Targeting: Messages for a Post-Recession Market asks “will your company be ready to vie for investors’ attention” in a recovering economy? Three steps are outlined. First, refine messaging to address areas of and catalysts for growth. Second, rethink online tools and strategy to offer 24/7 access to information that will facilitate investment decisions. Third, revitalize targeting efforts, focusing on current shareholders with the capacity to build their positions, as well as local investors, since name recognition is higher in your corporate backyard. When on the road, make time for brokerage houses as a means of tapping into retail investors.

Shareholder Identification – Evolving Trends and Methodology notes two trends that have made the task of identifying shareholders more complex. The first is the rise in dark pools (which are designed to provide liquidity to institutional buyers and sellers of large blocks of shares). However, as all transactions must still settle through DTC, IROs should concentrate on analyzing settlement records to track changes in share ownership. The second trend is consolidation of money managers. Companies should seek to understand each portfolio’s unique focus and characteristics, and tailor their outreach efforts at the portfolio level rather than the institutional level.

How Boards and IROs Can Thrive on Alphabet Soup suggests that IROs avoid focusing on the nuances of the various sustainability acronyms – CSR, SRI, ESG – and focus instead on how the concepts relate to corporate strategy, risk, competitive advantages and disadvantages, investor mix, hiring plans and programs, management oversight and controls over hot button issues, and financial consequences.

Investor Relations Update
February 2009
Do You Tweet? IROs and the New Faces of Media Communication notes that as the lines between audiences blur, new channels of communication are on the rise. The list includes a company blog complete with videos, interactive web meetings, podcasts on the company website, a Facebook page, YouTube videos, and a Twitter presence. Check out Cisco Systems, The Home Depot, and Whole Foods Markets for a glimpse of what some companies are doing. Shareholder Forums Bring Web 2.0 to IR says that electronic shareholder forums are a good way for companies to encourage two-way communication and create a credible and timely alternative to third-party message boards. A number of ground rules were suggested, including allowing only verified shareholders (subject to a registration process) to post content, which must be company-specific, reviewing all posts before going `live’, and establishing an understanding that the company need not immediately respond to or necessarily answer every question. Visit http://clients.eshareholderforum.com/ esf_landing.php?c=7107 for an example of one company’s E-Shareholder Forum.

Investor Relations Update
December 2008 Looking Ahead to the 2009 AGM, It’s Never Too Early offers tips to prepare for the annual meeting in a harsh economic environment, including reviewing spokesperson guidelines, refreshing media training and preparing/reviewing briefing books.

Stay Tuned…Assured for the Capital Markets in 2009: Reforms and Accountability predicts that the key watchwords for 2009 will be regulation, reform, accountability, transparency, investor protection, trust, risk management, and integrity. International cooperation to stabilize the financial system – and the Obama Administration in the U.S. – may lead to stronger oversight and widespread reforms.

Investor Relations Update July 2008
New Media? Old Media? Try the Hybrid Approach includes a sidebar article, “Five easy ways to increase your interactions without freaking out your legal team”. These are: (1) incorporate links from your press releases to relevant content deep within your website; (2) make downloadable MP3 files of all your conference calls available; (3) create an RSS Really Simple Syndication) feed or email subscription option on your IR newsroom page; (4) rework your press release content as blog posts; and (5) add photos, logos, charts, slides and graphics to your web pages and press releases.

Investor Relations Update June 2008 IR Communication on the Web, Part 2, looks at e-forums. While some companies grapple with uncertainty about negative consequences that could arise from e-forums and corporate blogs, two companies – AMERCO and Dell – have broken new ground in this channel for company/shareholder communication.

Investor Relations Update March 2008 Changes at the Exchanges details how 18% of IR programs have been significantly affected by recent changes at NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq.com Alert!

Executive Compensation in Focus for Investors suggests that this proxy season shareholder activists will be looking beyond the S&P500 in their efforts to effect governance changes at less visible, mid-cap companies that have previously operated below their radar screens. Economic Outlook: What the IRO and Management Need to Know shares insights on the state of the economy and various risk factors that affect its overall viability.

CA Magazine November 2007 Relevant and Timely, Please states that while earnings guidance is useful to investors, it could damage shareholder wealth if it’s not top notch. Effective guidance should include details as to why and how management arrives at a particular estimate, and guidance regarding negative events should be released in a timely manner.

Director December 2007 Amended OBCA Provisions Relevant to Directors details several recent amendments to the Ontario Business Corporations Act. Changes to the OCBA make clear that directors owe their duty of care to the corporation, not its shareholders.

Investor Relations Update August 2007 A Different Angle on IROs’ Hedge Fund Headaches reveals IROs’ issues and concerns about hedge funds, including:

• identifying/understanding hedge funds and how much of my company do they own?
• when will a hedge fund manager ask to meet the CEO?
• will these funds become activists that put pressure on company management to make changes?

A 2006 study of 888 hostile and non-hostile interactions with public companies – launched by 131 activist hedge funds between 2001 and 2005 – has been published as Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance and may be downloaded

Investor Relations Update May/June 2007 Some Survival Tips for Life on the Fly offers 10 tips to help IROs planning a roadshow to stay a step ahead and remain focused.

Investor Relations Update April 2007
CEOs and Analysts Weigh in on Earnings Guidance outlines the recommendations of the CFA Institute and the Business Roundtable Institute as they call for more transparent, ‘apples to apples’ reporting of corporate earnings.

IR Magazine March 2007 Click, Click, Bling Bling provides details about new Internet accessories that could help drive a company’s investment story without standing in its way.

In other Words… says that a short-term message gets short-term investors. In a series of symposia, NIRI, Business Roundtable and the CFA Institute began rethinking what goes into SEC filings, how the content gets there and who is best placed to produce it, in the context of another problem: ‘short-termism’ in investor outlook.

Corporate Governance Review October/November 2006 Climate Change Risk Finding its Way into the Mainstream? suggests that, although Canadian government policy provides few incentives for investors to incorporate climate change into their investment decisions, some investors are joining international initiatives that address climate risk and asking how climate change will affect their portfolios.

Investment Executive October 2006 A Sweeping Overhaul outlines the report from a task force – formed by the Investment Dealers Association of Canada – that examined the content of securities regulation in Canada. Among the report’s 65 recommendations for a sweeping overhaul of the current inefficient system:

• the creation of a separate capital markets court to hear cases concerning regulatory offences and, possibly, civil liability cases; and
• the creation of a cooperative national program for coordinating enforcement among securities regulators, self-regulatory organizations and law enforcement agencies.

Investor Relations Magazine August 2006 Hitting the Mark describes today’s new and improved, multi-skilled IRO. Executive search firms report that, among other attributes and skill sets, IROs are now expected to have a flair for numbers and financial modeling, an understanding of capital markets and regulation, line management experience, and sufficient credibility to stand in for CEOs and CFOs.

CA Magazine June/July 2006 Going Global details the decision by Canada’s Accounting Standards Board to adopt international financial reporting standards.

Investment Executive June 2006 National Regulator Round Tables Mired in Regional Concerns details the squabbles about issues – such as where to locate the regulator – that seem to overshadow prospects for a more efficient, effective system.

Investor Relations Magazine May 2006 Too Young to Fly reports on the IR challenges for AIM-listed companies. While many are taking a proactive approach to investor relations, they aren’t required to do so.

Disclosure: Canada and Beyond explains the changing Canadian regulatory regime.

How they do it at Aeroplan gives behind-the-scenes perspectives on Aeroplan’s IPO.

Raising the Stakes looks at the effect of Canada’s heightened disclosure penalties – some of the strictest in the world.

Investor Relations Magazine March 2006 Independents’ Day reports that sell-side research will soon feel the heat from the growing independent research industry. So far, there are two business models for this research. Some research firms are choosing sectors and companies they want to cover and selling their research directly to individual and institutional investors. Others are producing paid-for or corporate-sponsored research. Clients of companies in this group are under-covered firms that pay for research distributed through various channels.

Seven Deadly Sins advises what not to do in this year’s annual report. At best, a poor annual report will lose readers. At worst, it damages corporate credibility and reputation.

Survival Tactics details the experiences of two IROs who recently managed their companies’ IR programs through takeovers that cost them their jobs. One IRO profiled is CIRI member Jeremy Lee, who details his experiences during the recent acquisition of CP Ships.

Investor Relations Magazine January 2006 Guide to Icing Analysts reports on the ‘art and science’ of analyst retaliation in the era of Reg FD, which was supposed to sound the death knell of favoritism in dispensing information. Can companies still drive stakes into analysts’ heart in subtle ways by freezing out the naysayers? The SEC disclosed that some companies punish analysts by not allowing them to ask questions on conference calls, limiting access to senior management, not inviting them to participate in roadshows, threatening to withdraw business from other areas of the analysts’ firm, intimidation and humiliation on conference calls, and threatening legal action.

Investor Relations Update September 2005 Annual Reports – Two Perspectives details trends in the preparation of annual reports. The conclusion: annual reports continue to carry great weight: content is shifting and expanding toward greater information about intangibles, and 10-K wraps are on the increase.

Investor Relations Update July 2005 The Company Disclosure Committee examines the structure of Disclosure Committees at several companies, and offers advice for IROs on how to get a seat at the table.

Talk the Walk! Any Risk Worth Taking is Worth Communicating encourages companies to allow IROs full access to the strategy process and the ability to communicate openly to the investment community in order to reduce the likelihood of knee-jerk reactions to earnings surprises or changes in guidance.

Investor Relations Magazine May 2005 Boardroom Strategy addresses the pros and cons of direct IR reports to the Board [see Newsline lead article May 2005].

Canadian Business March 14-27, 2005 Artful Figures looks at the annual reports of companies that 'don't cut the mustard'. A number of independent experts were canvassed for examples of companies that aren't giving investors sufficient information on which to base decisions.

Heard on the Street

Heard on the Street
Newsline January 2005 Volume 15 Issue 1

Heard on the Street
Newsline Volume 14 Issue 6

IR Magazine, September 2004 The Next Generation examines whether market optimism and recent legislation are changing the face of the annual report.

What does Senior Management Expect from IR? This question is posed to eight IROs, including former CIRI chair, John Rogers, of Suncor in Calgary.

Climbing New Heights reports on the growing trend of Boards looking for IR information and concludes: “Companies that hesitate to bring their IROs before the Board need to reexamine their priorities experts say – because there’s no reason to fear what might transpire. … If you want to market your story consistently, you have to align the board and give it an honest rendering of the information and relationships IR is witness to.”

Monday October 4th, ACE Aviation Holdings, the company that emerged from the Air Canada reorganization, and Quebecor World Inc. will launch trading with new stock symbols. ACE Aviation will be ACE.RV. The new code suffix "RV" represents a "restricted voting issue" and Quebecor will be IQW.SV to indicate a "subordinate voting issue." These are the first in a series of rollouts between October 4 and December 13, with the stock symbols for those shares with non-conventional voting structures being re-named, bringing additional clarity to the differences between various types of securities that trade on Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange.

Heard on the Street column from Newsline Volume 14 Issue 4 – July 2004

Investor Relations Update February 2004
Are You Making It Clear? , looks at transparency, reinforcing that “IROs should be their company’s leader and coordinator for good corporate governance, annual report MD&A, company communication, disclosure assessment team and disclosure processes.” Tips and best practices on achieving the right balance between transparency and confidentiality are included.

What’s Up with the Analysts? examines the new generation of independent and issuer-paid research firms that has emerged due to Wall Street’s curtailed research budgets. Stock research firms that produce issuer-paid reports for dissemination to investors are doing increasing business.

Investor Relations Update June 2004
The Joy of IR reminds us that instructions and guidelines for becoming a great IRO, like a cookbook recipe, don’t do justice to the nuances, judgement calls, and trial and error involved. But whether it’s a part of the process or results from it, the most successful IROs have discovered the joy of IR.

Janet McFarland reported on this for the Globe and Mail. You can find her article on the Globe and Mail's website. A webcast of the meeting is available from Canada NewsWire. The complete report may be downloaded from the CCGG's website www.ccgg.ca in PDF format.

Heard on the Street column from Newsline Volume 14 Issue 3 – May 2004

Investor Relations Update February 2004
Trends in International Investor Relations has some practical tips for IROs thinking about a European roadshow. Although the article is presented from an American point of view, the information it contains is valid for Canadian IROs.

Stay Tuned to…2004 Proxy Season advises IROs to be prepared for some possible contentious elections and meetings. More vigilant institutional investors, direct nominations of directors by investors, corporate governance issues, CEO compensation – the list of possible pitfalls keeps growing.

Investor Relations Update March 2004
Targeting Platforms: 12 Questions to ask before you buy. Do you need to better understand your shareholders, identify new investors and market to both groups? Then you might want to contact vendors that offer web-based platforms to help accomplish these tasks. This article includes 12 questions you should ask to help you make an informed decision about the product that’s best for your company. <

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Tony Martin's interview with Richard Wertheim may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Laura Ramsay's article on IR Firms helping corporations meet new regulatory requirements may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Ann Kerr's article on annual reports may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Suzanne Wintrob's article on communicating with investors through technology may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Michael Lewis' article on Internet rumours may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

The Globe & Mail ran a series of articles today regarding Investor Relations. Randy Ray's article on Investor Relations and Corporate Governance may be found online at GlobeInvestor.com

Remarks by Rick George, President and CEO, Suncor Energy Inc., to CIRI Annual Investor Relations Conference, May 26, 2003, Victoria, B.C.