New Trends in
Investor Relations
National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI)
U.S.A.
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National Investor Relations Institute (USA)
NIRI was chartered in 1969 as a professional association
of corporate officers and IR consultants responsible for
communication between corporate management, the
investing public and the financial community.
Located near Washington, DC, NIRI is the largest
professional IR association in the world with more than
4,000 members representing 2,000 publicly held
companies and $5.4 trillion in stock market capitalization.
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Our Mission
NIRI is dedicated to advancing the
practice of investor relations and the
professional competency and stature of its
members.
(Adopted 1992)
Members must sign NIRI Code of Ethics
Membership can be terminated
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NIRI Board of Directors
Chair: Bina Thompson
Vice President, Investor
Relations
Colgate-Palmolive Company
Don De Laria
Vice President, Investor
Relations
Regal Entertainment
Group
Jenny Kobin
Vice President, Investor
Relations &
Corporate Commun.
Inspire Pharmaceuticals
Elizabeth Saunders
Co-Founding Partner
Ashton Partners
K. Blair Christie
Senior Vice President,
Corporate
Communications & Investor
Relations
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Carol DiRaimo
Vice President of Investor
Relations
and Corporate
Communications
Jack in the Box, Inc.
Catherine Mathis
Senior Vice President,
Corporate
Communications
The New York Times
Company
Douglas Wilburne, CFA
Vice President, Investor
Relations
Textron, Inc.
Derek Cole
Vice President, Investor
Relations & Corporate
Communications
ARCA biopharma, Inc.
Jeff Galow
Vice President, Investor
Relations
Quanex Corporation
Nicole McIntosh
Director of Investor Relations
Waddell & Reed Financial
Bradley Wilks
Chicago CEO and
Managing Director
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
Sally Curley
Senior Vice President, Investor
Relations
Cardinal Health, Inc.
Barbara Gasper
Group Executive, Investor
Relations
MasterCard Incorporated
David Prichard
Vice President, Investor
Relations & Corporate
Communications
Corn Products International
Mona Zeehandelaar
Principal Investor
Relations
Towers Perrin
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NIRI Members
• A “typical” NIRI member
– Background in Finance or Communications
– Has 10 or more years of IR Experience
– Titles
• 33% Vice President/Assistant VP
• 27% Director
• 13% Manager
– Their Company
• U.S.$500 million to U.S.$5 billion in market capitalization
• Staff of 2 – 3 in IR department
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NIRI’s Focus: Global IR
1. Information
2. Education
3. Advocacy
4. Community/Networking
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NIRI’s Focus: 1. Information
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Body of Knowledge www.niri.org
Weekly: IR Weekly e-newsletter
Monthly: IR Update magazine
Regularly: IR Practice Research
Regularly: Executive Alerts
Regularly: IR Advisor
NIRI Ethics Council
 Confidential advice
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NIRI’s Focus: 2. Education
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12+ Instructor led courses yearly
20+ Online webinars annually
3 day Annual Conference
University Relationships
 U. of Michigan, U.Cal. Irvine
 NIRI Standards of Practice
 NIRI Bookstore
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NIRI’s Focus: 3. Advocacy
 International Organization of
Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
 Washington, U.S.A.
 Securities and Exchange
Commission
 U.S. Congress
 Peer Organizations
 Global IR Societies
 GIRN (Global IR Network)
 CFA Institute
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NIRI’s Focus: 3. Advocacy
 Raising IR profile and status
 IR as a profession
 Gaining influence

In the C-Suite (CEO, CFO, COO)
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NIRI Chapters
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NIRI’s Focus:
4. Community/Networking
 Online Membership List
 Company, industry, location
 Social Media – NIRI groups on
 LinkedIn
 Face Book
 Twitter
 Topical & Issue Communities
 Emerging Issues Committee
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Our World is Changing:
Financial Market Trends
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Exchanges/Bourses
Sell-Side: Investment Banking
Buy-Side: Institutional Investors
Regulations
Financial Communications
Economic Slowdown
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Exchanges/Bourses Trends
 Global For-Profit Exchanges
 NASDAQ-OMX
 NYSE-Euronext
 Horizontal Expansion
 Equities, options, futures
 Vertical Expansion
 Complete IR services
Websites
Surveillance
And much more
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Exchanges/Bourses (continued)
 Lost Linkage between Listing & Trading
 Wholesale vs. Retail Separation
 Darkpools/Alternative Trading Systems
 Fairness (Best Price)
 Transparency (Who is trading your stock)
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Sell-side: Investment Banking
 Where is the added value?
 Information readily available
 Fair disclosure and data services providers
 Cost Cutting
 Research limited
 Lost Commissions (Dark pool competition)
 Direct Market Access, program trading
 Sell-side elimination/consolidation
 Lehman Brothers
 Merrill Lynch
 Bear Sterns
 IROs must prioritize, job more difficult
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Evolving Buy-Side
Hedge Funds
 Long-term trend: hedge funds growing
 Institutional investing going away
 Research is from within
 Some short term, others long-term
 More cooperation with other funds & firms
 Pension fund may own a hedge fund
 More Communication with IR departments
 Hedge funds no longer feared, are accepted
 But, no increase in transparency
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Evolving Buy Side (continued)
Sovereign Funds
 Growing! Expect an increase…
 Funding from
 Economies in Asia
 Oil & gas
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Relatively unaffected by market
Long term, passive investors
Investment in projects in own countries
Many are following code of conduct
 International Monetary System
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Evolving Buy Side (continued)
Passive Index Funds
 Versus active mutual funds
 Copy index performance
 Attractive to U.S. investors
 Difficult for IR
 Beyond reach of communications
 Can influence stock price
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Evolving Buy Side (continued)
Private Equity
 Rapid growth before downturn
 Availability of capital
 Cyclical business
 Quiet, but lurking
 Stay prepared for takeovers
 Spin off companies as IPO
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Regulatory/Governmental Trends
Abusive short selling is everywhere
Governance & Activism
Board
Shareholders
“Say on Pay” – in U.K.
Corporate Social Responsibility
“Green” movement
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Regulatory/Governmental Trends (cont’d)
Transparency & Consistency
XBRL Extensible Business Reporting Language
 U.S. Top 500 countries in 2009, more in 2010 and 2011
IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards
Global regulation convergence
Briteline test
Meaningful principles
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Communication Trends
Growing importance of web
Migration from static to usable data
Web is first point for information
Contact
Financials
Communications hub/social media
Corporate blogs
Investor forums
Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Ning
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Our World is Changing:
Economic Trends 2009, 2010
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Layoffs
Commodity price fluctuations
Global downturn
Strength of U.S. dollar
Less capital for growth and borrowing
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Global Trends in IR:
NIRI and Bank of NY Mellon Survey
• Key findings
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90% of all respondents have increased or maintained the same
level of communications with analysts and investors
Financial companies led all sectors with regard to increasing
their communications (67%) and were the most likely to have
changed their outlook horizons (65%).
The most frequent shift in IR messaging
• Credit concerns (66%)
• Outlook horizon (50%)
• Cost-cutting (50%).
Growth of potential investor opportunities in 2009 seen in the
U.S. (69%), the U.K. (51%) and Continental Europe (51%)
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Effect of volatility of the financial markets on IR department’s
communications activities with analysts and investors?
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Have any recent analyst questions prompted you to shift your IR communications messaging in
any of the following areas?
Credit concerns
Outlook horizon
Cost-cutting
Rising cost inputs
Yes
No
Currency risk
Consumer demand
Country risk
Emerging market demand
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
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Coping with Financial Crisis:
NIRI Member Survey
• Key findings
– Increased phone calls from the buy-side
– International Road shows have decreased
– Interaction with C-Suite (CEO, CFO) has
increased
– Change in earnings guidance – some have
limited or eliminated guidance
– Less effect on IR for large companies
• Members are making due with less!
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Investor Relations
• How does IR evolve to meet the
changing world?
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Evolving IR to meet an
evolving world
1. IR foundation
Consistency
Credibility
Transparency
Responsiveness
2. Focus on Buy-side 1st then Sell-Side
3. Be aware of market participants
Traders (short term)
Hedgers (medium term)
Investors (long term)
4. Use corporate market access to your advantage
Not just for brokers
Dark Pool offerings
Stand-alone web offerings
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Evolving IR to meet an
evolving world
5. Balancing outward communication
with intelligence gathering
What are investors thinking
Is activism coming
6. Know company intimately
Income statement
Balance sheet (especially now)
Debt structures
Governance
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Evolving IR to meet an
evolving world
7. Reach out and understand all investors/users
Traditional institutions
Hedge funds
Passive investors (index funds)
8. Champion financial communication mediums
Traditional print
Website information
Social networking
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Evolving IR to meet an
evolving world
9. IR in turbulent times
Do not hide or cancel meetings
Communicate company’s value & growth story
If stock price declines from market pressures rather than
specific events, push value
Monitor stock performance relative to peers
Continue to use IR best practices
Circle around to potential investors you’ve contacted in
the past couple of years – things have changed and
they may be interested
Make sure employees are communicating and know the
company message, as they are some of your best
spokespersons
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Evolving IR to meet
evolving world
10. IR is the gatekeeper
Proper disclosure
Proper transparency
In a manner that is:
Consistent
Credible
Responsive
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