Investor Relations - A Practical Guide - Investis

Investor Relations Websites
Al Loehnis, Director, Investis
Standard-Bearer
The continuing obligations for quoted companies
to provide timely disclosure of price sensitive
information and equal treatment of all shareholders
have always been central to the regulatory regime.
However it was not until the advent of the internet
that companies had a practical means of fulfilling
these.
The role of the company website today goes far
beyond meeting regulatory obligations. In many
cases websites are the first touch point between
an investor and a company and so act as a
standard-bearer for the corporate brand and
values. As standards have improved so
expectations have risen and the quality of the
website sends subtle but important signals to an
investor: Does this look like a company that treats
investor relations seriously Can I expect active,
open communications going forward In a survey
conducted by Investis, many institutional investors
noted a correlation between a poor website and a
company that was perceived to lack transparency
or to have poor management.
Good practice for investor relations websites
All companies should treat their website as a key
communications platform and recognise its
importance to investors and other stakeholders.
However, to some extent, expectations are rightly
different for well-established, large international
companies and young companies new to the market.
For companies who are making the transition from
private to public ownership through an IPO, the
website is particularly important. You may have
more people looking at your site over the course
of two weeks than you will for the next two years.
But in the run-up to an IPO, the demands on senior
management time will be enormous. So it pays to
think about it early and get a good framework of
corporate information in place long before any
announcements are made.
All quoted companies should take advice as to
what regulatory requirements their website needs
to meet as there are various rules and guidance
governing corporate information disclosure across
a company’s website. For example, AIM
companies are required to ensure that the
information is disclosed in accordance with AIM
Rule 26, which requires that each AIM company
must, from admission, maintain a website on which
certain information must be available free of charge
and easily accessible from one part of the website.
The table opposite sets out some guidelines on
content and a typical structure that an investor
relations website might follow, but more generally
here are five key areas to give thought to when
considering your investor relations website.
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Building the Investor Relations Programme