Investor Relations

56INVESTOR RELATIONSThe cost of these items may be reduced by relying on investment banksto promote the stock and by disseminating financial information via theInternet rather than via printed documents.Detailed analysis of the shareholder base can also help save money byassuring that roadshows target only investors that have a good chance ofinvesting in the type of company in question; the cost of organizing annualmeetings can also be substantially reduced when companies look into thenumber of shares held and the minimum required for a quorum. In the future,proxy soliciting and “virtual” annual general meetings via the Internet maygrow in popularity as high-speed connections become mainstream and legalhurdles are overcome.Yet regulatory requirements continue to grow such that companiesnow need to produce more legal documents than ever before, includingannual reports and prospectuses that contain several hundred pages. Therelated budgets can be streamlined by investing to make these documentssmartly interactive on the company’s Web site, by shifting traditional paperdocuments and mailing to online information resources, thus substantiallyreducing the number of copies to be printed and mailed by traditional mail.The savings can be spent on summary reports and booklets both for corporateand financial communications, with no compromise to the company’simage.Also, Investor Days (see section 3.1.16) are one of the biggest expenses,but the rewards can be substantial.Other sources of savings can be achieved by conducting surveys, forinstance, asking your shareholders whether they want to continue andreceive the annual report and other financial information in hard copies orin an electronic format. This may, however, be different between categoriesof investors: Current shareholders will be happy with the electronic information,but prospective investors will want to do thorough research to get toknow the company better. And in this case the annual report in hard copy isgoing to continue to be much appreciated.2.4 QUALITY OF INFORMATION ANDREPORTING SYSTEMSIn order to assess the quality of a company’s information and reporting systemsbefore communicating with financial markets, the following questionsshould be raised:Is financial information reliable and available in time to comply withlegal obligations?