Investor Relations - A Practical Guide - Investis

Registrar
Matthew Edmund, Business Development Manager, Computershare and Georgeson
Why do companies need a registrar
The Companies Act 2006 states that every
company must keep a register of its members.
A good registrar will:
• Maintain the company’s register of members and
handle shareholder transactions and queries
• Provide an interface to share-trade settlement
providers
• Make payments, including actioning dividends
• Manage corporate actions, such as capital
raisings, mergers and acquisitions
• Distribute information about the company to its
shareholders
• Aid industry and market development. For example,
influencing procedural changes to the benefit of
companies
In addition to the above, the table overleaf details a
wider range of activities that registrars also
typically assist quoted companies with.
The register of members cannot tell you what you
need to do in isolation, but it can be analysed and
cross referenced against other data sources to
identify investors. This ‘shareholder analysis’
unearths the underlying beneficial holders below
the custodian.
The registrar will have a comprehensive view into a
company’s registered shareholders enabling
companies to gain enhanced visibility into who is
behind the various nominee accounts, and how the
shareholder base is comprised: direct registered
retail (private) investors, private client brokers,
institutions, prime broking desks (usually held for
hedge funds) and stock lending accounts. This
view allows a company’s investor relations team to
plan and prioritise its time to ensure they are
meeting with actual shareholders, understand what
type of investor they are and who they should be
targeting in terms of likely future shareholders.
The share register – knowing who owns your shares
Quoted companies will need to constantly monitor
share ownership either via the registrar or working
alongside other providers that specialise in
shareholder analysis. This analysis of the register is
of particular importance during an AGM, corporate
action or when trying to spot stock predators.
When devising an investor relations programme
the first place to start is the register of members.
This is your list of current shareholders and from
this point you can start to understand who they are
and as importantly, who has chosen not to invest.
The Investor Relations Team 29