Investor Relations

SEVEN KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR RELATIONS 33Being the company’s spokesperson in the financial markets,Relaying information to top management and the board of directors.Investor Relations is at the front line of whatever is happening at thecompany: changes in management, strategy, the operating environment.Few jobs offer such a constant challenge. That is precisely what is makingit unique as a professional career.Although Investor Relations teams have tended to increase in size, thegrowing volume of investor enquiries and complexity of reporting is puttingpressure on teams. There are also more external and internal groups makingdemands on the center of large companies, and the Investor Relations teamoften finds itself responsible for coordinating everything.Project management is becoming an increasingly important part of theInvestor Relations role. The Investor Relations team must coordinate informationbetween many different departments, including tax, legal, finance,treasury, socially responsible investment, and human resources.2.3.3.1 Coordinating financial and strategiccommunicationsThe IRO is responsible for ensuring consistency across all Investor Relationsin content and form and over time. To achieve this, it is essential that theInvestor Relations team has access at all times to a solid internal network,and notably to the managers of the company’s operations.The IR department should be involved in shaping the company’s messagesand have their say in how they should evolve over time. Key responsibilitiesare twofold: Alerting role. The IRO informs management of changes in analysts’recommendations, discrepancies between analyst estimates and internalforecasts, rumors, modifications of the free float, introduction of new valuationcriteria, and market intelligence reports on competition. Proposing role. IROs make suggestions for the content of financialand strategic communications as well as for commercial and industrial messages.They make recommendations as to which are the key performanceindicators to be selected and communicated to the intended recipients based,for instance, on the types of financial models used by analysts. They willbe associated with, or even better, initiate the drafting of Investor Relationsdisclosure policy as well as of the company’s code of ethics. All of theseinternal rules, which are core to corporate governance principles, will beseen by third parties as proof that the company is serious and well run,especially if it becomes the subject of an inquiry by market authorities.