Talking about transparency
I WAS interviewed for 45 minutes last Friday by well-known communications consultant Shel Holz for a book he is co-authoring on the topic of “practical transparency.” Shel is one of the thought leaders on the topic of communications and technology. He has written and spoken about it extensively over the years, in various books, reports, [...]
NIRI members' discontent posted on Web
ABOUT eight months ago, I let my membership of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) expire. I wasn’t happy with the direction of the organization, and I felt that being a member would restrict me from speaking my mind about it on this blog if I wanted to. Since then, however, I’ve kept my mouth [...]
SEC posts foreign firm exemption proposals
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday posted the proposed rules exempting foreign companies from registration if they meet certain requirements, including posting English disclosures on the Web. The SEC staff are seeking comments on the proposed rules until April 25. I’ve already submitted one idea, which is to require foreign firms to offer investors [...]
Investors' new insight on mergers — employee bloggers
THE spotty success rate of mergers and acquisitions in creating shareholder value has long dogged investors who must try to decide whether a proposed acquisition by a company they own makes sense. But with the advent of employee bloggers on the open Internet, especially those who work for leading technology companies, investors may be getting [...]
Yahoo!'s latest inspiration: snail mail
I THOUGHT I wouldn’t have to write about the Microsoft-Yahoo! takeover saga again after likening the investor relations communications around it to watching two drunks wobbling and slurring their way through a back alley rumble. But I can’t resist. A couple of hours ago, the great Web pioneer and innovator that is Yahoo! fired off [...]
Watching two tech drunks rumble
OUR research has long found that big technology companies are among the weakest when it comes to online investor relations communications — and we’re now seeing that manifest itself in the Yahoo!-Microsoft dust up. I’ve already highlighted how neither company is making effective use of its website to keep shareholders informed, and I’ve complained aloud [...]
Open letter to jerry yang (and Yahoo! IR)
Dear jerry, I’m trying hard to stay informed about your thinking around Microsoft’s offer to buy Yahoo, but your Investor Relations department is not making it easy for shareholders to get your views on this issue. For example, this morning you issued a short news release, which I found on Yahoo’s IR website, saying the [...]
In tough times, IBM's IR website shines
IBM’s investor relations department pro-actively reaches out to retail investors via its investor relations website to reassure them about the company’s resilience amid uncertain economic conditions.
Real IR magazine, R.I.P
AND then there was one. Last month, Real IR magazine ceased publishing after less than four years as Europe’s magazine for investor relations professionals. The bright, high-quality publication launched by UK-based Caspian Publishing brought healthy competition to a market that has long been dominated by Cross Border Group’s IR Magazine. In a letter to subscribers [...]
Are you ignoring your biggest investor audience?
THE biggest audience for any investor relations website is also the one that companies ignore most often. This audience segment is made up of people who know little or nothing about your company and probably aren’t going to learn much more unless you make it extremely easy for them to do so. They are, of [...]
NIRI survey predicts 56% e-proxy adoption
A National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) survey that finds 56% of respondents plan to use the new default web delivery option for their annual reports and proxy statements in 2008, but that may be optimistic.
Boards should adopt shareholder forum policies
SURPRISINGLY little seems to have been written following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) actions last November to establish ground rules for the use of shareholder forums as a corporate governance tool. Perhaps this is because the SEC has not yet posted the final rule release, or maybe it’s because the SEC’s other decision [...]
With XBRL, more IR jobs will go to communicators
THIS XBRL thing has legs. The hype-o-meter is in overdrive and I can’t imagine anything is going to stop it. So it’s now safe for me to tell you the awful, untold truth about what XBRL means to the investor relations profession as we know it today. This truth is so frightening to the average [...]
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