Investor Relations Resources for PR People

NYSE investor relations best practices

Investor relations tips

Heavily impacted by social media and a downward spiraling economy, investor relations is a brand new challenge today. With all the changes in regulations and impact of social media, this section is no longer updated. We retain a few core resources for reference and archive purposes.

Also, check the PR Library’s Corporate Communications, Strategic PR and News Media section for useful media links as well as The PR Coach Blog: This Just In…. Sites with a W are PR Coach “winners.” Note many links are PDF or PowerPoint documents so patience may be needed to view some resources.

60% of Financial Advisors in North America Using Social Networks to Drive New Business
Study shows financial advisors are using social media to reach clients and prospects.  W

A Great Social Media Release Example
Q4
looks at Overstock’s social media release and how social media releases are gaining acceptance with regulatory changes.

Activist Shareholders: More and More Active
Mark Harnett’s presentation looks at shareholder activists and best ways for IROs to respond effectively.

Protect Your Privacy

American Association of Individual Investors
Non-profit AAII has more than 150,000 members who depend on its unbiased stock investment and personal investment information. Some free resources but memberships are inexpensive and great value. W

AnnualReportService.com|
ARS is the largest free directory of online annual reports on the web. It also provides print annual reports if you’re old school.

Australian Investor Relations Association
AIRA is an IR professional association promoting best practices. Some useful resources for non-members.

Bear Market IR– Is It Different?
Dick Johnson offers 10 solid tips on handling IR in a bear market including the critical need to refocus on the business, not just the stock price.

Best practice guidelines for online presentations
UK IR Society offers helpful guidelines for online presentations. 

Best practice guidelines for social media
UK IR society has good suggestions for IR  use of social media. W

Best Practices for Conducting One-On-One Meetings with the Buy-Side
Practical investor relations tips.

Best Practices for Investor Relations – Quarterly Earnings Calls
Practical tips to ensure successful Q calls.

Best Practices for Organizing an Investor Day
Q4 shares practical tips for a successful investor day.  W

Best Practices in Investor Relations
Amid new rules, regulations and scandals, companies are searching for best practices in IR according to CFO magazine.

BetterInvesting
National Association of Investors Corp’s BI site helps its members become better investors by providing investor information, web-based tools, software, publications and an active online community. Well worth the modest membership.    W

Bloomberg
Financial and investment professionals depend on Bloomberg for news and global market information every day.

CRO Blog
Corporate Responsibility Officer blog is a companion to CRO magazine.

Canadian Investor Relations Institute
CIRI is a Canadian IR professional organization with many member resources.

CAROL
Get free online access to US and European company annual reports with registration.

Click Here
When it comes to serving investors via the web, Europe leads the pack. Learn from the top ten investor relations websites.   W

Commission Guidance on the Use of Company Websites
Here’s the full, initial SEC guide on websites for investor relations and disclosure.   W

Conference Confidential
Here’s some solid advice on meeting the right investors on the analyst circuit.

Corporate Eye
The Corporate Eye blog provides insight and information on best practice in online corporate communications including IR.

Cover Me
How can CFOs keep their companies in an analyst’s sights?

EDGAR: Filings and Forms
The SEC repository for filing information and search tools for other free filing and registration data.

EDGAR Online
EDGAR delivers online company data, public filings, financial and business news for subscribers. It has excellent info on compliance with new SEC regulations mandating interactive data or extensible business reporting language (XBRL).

Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 30: Help Investors Understand Your Language
A glossary of terms can be helpful for investors unfamiliar with your industry.

Enough Information
A new ranking identifies the most transparent companies in Asia, but are they transparent enough asks CFO?

Examples of Small and Large Companies Using Social Media in Investor Relations
Here’s a look at two companies using social media in their investor relations program.

Expert Says – Back to Basics in IR
IR managers pay heed: the basics matter, even to experts.

Four Steps and 20 Tools to Get You Started (and Keep You Compliant)
Useful online IR tips and tools from Aliza Sherman at IR AlertsW

Frankfurt Stock Exchange
One of Europe’s premier stock exchanges.

GE Uses Corporate Blog to Disclose Information to Investors
Q4 looks at how GE is reaching out to investors with its blog and the challenges of such transparency.

Give Your Investors Non-required Information
Do more than meet requirements. Add value and extra information to enhance investor experience and understanding.

Hard to Say I’m Sorry
Some European companies are explaining sudden shifts in strategy better than others.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing
HKEx is Asia’s premier stock exchange.

How More Companies Are Embracing Social Responsibility as Good Business
90% of companies are doing more to incorporate social responsibility into their business. The Wall Street Journal looks at the challenges of CSR and how companies are making it work.

How PR Can Help Solve the Executive Compensation Riddle
Sean Williams offers eight ways PR can help communicate compensation information and avoid issues.

How to Attract and Keep Investors Engaged on Your IR Website
Practical insight, best practices, and excellent examples.  W

How to Present a Compelling Investment Proposition on Your IR Website
Ways to attract and keep investors engaged on your IR website.

IR 2.0 — A Menu
This is Dick Johnson’s excellent menu of IR 2.0 resources for those just starting to explore new technologies and social media for investor relations. Superb!   W

IR Best Practice: Annual Report Guidelines (Printed & Online)
Investor Relations Society (UK) offers thorough guidelines, checklist and tips for print and online annual reports.   W

IR Cafe
Dick Johnson serves up “mental caffeine for investor relations professionals.” A blog worth reading. W

IR Magazine
Monthly IR magazine is a must-read for investors and IR pros but requires a subscription. To its credit has some available content and a free weekly blog and breaking news for visitors.

IR website best practices to help improve online communications
Q4 Systems has a useful checklist of investor relations best practices.

IR Website Best Practices Webinar
Learn five important barriers to effective IR websites in this extensive best practices presentation from IR consultants Q4.

IR Website Checklist
Dick Johnson shares a quick IR website checklist.

Institutional Investor
Magazine for institutional investors has some content available for non-subscribers.

Introducing StockTwits IR Beta
A new Twitter service opens for investor relations pros.  W

Investor Relations — A Practical Guide
London Stock Exchange produces this thorough guide to IR.   W

Investor Relations (IR) on Corporate Websites
Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen’s research shows what investors want and expect from an IR website.   W

Investor Relations Musings
John Palizza is a thoughtful,veteran IR pro and his blog is devoted to the practice of investor relations.   W

Investor Relations: IPR Essential Knowledge Project
The Institute of Public Relations offers a thorough overview of the evolution of IR.

Investor Relations (IR) on Corporate Websites
Valuable summary of Jakob Nielsen study on how financial pros and individual investors view IR info and tips for improvement.   W

Investor Relations Society [UK]
The IR Society has an excellent set of resources. Its IR best practices are superb and will help communicators in any market. See web guidelines.   W

Let Investors See What You’ve Been Talking About
Adding investor presentations, video, and other visuals can enhance investor websites.

Lies, Lies and Damned Statistics – Do Social Media Storms Really Affect Stock Price?
Laurance Buchanan says short-term impact sometimes felt but long-term inconclusive.

Looking At Company IR Home Pages
A view of what makes an effective IR Home Page.

London Stock Exchange
Many useful features and resources for investor relations pros.

Maintainers and Innovators in IR
Using video in investor relations.

Mark Hynes – Thoughts On Corporate Disclosure
Mark Hynes blogs on corporate disclosure, changing rules and best practices and their impact on IROs with a UK perspective.

Montreal Stock Exchange
Canadian stock exchange and information.

My Top 3 “How to” Q&A for Social Media and Investor Relations
Darrell Heaps looks at why social media has an important role in investor relations.

NYSE, NASDAQ Move to Scrap Compulsory News Releases
In the immediate future, disclosure requirements will be met using a variety of online tools.

National Investor Relations Institute
NIRI promotes professionalism in investor relations. It is the leading IR organization with extensive resources for members though many can be purchased by non-members.

New York Stock Exchange
NYSE is the world’s largest exchange.

PR Newswire: Look at Us! We’re a Really Expensive Editing Service
Is PRN worth the money in this era of web disclosure Dominic Jones asks?

Preferred Stocks and Investor Relations Websites
Here are some thoughts from Corporate Eye on how to handle preferred stocks in the IR mix.

Public Company Use of Social Media for Investor Relations – Summer 2010
An excellent report on IR by social media by Q4.   W

Q4 Blog
Q4 is a blog worth following for its knowledgable coverage of investor relations websites, web disclosure, IR 2.0, online reporting and XBRL.  W

Reaching Shareholders Online: Trends and Best Practices in Online Communications and Social Media in Corporate IR
David Hogan’s Slideshare presentation is packed with great online IR advice.  W

“Return on Interaction” Measure of Success for Newport’s Social Media Program
Practical ROI suggestions to help measure investor relations and social media success.

Reuters
Business and financial news from around the world.

Revolution in the Boardroom
Watch for the new investor relations activists.  W

Setting the Debate Tone Via Investor Relations
Thoughts on IR strategies to help handle bad or difficult news proactively.

Social Investment Forum
SIF works to advance socially responsible investing.

Social Media Readiness Checklist for Investor Relations
7 useful investor relations and social media tips.

Society of Corporate Secretaries & Governance Professionals
There are some useful resources for members of this organization.

System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR)
SEDAR is the Canadian securities system for electronically filing and finding securities information.

Talking It Over, and Over, and…
Institutional investors want more meetings with management than ever, and what they want to know most is your long-term strategy.

Telling It Like It Is
How much should companies disclose in their annual reports difficult times? Pretty obvious writes Andrew Cave.

Ten Things That Happened This Proxy Season Worthy Noting
Broc Romanek’s list of ten developments sure to lead to more heated online shareholder activism next season. Excellent reading!   W

Ten Top Earnings-Call Questions
As the financial crisis makes companies water down guidance, analysts and investors hit CFOs with tougher questions.

Ten Ways to Defuse Shareholder Activists
The internet allows activists to build powerful campaigns. Here’s how to defend yourself. From Brunswick Group.   W

The Impact of Effective Investor Relations on Market Value
This research study demonstrates the positive impact of effective investor relations on analysts and fund managers.

The Motley Fool
News, information, discussion boards, research and analysis and more. The Motley Fool continues to be a great resource for investors.   W

The Official Activists Investing Blog
Moderated by Hedge Funds Solutions, this is the definitive blog for activist shareholder information.

TheStreet.com
Stock quotes, financial market and Wall Street news, personal finance and investing advice.

The Ten Percent Rule
John Palizza writes that “superb” IR should generate a ten percent premium for your company stock price.

The Value of Investor Relations: A Delphi Panel Investigation
Does IR add value to the bottom line? This panel study identifies the impact.

To Make Investors Happy Hire a Woman as CFO?|
New research suggests certain actions by companies create more shareholder value when a woman, not a man, is at the finance helm.

Tokyo Stock Exchange
Japan’s stock exchange, Japan Exchange Group, is an interesting visit.

Top 10 Mistakes CEOs and CFOs Make
Study by Thompson Reuters identified 10 critical mistakes executives make. This report is essential reading for IR pros and CEOs.   W

Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange
Situated in Toronto, the TSE/TMX is Canada’s leading stock exchange. Many resources and features.

Trends in Media and Technology: From NIRI 2009
Q4
blog reports on NIRI 2009 conference presentation on social media trends.

US Securities and Exchange Commission
The SEC protects investors, regulates the market and facilitates market capital. Many useful resources.

Understanding IR in Global Markets
Investor Relations Society offers links to 28 international IR societies to help you keep tabs on key markets.

What Drives Analysts Crazy? Ten Best and Worst IR Practices for Working With Sell-Side Analysts
IR Global Rankings article is valuable reading if you’re targeting sell-side analysts.  W

What Makes Effective IR Sites? Part 21: Annual Reports – Give Readers a Choice in How to Access Them
Ongoing series of excellent IR tips and articles at Corporate Eye.  W

What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 22: Tell Investors When They Can Expect Things
More in Corporate Eyes terrific investor relations series.  W

What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 23: More on Strategy
Sharing corporate strategy is a smart investor relations move.

What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 28: Who Follows Your Company?
Practical IR website tips.

What Makes for Great Investor Relations?
Thoughtful post by John Palizza with his three keys for great IR: honesty, consistency and knowledge.

What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? History Provides Context
History helps provide better investor information.

What You Need to Know to Measure Investor Relations
This IPR study looks at the IR role, its communication channels and ways to measure success.

Zacks Investment Research
If you’re looking for investment research, Zacks has what you need.

Photo Credit: Russ Allison Loar via Flickr

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