White papers

12 August, 2019

With the peak of the 2019 AGM season behind us, our 2019 Proxy (AGM) Season Trends Report analyses the voting outcomes of this year’s AGMs and identifies three key trends that have dominated so far this year.

16 July, 2019

At the heart, social media is really about storytelling. As companies work at crafting their corporate story through the Annual Report, the same principles are at work when utilising the channels offered by social media. There are best practices, techniques, trends and design considerations all in play, working to deliver key messages to the relevant and most important audiences. Here at Magee we have created this research piece to help give more clarity using social media to effectively engage with your stakeholders.

5 July, 2019

The level of stock lending around ex-dividend dates spikes in roughly one third of FTSE 350 companies. But why? Dividend arbitrage (also known as dividend washing) is a trade that enables investment firms to reduce their tax bill relating to dividend payments. The method used is to place shares in alternative tax jurisdictions around the ex-dividend date so that less withholding tax will be paid. There is little that an IR professional can do in relation to dividend arbitrage, aside from understanding the mechanics behind this trade and being able to explain to senior management why trade volumes are increasing, yet the augmented volumes are not necessarily flowing through to significant changes in the constitution of the share register month on month.

3 June, 2019

With the possibility of early adoption of Companies Act and UK Corporate Governance Code changes, how companies have approached their reporting is particularly interesting this year. Emperor’s stakeholder engagement team has analysed the first 25 December 2018 FTSE 100 reports to be published, summarised the key learnings in this transitional period and included examples of best practice.

3 June, 2019

With an increasing interest in sustainability reporting and disclosures from stakeholders, it’s important to understand the complex landscape of frameworks and formats available.

13 May, 2019

Investor targeting is one of the most crucial pillars for a successful IR program. Identifying new investors and understanding their behavior is critical to driving strategic value. Check out this guide for 8 best practices that are designed to boost your targeting strategies and ROI for investor outreach.

5 March, 2019

In a global and more interlinked world with supply chains across continents, the importance of finding value-added and insightful information is undoubtedly growing. Might an investor looking at Asian EV battery makers also be interested in European semis? How useful would it be to apply chains and links of industries into each other to think of exposures on the whole, and to get info on competition?

1 March, 2019

Is it possible to use a systematic approach to consider and develop the disclosure of a business model? We think so. This guide details a three-step approach that does exactly that.

19 February, 2019

‘How does it stack up?’ is Radley Yeldar’s annual review of FTSE 100 reports, recognised as an industry benchmark for best practice and a tool to help companies improve their annual reporting.

11 February, 2019

The introduction of MiFID II has put the investor relations teams of UK companies under increasing pressure as demands from investors soar. Orient Capital examines how this evolution in the IR industry has placed more responsibility on the shoulders of IROs while reducing the level of support they receive from the sell-side.

28 January, 2019

With the recent string of companies' subject to activist activity, Rivel’s research shows that investment professionals on both sides of the pond (especially in Europe) continue to see activism as a positive force and one that is likely to increase further.

24 January, 2019

With the second round of gender pay gap reporting approaching, companies should be thinking about how they can build on their first reports, taking control of the narrative and using it as a springboard for positive stakeholder engagement.

10 January, 2019

The level of stock lending in the UK market is on the rise. This does not indicate that shorting itself is increasing, but often paints a picture of more public companies being shorted by investors. With global markets going through turbulent days, what precisely is causing this stock lending to become more common as it has?

4 December, 2018

Despite the growing importance of the investment case, many corporates are still unsure how to present their own. Our latest whitepaper, aims to shed light on best practice investment cases. Gathering key data from FTSE350 and AIM 50 corporate websites, annual reports and investor presentations, we demonstrate how companies are currently addressing their investment case, if at all, and how this has changed over the last three years. Is there still a lack of consistency between the corporate website and the annual report?

4 December, 2018

The corporate reporting landscape has changed rapidly over the last decade. New regulations have put companies under unprecedented scrutiny. The role of the annual report is once again in the spotlight. As the trend towards ‘no frills’ reporting gathers momentum, there is no better time to take a step back and ask what exactly do investors want from reporting. As reporting continues to evolve, companies should be mindful of what investors want and need from it.

19 October, 2018

Over the past decade, the number of issuers listed on the Main and AIM markets of the London Stock Exchange has decreased dramatically. However, the value of both markets has grown despite this decrease. In addition, the distribution of issuers between different sectors has been turned on its head since 1999 – remember when tech stocks ruled during the dotcom boom?

19 October, 2018

Now more than ever, it is essential for companies to lever all the corporate governance tools at their disposal to tell their story, explaining their governance so that investors and stakeholders alike understand how their model creates growth for shareholders and why they are good corporate citizens.

11 October, 2018

Investor Relations Officers (IROs) from leading companies around the globe were invited to participate in our 10th Annual IR Survey. Citigate Dewe Rogerson sought their views on how the latest trends in the financial markets were affecting their investor relations strategies. Specifically, we examined the key IR objectives for the coming year, the level of board engagement with investors, approach to dealing with activist investors, changes to reporting and expectation management, investor engagement and the use of technology.This year, 221 IROs contributed to our survey, representing companies from 36 countries, with a combined market value of over $100 trillion.

9 October, 2018

In this “post-truth” world, it is important, now more than ever, that you are able to clearly define and articulate what it is you want to say about your organisation, its purpose and its culture. At Design Portfolio, we believe this should be an easy process. Our latest digital whitepaper, Navigating New Communication Challenges, focuses on how you can break down your communication challenges into bite-size chunks, in order to identify the opportunities within them and improve your engagement.

10 September, 2018

Investors confirm that the corporate website is the first port of call when they are looking for information about a company. However, it’s not always easy to tell what is better practice and what is a passing trend for corporate website communications. Black Sun takes the guess work out of this process, providing recommendations and highlighting trends based on assessments of all FTSE 100 and some FTSE 250 corporate websites.