Investor Relations

164INVESTOR RELATIONSconferences attended;cities and countries visited;e-mails, requests for information, mail, and telephone calls received;participants in conference calls (number and geographic origin).These different factors should subsequently be compared to one anotherand then to the objectives of the Investor Relations strategy. Questions mayinclude the following:Is the percentage of foreign investors higher after two annual roadshowswere organized abroad?By what percentage the meetings in the past 12 months with institutionalinvestors have increased (or decreased) their stakes?How many analysts have a buy (or sell) recommendation on the stockcompared to last year?How do the consensus earnings estimates for next year compare to thecompany’s own guidance and budgets?Has the number of retail shareholders increased, thanks to informationmeetings held specifically for them?How much did the last capital increase cost compared with the previousone?4.2 QUALITATIVE FACTORSThere are times when a new director is coming on board, a major financialdeal is being planned or executed, a crisis is being resolved, or a companysimply wants to inquire about how the market perceives it and its InvestorRelations strategy. These can be opportunities to evaluate the company’simage and reputation. Executives, including board members, should be keptabreast of all developments in these areas.While the quantitative metrics listed above may serve, among others, todetermine the variable part of an IRO compensation, top management issaid to favor qualitative, not quantitative, means or metrics to measure theeffectiveness of the Investor Relations function at their companies.