Evaluating NIRI's IR website guidelines 2
IN PART one of this review, I mentioned that the US National Investor Relations Institute’s (NIRI’s) executive alert on investor relations websites includes a list of 14 Do’s and Don’ts for IR departments to follow. In this post, I review each of the guidelines and explain why I think they’re either good or bad. The [...]
Evaluating NIRI's Do's and Don'ts for IR websites
THE US National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) has issued a 5-page briefing on investor relations website practices based on a review they did of the largest 100 US companies’ sites. On one level I can’t help but applaud the guidelines because they are long overdue. Investor relations websites have been around for more than 10 [...]
SEC greenlights "notice-and-access" news releases
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) new guidance for company websites gives investor relations departments an opportunity to cut their disclosure costs and boost traffic to their websites by using “notice-and-access” news releases for Regulation FD. Although the SEC’s guidance goes so far as to say that “some companies” may not need to use [...]
IR leaders on YouTube and FriendFeed
LAST WEEK, I wrote about how the US National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) annual conference was being given a little Web 2.0 treatment on the new, 100-day-old service called FriendFeed. That unplanned experiment, which occurred to me on a whim and far exceeded what I or anyone else expected, was followed this week by a [...]
NIRI 2008 conference goes 2.0
THE NIRI annual conference is underway in San Diego, and while there’s no replacement for actually being there, this year you’ll be able to pick up at least some of the goings on via the Web as attendees use Web 2.0 tools to share their experiences. We picked up the first online mentions of the [...]
NIRI's earnings guidance survey makes no sense
I HAVE just updated my post from earlier this week about the disconnect between the guidance practices of public companies and the opinions of investment analysts and portfolio managers about what constitutes best practice. IR Magazine and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) say I am wrong to say IROs are more focused on short-term [...]
IROs more short-term focused than analysts — Updated
Update: According to IR Magazine, which alludes to this post in a backhanded way, I have this story wrong. They say: “The survey found that the proportion of companies providing quarterly earnings estimates (which NIRI says should not be confused with the frequency with which guidance is offered), are down to 18 percent, from 27 [...]
Associations put online IR in spotlight
THE North American investor relations associations appear to be putting web-based disclosure on the front burner as the Internet moves to center stage and securities regulators increasingly rely on corporate websites to deliver information to investors. Earlier this week, Jeff Morgan, the new President and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), called to [...]
US IRO pay figures released
ABOUT half of Fortune 500 IROs polled say they earn more than $300,000 in cash plus a wide range of equity incentives and other benefits, according to a survey conducted by Korn/Ferry International and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). Key survey findings for Fortune 500 respondents: At least four out of five Fortune 500 [...]
How to fix e-proxy
A WEEK ago, I called the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) notice-and-access process for delivering annual meeting materials on the web “one gigantic flop from an investor protection perspective.” I think it’s worth beating that drum a little louder in light of the latest statistics from Broadridge Financial Solutions showing a sharp drop in [...]
Top posts in March '08
MARCH was a strange month for me. The Northern Hemisphere cold and flu season struck with a vengeance, which affected post frequency, and a few other things came up unexpectedly on the home front. There were a lot of things I wanted to write about but never got to. That’s typical, though. I only write [...]
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 [...]
Earnings releases — the Warren Buffett way
WHILE his competitors lavish huge fees on his PR wire service, frugal billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is being thrifty by keeping its earnings releases short and referring investors to complete disclosures on the company’s website. Ironically, management at Business Wire, acquired by Buffett in March 2006, has argued vehemently against other companies following its [...]
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