BNY Mellon has launched “Global Trends in Investor Relations 2015: A Survey Analysis of IR Practices Worldwide” (tenth edition), based on the responses of 550 participants from 54 countries. This is now the market’s longest-running and most comprehensive survey of investor relations best practices.
Key findings of the study include:
- The percentage of company board members meeting with investors doubled, rising from 24% in the 2013 survey to 49% in 2015. Respondents also report that senior managers are increasingly part of those meetings, with 55% saying senior execs are involved, compared to just 43% in 2013.
- The five most strategically important countries in the next five years for new sources of investment capital are the U.S. (91%), the U.K. (76%), China (50%), Germany (45%), and Singapore (44%). Japan fell from fourth to sixth place between the 2013 and 2015 surveys.
- The upward trend in outreach to sovereign wealth funds continues, with 65% of participants reporting engagement with SWFs during the past 12 months, up from 57% in 2013. Norges Bank Investment Management (42%), Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (38%), and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (30%) remain the top three SWFs engaged with by global companies.
- IROs conduct 40% more one-on-one investor meetings when their performance is linked to their pay, companies reported.
- Thirty-percent of companies reported reaching out to socially responsible/ESG investors, up from 26% in 2013. Those that do cite primary reasons are to target long-term investors and to diversify their shareholder base. Since 2010, survey results have shown a continuous decline in outreach to retail investors by CEOs, CFOs and IROs. Data suggests that, given time constraints, companies increasingly focus on institutional investors as a more efficient use of their resources.