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March 08, 2010 by Rob
Nice piece in Investor Relations Musings last week about the aspects of sales and marketing that apply to investor relations - a topic that gets regular air time. In fact, Margo Happer recently did an interview on this very topic with IR Alert that I thought was particularly well done.
Anyways, what caught my eye in the “Musings” post was the following comment Dave Hogan made: “The numbers are hugely important, but it’s not ALL about the numbers.” I agree… sorta. In my opinion (or IMO, as the young people say), IR is not ALL about the numbers though it is all about A number - valuation. In other words, those companies that treat IR solely as a compliance function are leaving money on the table - and that’s a number that matters!
March 01, 2010 by Rob
I don’t know about you, but the last two weeks have been a blur. No, not because of the Olympics but because it’s that wonderful time of year when year-end earnings drafting collides with annual report development which bumps into proxy preparations and the return of the non-deal road show.
So, forgive me, I need to circle back to something that came out a little while back. I thought this piece from the IR Alert offered an interesting takeaway from the Olympics - and big dollar corporate sponsorships in general. One of the most telling parts of this interview was how Jack Carsky (head of global IR for Visa) responded to the question about measuring success of such sponsorships: “Not much of this [bump] has to do with IR—but it’s just nice to draft off of them (marketing and advertising). Plus, all of Wall Street sees those ads and so do our analysts. You can’t look at any Olympic venue on TV right now and not see our name on it. So it does have impact.”
What’s caught my eye about this quote is what he didn’t say. First, he didn’t specifically mention how important “brand” is as intangible asset to the company but clearly it must be or how could brand marketing and advertising create any “draft” for the valuation. I wonder why he didn’t talk more about branding and valuation? Second, he didn’t specifically mention the impact such branding has on the company’s appeal to retail investors, though in this interview he did say, “... anything that advances value or your brand and a wider understanding of the company and what you do, can only make the IRO’s job easier.” Maybe I didn’t I missed it but I didn’t see any substantive discussion on the retail community, which is odd given that roughly 50 percent of Visa is held by retail investors.
One other Olympics-related topic that confused me - what, exactly, are the rules to curling!??! It seemed to be the only event on whenever I tried to watch and, as hard as I tried, I could not break the code on the objective/scoring for the sport.
February 22, 2010 by Rob
This morning, I had the conversation with my youngest son that I’ve been hoping I would not have for several more years. Below is an actual transcript of the conversation as it is now forever burned into my memory.
William: “Ummmm, Dad. I need to ask you something.”
Me: “Oh yeah? What’s up?”
William: “Well, we were talking about some stuff at school and I just didn’t know what to say.”
Me: “What do you mean? Who were you talking to?”
William: “My friends… at lunch…”
Me: “Yeah, and what were you talking about?” (now covered in a fine sheen of shvitz)
William: “Well… we were talking about grown up stuff… and…”
Me: (dying slowly while pretending to still be sorta watching Mike & Mike on ESPN2)
William: “... and… well… let me ask you something first…”
Me: “Okay.”
William: “Dad, do you have a job?”
Me: “Yeah, baby, I have a job. That’s what I do when I go to work.”
William: “Okay. Right. Okay. So… ummm… what’s your job?”
Me: “Oh… my job? Well… let’s see… I… uhhh…” (now in full panic - how do you explain IR to a 6-year old?!!?)
I think I mumbled something about helping companies tell their stories to people and help them answer questions when people have questions for them. I may have even mentioned something about intangible assets. Whatever I said, it felt lame but he let me off the hook as he came right back with “Yeah, I thought so. I could do that too when I’m a grown up. Hey Dad, can I still be a fireman and do what you do too?”
Me: “Of course, baby. You can be anything you want - and I know you’ll be great at doing it!”
So I gotta know - how have you explained what investor relations to your kids?
February 15, 2010 by Rob
Did you read the fine print of Dominic Jones’ recent blog post? Hysterical. I literally LOL‘ed when I read that. Never knew Dominic needed a quasi-Oliver North/Fawn Hall to justify a posting.
All kidding aside - I do agree with Dominic’s thoughts on this piece by McCarthy Tétrault. The harder we push to police social media content, the harder it is going to be to ignore similar “belts and suspenders” for private, one-on-one discussions with investors.
February 08, 2010 by Rob
Given all the chatter on Twitter about the SEC requiring every company “to disclose the impact that business or legal developments related to climate change…”, I thought I’d ask you what you thought about all this.
I have long thought IROs that avoid influencing their company’s disclosures on corporate social responsibilities (or CSR for those Alphabet Soup fans) are missing an opportunity to shed light on an important intangible asset at the very least and shirking a fiduciary duty at worse.
So - tell me - is the intertwining of CSR and investor relations an example of worlds colliding or simply nature taking its course?
February 04, 2010 by Rob
Just wanted to be sure you folks saw this good interview with Ken Altman of The Altman Group. I grew up professionally with Ken at Hill & Knowlton in the late 80s and can honestly say he’s an even better person than he is a practitioner (and he’s a heck of a practitioner).
January 31, 2010 by Rob
I had an interesting conversation with the head of one of the premier proxy solicitation firms in the country last week who said that, to this point, the anticipated wave of companies actively preparing for the new rules of engagement in this year’s proxy season has yet to hit shore.
Talk? Yes. Action? Nope.
Am I surprised? Is Too Tall Jones really too tall?!!?
Boys and girls, proxy season is closer than you think. Now is the time to start digging into your shareholder base to see how the votes may fall and with whom you may need to spend a little more time talking through the issues on the ballot. Now is the time to start expanding your proxy biographies for directors to include specifics on how that individual’s experience will help accelerate the company’s growth plan. Now is the time to start resetting investor expectations as the global economy continues to recalibrate. Now is the time to start taking a close look in the mirror at your governance practices and protocols and gauging how they stack up against your industry, as well as best practices.
I fully realize that I can worry about things a little sooner and/or a little longer than most folks. But, let me ask you this: where’s the harm in being truly prepared?
January 25, 2010 by Rob
Poised for Growth is not an annual report theme. At best, it’s a deflection and, at worse, an excuse. Either case, it’s the wrong message to send to the Street.
Not to get all “Kennedy” on you (JFK, not MTV) but how does sending a “rising tide lifts all boats” message help management’s credibility or garner support for the company’s long-range business strategy? Quite simply, it doesn’t.
So, as you sharpen your messaging to investors for the recovering economy (which impacts your annual report), think Al Haig and tell them who’s in charge now (just be sure you have your facts straight, unlike AH).
January 16, 2010 by Rob
Just digging myself out from beneath the pile of “stuff” that grew on my desk while I was presenting at NIRI’s latest Intro to IR seminar and wanted to pass along some things from Santa Monica while they’re still fresh in my mind:
1. The folks at Aflac deserve all the IR awards they win. Wow, that’s an impressive team and program. One of the things I love that they do is their yearly Financial Analysts Briefing Book that they use to help educate investors on the various components of the business (think: a mashup of an annual report and an offering memorandum but on steroids). While not the most aesthetically pleasing piece I’ve ever seen, it is truly a disclosure piece of art. Talk about treating IR as a customer service function!
2. Along those same lines, one of the other presenters said that he sends a copy of their quarterly conference call transcripts to his investors to save them the step of having to find it online themselves. Brilliant. I will steal that one.
3. The message from the sell side and the buy side was identical - “make it easy for us.” By that they meant both make the company’s business easy to understand and make it easy for them to get the information they are looking for.
4. There was a lot of discussion on disclosure policies, which was good to see as I think this document is too often overlooked or under developed. During one of the discussions, someone mentioned that they include a policy on participating in corporate surveys (e.g., CSR practices). Very smart idea. I will also steal this one.
5. I was surprised at how little discussion there was on intangible assets, particularly given how much influence they have on valuation. Transparency on these mostly invisible growth catalysts is a critical component of an effective investor relations program. I’ll have to remember to ask the NIRI powers-that-be why that aspect was all but omitted from the program.
6. Similarly, there was very little discussion on how to effectively leverage financial or trade media within an IR program. Research continues to show that media coverage is a top source for investment ideas among buy-side investors. I’ll have to add that to my NIRI follow-up list.
On a slightly unrelated note, Kirk Cameron was apparently in Cleveland two weeks/weekends ago as he was on my flight to LAX. Who knew?!!?
January 07, 2010 by Rob
I absolutely love this interview with Margo Happer, senior vice president of investor relations for Wyndam Worldwide (NYSE: WYN).
Those who treat IR strictly as a compliance function and ignore the marketing component are doomed to leave money on the table.
Now, I realize I am biased because Margo was my first boss at Hill & Knowlton 1,000 years ago so you tell me where this argument doesn’t hold water.
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