Our Blog: The Podium

On January 4^th, the first business day of the new decade, Dow Jones VentureSource released figures suggesting that 2010 will be a stronger year for IPOs. They reported that eight companies completed public offerings in 2009, raising $904 million. This was a 64% increase from the $551 million generated through seven IPOs in 2008.

Looking ahead, VentureSource pointed to the 25 venture-backed companies that are currently in IPO registration as a sign that the market will improve as this year unfolds. The larger attendance and stronger sense of optimism at the most recent Deloitte Tech-Venture IPO Bootcamp, where I spoke on IPO investor relations, suggests the same thing.

So if the proverbial IPO window does open wider in 2010, a good number of venture-backed companies probably will jump through. This will send them into the hectic time of pre-IPO preparations.

Like skilled gymnasts or freestyle skiers, some of these companies will stick the landing. They’ll see good liquidity and strong underlying demand when their shares begin trading. Others will lose a few style points and generate only a tepid response from investors. For the underperformers, the leap into the public markets will conclude with a painful face plant.

Earlier this week I moderated a NIRI webinar with three senior-level investor relations officers representing the finance, real estate and retail industries. The panelists highlighted some new initiatives that IROs should consider in 2010 which, according to the Chinese calendar, is The Year of the Tiger. This just might have been the world’s only “Tiger”-related discussion in the past few weeks that had nothing to do with a certain golfer with a PR problem.

Within Chinese culture the number six is auspicious and considered good for business. So in keeping with this theme, here are six ideas that arose from the panel discussion that are worth considering as you develop your investor relations plan for the coming year.

'Twas the night before earnings, when all through accounting,
Not a number was crunching; the pressure was mounting;
The toy company’s financials were all prepped with care,
In the hopes that the SEC would not soon be there;

The auditors were huddling on how to avoid the Feds,
While visions of lawsuits danced in their heads;
The CEO in a gray suit, the CFO in blue,
Had just settled down for a financial review;

When out in the lobby there arose such a clatter,
People ran from their cubes to see what was the matter;
All down the hallway the questions arose,
Someone had spotted a man in red clothes;

To whom is the corporation accountable? Before SOX, majority voting, proxy access and “say on pay,” director elections were democratic in name only, and the lines between board and management were blurry at best. Except for the occasional gadfly at an annual meeting, boards rarely communicated with shareholders directly.

Today, after nearly a decade of turmoil in the markets and changes in the regulatory environment, the insulated board is a thing of the past. Shareholders are coming to view directors as leaders whose perspectives may diverge from those of management, who are empowered to exercise independent judgment on matters of consequence, and who are accountable for corporate performance.

A small but growing number of boards, recognizing that investor expectations have changed, have made dialogue with shareholders a formal priority. They are experimenting with new approaches for nurturing this interaction and learning from the experience. Although systematic programs for board-shareholder communications are still atypical in Corporate America, it is not too early to make some observations about what the more successful efforts have in common.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Chris Lahiji, Founder and President of LD MICRO, a by-invitation only newsletter firm that focuses on finding undervalued companies in the micro-cap space and providing research for its clients. Since 2002, the firm has published an annual list of recommended stocks as well as comprehensive reports on select names throughout the year. We touched on a variety of topics from corporate access, annual reports and even the future of sell-side coverage. Chris’ unfiltered views on these subjects are refreshing and insightful for any investor relations practitioner.

Recently, Sharon Merrill Associates President Maureen Wolff and I spoke on “Navigating the New Proxy Access Rules” at the NYSE Euronext’s “Building Blocks for Successful Investor Relations” conference. The event attracted great attendance from CEOs, CFOs and investor relations officers – despite some obstacles getting downtown with the Yankees World Series victory parade taking place at the same time about a block away. Some things you just can’t plan for. As a life-long Red Sox devotee, it was rather painful to hear the million-plus Yankees fans lined up on Broadway cheering for A-Rod and company. Wait ‘till next year I guess.

When investor relations practitioners get together these days, we tend to discuss the same general questions, gripes and concerns: When will we see an upturn in the economy? Why can’t we have a better understanding of who owns our stock? Will the Yankees buy another championship next year? What effect are dark pools having? But one topic that should be getting significantly more attention in the IR world is the inevitable change in shareholder proxy access. If two proxy-related proposals from the SEC are implemented, the changes in proxy access will have a profound effect on the boardroom and board/shareholder communication. It’s time to get ready.

Sharon Merrill Associates Executive Vice President David Calusdian and I recently presented on “The Dynamic World of Corporate Disclosure” at the National Investor Relations Institute’s (NIRI) “Introduction to Investor Relations” conference in Boston. NIRI holds this three-day event twice each year. Attendance typically numbers about 100 people and consists of new IR practitioners in various stages of their professional careers at companies of all sizes.

The fact that NIRI holds two such conferences each year is a testament to the growth of investor relations and the stature our field has achieved in corporations across America and the world. To be honest though, we were wondering how attendance would be affected by the recession. After all, the IPO market has not been a fertile breeding ground for new investor relations officers. And the lack of corporate growth in the past year and associated cutbacks has not lent itself to increasing IR budgets or staff.

People often ask me what has changed the practice of investor relations most significantly during the nearly 25 years Sharon Merrill Associates (www.SharonMerrill.com) has been communicating the stories of our clients to Wall Street and to Main Street. Regulation Fair Disclosure? Sarbanes-Oxley? The rise of the mutual fund?

The answer is technology. It has changed everything.

The shift to Internet-driven communications created the opportunity for corporate news to be distributed throughout the world in a fraction of a second. This shift was accompanied by a revolution in trading technology. With the rise of electronic markets came spectacular growth in both transaction volume and the speed of the market’s reactions. Whether the reason is legitimate corporate news or unfounded rumor, the investment community today responds in the blink of an eye. This is a far cry from our early days in business prior to the Internet – and even the fax machine – when our associates would hand-deliver news releases by taxicab to the wire services and local daily news outlets.