Investor Relations

82INVESTOR RELATIONStalk with whether they own shares in the company, and if so, how many.Even if no specific answer is given, the question will rarely be dismissedoutright. This can, in fact, be a valuable opportunity to discover what itwould take to convince those who do not already own shares to invest: Ashift in strategy? Lower valuation multiples? Any information thus gatheredshould be shared with company management.3.1.2.2 Fee-based identification tools Standard mailing techniques. When a contact database alreadyexists, there is no reason why issuers cannot rely on traditional investigationand marketing methods. For instance, they may send out questionnaires,anonymous if so desired, including questions about the number of sharesowned. It is wise to plan this type of undertaking well in advance and toinform the relevant authorities in the country in question, ahead of time, ofany plans to create a contact data base that will be used to this end. Databases. There are numerous databases that list internationalinstitutional investors and provide a breakdown of their portfolios by geography,size, and nature of the holdings, investment policy, and so on. Insome countries, institutional investors must disclose the content of certainportfolios such as the mutual funds, unit trusts, and collective investmentvehicles they manage on an annual, half-yearly, or quarterly basis. Manysuch databases are public information. They can also be developed specificallyfor issuers. Information is given about the number of shares held,changes made to the portfolio since the previous reporting period, the nameand contact information of the fund manager, the buy-side analyst coveringthe country in which the shares are issued, specifically the one in chargeof the sector in which the issuer is active. Moreover, databases also mentionthe rival companies in which shares are owned, the amount of fundsunder management, and a breakdown between domestic and foreign investments(this gives an indication of how familiar foreign investors are with thestock exchanges and economies of other countries). Issuers can only justifyinvesting in this type of Investor Relations tools if they are targeting newinstitutional shareholders.3.1.2.3 Financial intermediariesFinancial intermediaries have privileged access to knowledge about listedcompanies’ shareholder bases: Investment banks and brokers. Through the transactions theyexecute for institutional clients and retail investors, these intermediaries can