Australian retail investors aren’t shunning social media
NEWS today from the Australasian Investor Relations Association (AIRA) that only 7% of retail investors say they monitor social media for investing purposes has been wrongly interpreted as a rejection of social media as an information source.
Company adopts Facebook for official investor forum
IN A development that demonstrates the potential for the social web to bring companies and their shareholders closer, Canadian-based copper producer TVI Pacific Inc. (TSE:TVI) has recognized the discussion board on the company’s Facebook page as its “official Corporate Discussion Forum.”
Microvision opens up earnings call via blog
SEVERAL months ago, Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS) IR specialist Tiffany Bradford set out to research how small-cap companies were using blogs for investor relations. She was referred to me by Shel Holtz, ABC, one of the leading advisors on the use of technology in public relations and corporate communications. I didn’t have a lot of concrete examples [...]
Despite poor retail vote, SEC may relax E-proxy deadline
DESPITE a dramatic drop in individual investor participation at companies using the new E-proxy process for their annual meetings, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is studying “rulemaking refinements” that could make it easier for more firms to use the model. Introduced little over one year ago, the E-proxy process allows company investor relations [...]
SEC survey a reality check on retail investor web use
A SURVEY published by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has found that retail investors rely heavily on financial advisors for their investment decisions and rarely use the SEC’s website or blogs for investment information. The survey found that while 51% of investors said their financial advisors or brokers were their “main source” of [...]
SEC seeks to "blow up" forms-based system
THE US Securities and Exchange commission has launched a study that could lead to the scrapping of its 75-year-old system that requires companies to file disclosures on prescribed forms like 10Ks, Form 4s and DEF 14As.
US firms love e-proxy savings, but at what cost?
DESPITE the risk that they might be reaping short-term gains while laying the foundation for long-term pain, 566 US companies used notice-only e-proxy mailings for their shareholder meetings by the end of April. According to figures compiled by Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., companies have saved about $132 million through lower print and mailing costs. Unfortunately, [...]
Provident Financial should return its award
LAST week in London, Provident Financial plc won the Best Website for the Private Investor Award at the UK IR Society’s annual gala. It doesn’t deserve it. The first sentence in the judging criteria for that award says: “For private investors, the internet helps to level the playing field for information access.” But Provident Financial [...]
Pros like it plain, too
A COMMON misconception among those who compile and write company disclosures is that clear and simple language only matters if your company has a lot of retail investors. But that’s not true. Professionals appreciate plain language just as much as lay people. In fact, they probably appreciate it more because they have to do a [...]
Don’t treat small investors like they’re dumb
I WROTE recently about why treating retail investors as if they’re less sophisticated undermines their confidence and trust in companies and the capital markets. One thing I touched on, but didn’t go into detail about, is just how angry it makes retail investors when investor relations departments, regulators and other market participants treat them like [...]
After “insider trading week”; beware the patsies
“ARE (ordinary investors) being played for patsies in this system? Are there really just two tiers, and the insiders are always favored?” That question by NewsHour correspondent Maragaret Warner to Columbia Law School professor John Coffee on PBS on Friday night (MP3, 4.0 MB) encapsulates a view many Main Street investors are likely to share [...]
If retail investors don’t matter, IR is in trouble
RETAIL investors’ direct ownership of U.S. stocks has dwindled to new lows. According to a survey released by the Conference Board, institutional investors owned 68% of the top 1,000 companies in 2005. To put that in perspective, consider that in 1950 individual investors directly held 92% of stocks. Today they own just 32%. Indirect ownership [...]
With e-proxy, SEC signals it gets the Web
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today voted to let companies move to default Internet delivery of annual shareholder documents. Stressing that investors can still ask for free paper documents under its voluntary “e-proxy” process, commissioners voted 5-0 to allow companies to ditch bulk mailings of proxy materials and move to a “notice and [...]
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