By David Calusdian, Executive Vice President & Partner
*Originally appeared on Samuel's CFO Blog. Samuel Dergel is Director and Search Consultant at Stanton Chase International. Mr. Dergel specializes in Executive Search for Chief Financial Officers.
As the new CFO of a publicly held company, somewhere on your extensive “to do” list is implementing an effective investor relations program. Whether or not the IR function was a well-oiled machine when you arrived, or virtually non-existent, there are key areas you need to address immediately to ensure that you are effectively taking the IR reins. So here are six steps for success as you accept responsibility for the IR function.
1) Understand your shareholder base. Research the investment styles of your shareholders to determine why they may have bought shares– and what might cause them to sell. See what type of investor concentration you have in your shareholder base. Identifying whether your shareholders are weighted toward a growth, value or income investment style, for example, can offer insight as to what they are expecting the company to achieve near or long term. Also investigate whether there are known “activist” firms among your shareholders, and what catalysts usually cause them to initiate a proxy fight. Make it a priority to speak with your shareholders by phone as soon as possible, and then meet them in person within your first few quarters as CFO. Also consider an investor perception audit to understand the sentiments of your shareholder base -- and identify any misperceptions about the company -- to most effectively build your IR program.
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Disclosure,
Reg FD,
Board Communications,
Conference Calls,
Investor Relations Agency,
Investor Meetings,
Guidance,
Disclosure Policy,
Shareholder Communications,
Earnings Call,
Social Media,
Investor Relations,
Earnings,
Investor Relations Firm
By Dennis Walsh, Senior Consultant & Director of Social Media
Let’s face it; you can’t ignore social media any longer…even as part of your investor relations strategy. You were hoping Facebook would go the way of MySpace and Friendster, but it keeps on growing and has even made its way into our world with its initial public offering.
Talk of Twitter used to elicit laughter in the board room. Now, competitors are using it to promote their brand; hedge funds are using it to decide when to make trades; and rumors spread like wildfires over the Twittersphere. Twitter companion site StockTwits has evolved as a popular platform for traders to share investment ideas. Add to that: YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, LinkedIn, oh my! IR pros certainly put up a good fight, but it’s time to embrace social media…it’s here to stay.
Feeling a little overwhelmed? We’d like to help you with that.
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IR Program Planning,
Investor Relations Blog,
Reg FD,
Strategic Messaging,
Sharon Merrill Associates,
Investor Relations Agency,
IR Website,
IPO,
Social Media,
Small-cap IR,
Investor Relations,
Socialize IR,
Investor Relations Firm
By Dennis Walsh, Senior Consultant & Director of Social Media
On Monday, Houston-based Francesca's Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: FRAN) announced that it had fired its chief financial officer, Gene Morphis, after discovering he had “improperly communicated Company information through social media.” This case highlights how important it is for all companies to have a clear social media policy in place and to educate top executives on their roles and responsibilities as company spokespeople.
Mr. Morphis was very active on Twitter, publishes a personal blog, and has public profiles on LinkedIn and Facebook. Mr. Morphis spoke freely about his duties as CFO of Francesca’s in his Facebook status updates, which were open for public viewing. In one example he states that he just completed a roadshow for a secondary offering, which appears to have been announced via press release prior to the post.
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IR Program Planning,
Disclosure,
Reg FD,
Sharon Merrill Associates,
Investor Relations Agency,
Disclosure Policy,
Social Media Policy,
IRO,
Social Media,
Investor Relations,
Socialize IR,
Investor Relations Firm
Sometimes the difference between success and failure when delivering a presentation is not the presentation slides at all. The problem most often is the presenter’s delivery. In the video below, Sharon Merrill Executive Vice President & Partner David Calusdian provides tips on how to get the most out of your presentation delivery.
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Investor Presentation,
IR Program Planning,
Investor Relations Agency,
Presentation Training,
Media Relations,
IPO,
Investor Relations,
Investor Relations Firm
By David Calusdian, Executive Vice President & Partner
We’ve all seen bad investor presentations at various conferences. But what makes them bad? The purpose of an investor presentation is to convey the company’s investment thesis. If the presentation does not succeed in articulating the investment thesis in a memorable way, it has failed. So how do we ensure good presentation slides — and success? In the video below, Executive Vice President & Partner David Calusdian offers up some advice.
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Investor Presentation,
IR Program Planning,
Strategic Messaging,
Investor Relations Agency,
Investor Meetings,
Presentation Training,
Shareholder Communications,
Investor Relations,
Investor Relations Firm
By Maureen Wolff, President and Partner
Companies planning to go public need to be able to hit the ground running on the day of the IPO pricing with an investor relations program. In order to prepare, Sharon Merrill President and Partner Maureen Wolff provides tips on what to do before and after the S-1 filing in the videos below.
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Investor Presentation,
IR Program Planning,
Disclosure,
Strategic Messaging,
Investor Relations Agency,
Investor Meetings,
IR Website,
Guidance,
Board Structure,
Disclosure Policy,
IPO,
Investor Relations,
Earnings,
Investor Relations Firm
By Jim Buckley
To kick off the New Year, we decided to renew an old Sharon Merrill tradition and take a lighthearted look at what’s in and what’s out in investor relations and related areas in 2012. Hope you enjoy, and have a happy and successful 2012.
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Hedge Fund,
Board Communications,
Annual Meeting,
Investor Relations Agency,
Proxy Access,
Crisis Communications,
Social Media,
Investor Relations,
Activist Investors
By Dennis Walsh, Senior Consultant & Director of Social Media
As another year comes to a close, two things are probably on every IRO’s mind: New Year’s resolutions and next year’s investor relations plan. Every year, one of the most common resolutions is to get fit. People spend a tremendous amount of time and money developing new health and fitness plans to achieve that goal. This year, apply the same techniques to your IR plan in order to have a successful 2012.
Establish Achievable Goals
You may not be ready to compete in the Arnold Classic body building competition next year, but fitting into that new bathing suit by summer is certainly a realistic goal. When developing your 2012 IR plan, set equally realistic expectations. For example, expecting to grow your capitalization from a mid-cap to a large-cap in just a few months is likely an unrealistic benchmark. Instead, focus on more achievable metrics, such as meeting with a greater number of investors, attending more conferences, or increasing trading volume. Meeting these goals will support your ultimate goal of maximizing shareholder value.
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Holiday,
IR Program Planning,
Board Packages,
Investor Relations Blog,
Board Communications,
Annual Meeting,
Sharon Merrill Associates,
Investor Relations Agency,
Investor Meetings,
NIRI,
Investor Conference,
IRO,
IR Budgets,
IPO,
Shareholder Communications,
Social Media,
Small-cap IR,
Investor Relations,
Investor Relations Firm
There is a popular cable network TV show called Bridezillas that often depicts women planning their wedding day as high-strung, unreasonable and at times displaying jaw-dropping outrageous behavior. Of course, this makes for great reality TV, but at times I find myself sympathizing with these women. After all, it will be the biggest day of their lives – it had better go as planned!
Similarly, the quarterly earnings call is one of the biggest days in the career of investor relations professionals and their companies. A seamless call is an IRO’s opportunity to shine. A call riddled with issues will damage his or her credibility. These calls require weeks of careful planning to ensure that the right messages are communicated effectively to shareholders. However, much like the bridezillas have to rely on other people to design a dress, coordinate the flower arrangements, bake the cake, etc., IROs must work with a variety of outside providers for the services necessary to facilitate an earnings call. With so much riding on the line, there is no shame in taking on the IRO-zilla role and demanding, rather, clearly stating needs and expectations. The IRO’s professional reputation is at stake.
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IR Vendors,
IR Program Planning,
Investor Relations Agency,
IR Website,
NIRI,
IRO,
IR Budgets,
Earnings Call,
Social Media,
Investor Relations,
Earnings,
Investor Relations Firm
Hello again. We took a bit of a hiatus from blogging this summer, but we are now back to share a Halloween story sure to scare you straight!
Unless you are one of the 33 Chilean miners that were trapped underground for the past two months, you have likely been watching the drama unfold on Capitol Hill as the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenged the legality of the SEC’s new proxy access rule 14a-11, which allows qualifying shareholders to nominate directors for election at shareholder meetings and requires the corporation to include those nominees in the standard proxy statement. The petitioners claim that the new rules are subjective and violate federal and state law and the United States Constitution, and that the SEC did not assess the effect of the rules on efficiency, competition and capital formation. As a result, implementation of the rule has been delayed pending a resolution of the Court of Appeals. So the new proxy access rules will most likely not be implemented until the 2012 proxy season, at the earliest. Upon hearing this news, public corporations across the nation let out a collective sigh of relief.
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Shareholder Meeting,
Board Communications,
Strategic Messaging,
Annual Meeting,
Shareholder Activism,
Investor Relations Agency,
Proxy Season,
Proxy Access,
Crisis Communications,
Board Structure,
Shareholder Communications,
Investor Relations,
Investor Relations Firm,
Activist Investors
