEDIA Video  BEST PRACTICES: EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY RSS Feeds  MP3/ Podcasts  BEST PRACTICES: WHAT’S NEXT? “Our aim is to move from long, hard-to-read disclosure documents to easy-to-navigate Web pages that let investors click through to find what they want. We want to emancipate the data from the page, and let it find its way across the Internet and around the world in the form of RSS feeds, AJAX, applications, and whatever comes next.” - SEC Chairman Christopher Cox  BEST PRACTICES: WHAT’S NEXT? Blog, podcast spending to reach $757 million in 2010 (WebProNews April 2007) Jupiter Research finds that 35% of large companies plan to start corporate blogs this year. – Combined with the existing deployed base of 34%, nearly 70% of all site operators will have implemented corporate blogs by end of 2006 – 64% of executives spend less than $500k to deploy and manage corporate Weblogs – "By engaging prospective customers in active dialogue, companies can showcase their expertise and domain knowledge, creating a forum for communication of their strategies and visions"  BEST PRACTICES: WHAT’S NEXT? Sun Microsystems CEO’s Blog  BEST PRACTICES: GLOBALISE YOUR WEB SITE Multi-language capabilities  BEST PRACTICES: UTILITY AND ACCESS Clear navigation links Format and file size should be denoted Filings and reports available in HTML & PDF Use a vanity URL Printer-friendly Key information above the fold Limit information required from investors  BEST PRACTICES: UTILITY AND ACCESS Well organised, easy to navigate and robust IR home page  BEST PRACTICES: PROMOTE YOUR WEB SITE Be discoverable! Direct link to IR from corporate home page Push email technology and RSS Put your website URL in all of your IR communications Don’t link away from the site Leverage third-party technology to extend corporate reach  YOUR WEB SITE SHOULD… Meet or exceed regulatory requirements Be comprehensive Communicate financial and non financial assets Leverage the latest technology and new media Be accessible to global audience Be fresh and easy to use Learn from others - beg, borrow, and steal!