A weekly compilation of news from around the world of investor relations. Compiled and edited by Pam Agnew, ABC.
Where Investor Money Is Going: ‘Under the Mattress’
Over the first 11 months of 2011, plain-vanilla savings and checking accounts attracted eight times the money as stock and bond mutual and exchange-traded funds, according to data from market research firm TrimTabs. CNBC
BofA Survey Shows Investors Find Comfort in Credit
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s latest bi-monthly survey shows that corporate bond investors have turned considerably more bullish since the last survey in early November. Barron’s
Hedge Funds to Draw $80 Billion in 2012, Most in Five Years, Barclays Says
Investors may add about $80 billion of new capital to hedge funds globally this year, the most since 2007. Bloomberg
About-Face: Investors Venture Back Into Stock Mutual Funds
Investors steered $1.43 billion into stock mutual funds during the week ended Wednesday, Jan. 11, breaking a near nine-month streak of investor redemptions that totaled more than $172 billion, according to the latest statistics from the Investment Company Institute. Securities Technology Monitor
Significant Pricing Activity Ahead As Six Companies Set IPO Terms this Week
The broader picture was very encouraging, as the FTSE Renaissance US IPO Index continued to outperform the S&P 500 by a large margin (9.0% vs. 4.6% YTD). The gain shows that money is flowing into newly public companies and suggests a positive outlook for the 10 deals pricing in the next two weeks. Renaissance Capital
Seven Charged in Insider-Trading Case
According to court papers, Mr. Goyal obtained inside information from a co-conspirator who worked in Dell’s investor relations department from March 2007 through March 2009. Integrity Research
Securities Lawsuits Hold Steady but Below Average
According to the study, 188 federal securities class-action suits were filed last year, compared with 176 filed the prior year. Even then, that figure trails the annual average of 194 filings for the period from 1997 to 2010. DealBook
IR Service Provider of the Week
Pristine Advisers LLC is a one stop Investor & Public Relations company offering its customers custom and prepackaged services. We operate internationally while giving customers local one on one support.
Europe Leans Toward Blocking NYSE-Deutsche Borse Merger
The recommendation by the antitrust advisory panel, which is not binding, is the latest sign that the regulatory obstacles in the way of the deal may be insurmountable. DealBook
Canada’s TMX Group Adds Shareholder Data and Targeting to Suite of Products for Issuers
TMX Group Inc. has acquired substantially all of the assets of ir2020, LLC, a US-based online shareholder data and targeting solution provider. News Release
Britain Seeks to Defuse Anger Over Bosses’ Pay
The measures are likely to include new powers for shareholders to hold binding rather than advisory votes on directors’ wages. Reuters
Fidelity Demands Controls for Boardroom Pay
Fidelity Worldwide Investment has called for all bonuses to be approved in advance and each year by at least 75 per cent of shareholders. If a scheme fails a second time the chair of remuneration would be forced to resign. The Scotsman
Proxy Season: Top Issues of 2012
As we approach annual meeting season, it is time to start thinking about the hot button issues that boards and senior management will face – and that may show up in proxy statements – in 2012. Westlaw
Corporate Japan: Woeful Lack of Outside Directors
There are considerably fewer outside directors in Japan than at corporations in other developed countries. The Japan Times
Private Meetings of Public Companies Thwart Disclosure Rules
Investors who met with management were more likely to increase their position before periods of high returns and decrease their position before periods of low returns, compared with investors who didn’t meet with senior management. Working Knowledge – HBS
Indies Remain Popular with Buy-Side, but…
We would not be surprised if shrinking Wall Street bonuses and recently announced layoffs don’t reduce the ranks of sell-side analysts in the coming months. This could lead some analysts to consider joining independent research firms as an employment alternative. Integrity Research
Israel Rattled as Hackers Hit Bourse, Banks, El Al
Hackers disrupted online access to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, El Al Airlines and three banks in what the government described as a cyber-offensive against Israel. Reuters
Imagine There’s No Excel
With the rise of analytics and Big Data, replacements for Excel are proliferating and CFOs of companies large and small are beginning to pay attention. CFO
Unilever Gives Investors an iPad App
Javier Tena, Unilever’s London-based investor relations director who commissioned the app, says the company realised that many of its investors were also iPad owners and would benefit from being able to access to key information about the company, particularly when they were travelling. Financial Times
Pam Agnew, ABC is a director of IR Web Reporting International Inc. and an award-winning communicator. She has more than 20 years of corporate and agency experience in investor, crisis, corporate, media, stakeholder and sustainability communications on four continents for leading global companies as well as stock exchanges, securities regulators and large institutional investors.
Subscribe to feed