Investor Relations Today Calls for Personal Touch

by lisa ~ May 18, 2009

A new survey of the publicly traded European companies with the best investor relations (IR) departments finds there’s little appetite for the glitzy roadshows of the past decade. Instead, IR directors are using the personal touch to stay on good terms with shareholders, according to Institutional Investor magazine.

“Gone are the lavish banquets and high-tech media presentations of years past. In their place are informal get-togethers and frequent communication using all available means of contact,” wrote Institutional Investor. “Keeping investors informed, even when the news is bad, is vital to maintaining trust.”

In other words, even when the news is bad, keep talking to your constituencies and make sure they’re informed about major developments. That’s good advice for those in PR as well as IR.

Talking to the media about your company’s ups and downs helps cement relationships. It allows you to put negative issues into perspective - which is especially important if disgruntled investors are whispering in a reporter’s ear too. Reporters loathe flacks who only pick up the phone to promote their latest product launch or executive hire.

The companies named in Institutional Investor’s survey spanned 33 sectors in seven industry groups across 18 European countries. It’s based on the opinions of 430 portfolio managers and investment officers at nearly 275 firms, and 820 sell-side analysts at more than 125 firms.

To read the complete Institutional Investor article, “Europe’s Best Investor Relations,” click here.

Lisa Tibbitts is a New York-based corporate communications professional with an MBA in marketing. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/FinancialPR.

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