Investor Relations

SEVEN KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR RELATIONS 29Implementing market intelligence–gathering methods and stocksurveillance;Gradually adapting the company’s organizational structure tointernational best practices in Investor Relations.Developing means and methods to coordinate and integrate thecompany’s Investor Relations efforts on all topics and to all audiences.Particular attention will be paid to the following:Positioning Investor Relations with regard to corporate communications,relations with the press and market authorities, corporategovernance, and sustainable development;Building awareness within the company of the strategic importanceof Investor Relations. More specifically, this can imply ensuringcompliance with legal obligations, consistency in terms of contentand form of communications, transformation of the annual reportinto a full-fledged Investor Relations tool rather than just a corporatecommunications or a legal document;Developing tools for monitoring the company’s Investor Relationsactivities with a view to measure the return on investments.In addition to guaranteeing that information released to the outside worldis consistent over time, the creation of a centralized and integrated InvestorRelations department also enables companies to do the following:Speak with one voice;Make sure IROs and teams have the necessary in-depth and hands-onknowledge of the company they represent in the financial markets, makethem aware of the obligations and risks associated with price-sensitiveor privileged information, help them master a certain kind of vocabularyand communications skills, assure that they reflect the company’scorporate culture at all times. This definitely takes time and the perfectcandidates are hard to find. In any case, they should have a robustfinancial background, along with experience in auditing, managementcontrol, or financial analysis;Ease the investigation process in the event of problems and inquiries bymarket authorities.