Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Investor relations'

Introduction: When the American investment bank Morgan Stanley suddenly decide to increase their target stock price of the Ericsson stock by 100 percent, it became the point of origin for our interest in investor relations. In this particular case the increase of target stock price was announced right after new Morgan Stanley analysts started covering the stock. Why this tremendous increase in target stock price, we will probably never know. Perhaps the new analysts perceived the information disclosed from Ericsson’s investor re-lations function different from the prior analyst, and ended up in adjusting the target stock price.

Problem: Stock prices today are very dependent on the market expectations of future company growth. Market actors estimate the potential growth by analysing information disclosed by the company. It has therefore become increasingly important for companies to manage their investor relations with a strategic marketing perspective to be able to meet the internal and external needs. Companies must also present themselves to investors in a way that appeals both on a rational and an emotional level. Once new investors are attracted and old ones are kept, companies must constantly communicate about their performance to uphold investors trust and there by creating or maintain long-term relationships.

Purpose: The purpose is to explore if and how a marketing perspective is applicable when managing investor relations in traded companies.

Method: This study has been conducted with qualitative research method. Collection of empirical data has been done through six semi-structured interviews with directors and managers whom all work with investor relations for their respective company. The six par-ticipating companies are all traded on the Stockholm stock exchange. The collected data were first analysed with the Kotler, Kartajaya & Young (2004) model and secondly ana-lyzed from a relationship marketing point of view.

Analysis: The analysis shows that our sample of companies subconsciously work in align-ment with the Kotler et al. (2004) model and that they also work with different types of re-lationship marketing. Together this provides a holistic image of how traded companies work with a marketing perspective in their investor relations.

Conclusion: After having analysed our empirical findings it is our belief that a marketing perspective is applicable when managing investor relations.

Internet har ändrat bolagens möjligheter att sprida information. Samtidigt har arbetet med finansiell kommunikation gentemot investerare, s.k. Investor Relations, uppmärksammats allt mer inom den akademiska värden. Uppsatsen har syftat till att med hjälp av en egen analysmodell försöka bedöma Investor Relationsarbetet på Internet som bedrivs av de börsnoterade fastighetsbolagen. Denna typ av analys görs bl.a. av konsultbolaget Hallvarsson&Hallvarson vilka använder sig av fler för bolag allmängiltiga informationskriterier. Skillnaden är förutom ett visst mått av professionalism att analysmodellen i den här uppsatsen är branschspecifik och gäller endast för fastighetsbranschen.

Investor Relations is a function used by companies to compete for capital by creating relations with investors. It is a young function, earlier practiced by the same people who had responsible for exercising the Public Relations.

Investor Relations has evolved a great deal lately but there are still no concrete theories behind the function. The aim though is clear and there are literature explaining how to practice the different parts. The most research within Investor Relations uses the theory of Relationship Marketing. Lately the two authors Hägg and Preiholt have started to examine what they call Financial Marketing since Investor Relations is about relations between actors on financial markets primarily.

In this paper, we examine the aspect of information in Investor Relations. Communication is very important for good results. Therefore it is essential that the information given to the different stakeholders is understood by everyone.

The first questions is whether the information is really distributed to everyone. For this there are several legal restrictions who make sure that, at least the companies noted on the stock market, release information that can affect the stock price in a manner that is considered reaching all the stakeholders at the same time.

The second question is whether the level of the information is low enough for everyone interested to understand. There is a tendency to insert a text box in the annual reports where some words and concepts are explained. The companies bring more complex notions into discussion when the information regarded is communicated only with more professional agents, like analytics for example.

The third question treated in this paper regards how willing the noted companies are to share information beyond what is required by the legal restrictions. More than half of the content of the annual report consists of additional information. The companies are generally very open to the public and do not mind sharing information. Among the factors that stand in the way of this are first of all the question of resources, primarily financial ones. The second factor is the increasing legal restrictions. To make sure all of restrictions are being followed correct, both the resources and the creativity have to take the downside.

There is also a matter of deciding what more information needs to be communicated and shared. The companies might feel that the regulations cover about everything and no more additional information is necessary. It is up to the management of any company to decide what information to communicate, how and when. Generally it is considered that the information is being well distributed to everyone interested. The problem is that not every single shareholder is really interested.

In the financial market, the information is available for everyone and free to acquire. By only a phone call one can ask the CEO anything regarding the company. The primarily difference between those who are in possession of more information than others is as simple as that they spend much more time on collecting and analyzing information. In combination with their past experiences and their professional knowledge they get an advantage.

Uppsatsens syfte är att erhålla en förståelse för hur olika intressenter (företags Investor relations-avdelning, analytiker, media) på kapitalmarknaden tänker och agerar gällandes att stabilisera ett företags aktiekurs med stöd av Investor relations (IR). Det är även intressant att belysa och erhålla en bred förståelse gällande intressenternas handlande och hur deras beteende kan tänkas påverka en aktiekurs. För att erhålla en god empiri användes en kvalitativ metod med sex personliga intervjuer. Respondenterna utgörs av två börsnoterade företags IR-avdelning, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) och Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB). Vidare intervjuades två analytiker som analyserar de nyss nämnda företagen. Analytikerna arbetar på Handelsbanken respektive Carnegie. Därefter intervjuades en ekonomijournalist som är börskrönikör på Dagens Nyheter (DN) och som även skriver om detaljhandels-branschen. Slutligen, för att erhålla en bredare information om ämnet genomfördes en intervju med IR-konsulter på Kreab. Teori hämtades till stor del från kommunikations- samt finansteoriområdet där litteratur, forskningsrapporter samt artiklar har använts. Efter att empirin sammanställdes, integrerades denna med teorin för att erhålla en analys samt slutsatser. Slutsatserna visar att det är möjligt att påverka en aktiekurs både upp och ner med stöd av IR. Däremot får det inte glömmas bort att syftet med IR är att erhålla en aktiekurs som avspeglar företagets rätta värde. Genom goda relationer samt transparent, konsekvent och ärlig informationsgivning kan företag erhålla förtroende bland kapitalmarknadens aktörer. En ytterligare slutsats är att om företag bland annat integrerar finansiell information, ledning och planer framgångsrikt bör det leda till att man värderar företaget rätt. Vidare kan det konstateras att individer ofta agerar orationellt och inkonsekvent vilket leder till en påverkan på aktiekursen. Denna beteendeprocess är inte alltid förutsägbar och bidrar till en osäkerhet på marknaden. Slutligen inser vi att individer tolkar samma information på olika sätt vilket kan få varierande effekter samt en påverkan på aktiekursen.

This study examines the relevance of an established public relations theory, relationship management, to investor relations. Having emerged during the 1950s, investor relations is a relatively new field that integrates the disciplines of communication, marketing, finance, and securities laws compliance. Through qualitative interviews focused on six publicly traded companies on the West Coast, the study provides insight into the relationship management function of investor relations from the perspectives of those whom investors ultimately hold accountable for a public company’s performance—CEOs. The dominant theme emerging from the study is the constant challenge CEOs of public companies face as they engage in relationships with investors, primarily due to the constraining effects of regulatory requirements. While the study confirmed that the interviewees value L. C. Hon and J. E. Grunig’s qualities of trust, satisfaction, control mutuality and commitment in relationships with investors, CEOs’ most frequently discussed relationship quality that they work to achieve is trust.

Problem: In the world of today’s business, there is a trend for investors not only to base their decisions whether to invest in a company on the basis of its financial results. These days more features are taken into consideration. Corporate identity is a crucial aspect to bear in mind for investors, as it demonstrates what the company is, how it works and where it is going. Corporate Communication is a process that allows companies to share their information with the stakeholders. Not every company is aware of the significance of communicating its corporate identity to investors. These represent a basis for the company, since their support is needed to achieve the organization’s objectives. Furthermore, communication of corporate identity to investors represents an opportunity for a company to achieve its goals. The importance and relation of corporate identity and communication to investors is becoming a relevant issue not only for them but also for stakeholders.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate corporate identity and its communication, as a key component, to investors.

Method: The authors have conducted a case study of the Chemical and Mining Company of Chile Inc. (SQM). A qualitative method approach has been used to achieve the purpose. Self-administered questionnaires have been used to gather empirical data.

Conclusion: The case study has led to conclusions on how important it is for SQM to communicate its corporate identity to investors. SQM’s corporate identity is seen as an instrument to differentiate, compete and communicate with investors. SQM’s visual identity is an instrument to communicate the evolution of the company. The company is using behavior, symbolism and communication as the main channels to transmit its corporate identity to investors. SQM’s investor relations show a clear awareness of the need for communication with its investors and financial stakeholders. This is supported by the development of their website and the information collected through the questionnaire. Finally, the authors conclude that corporate identity and its communication, as a key component, is essential for SQM. Its investor relations department and website show that it is very important for the company to communicate to investors its identity.