IR Website Best Practices to Help Improve Online

Transcription

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION – WHY HAVING A BETTER IR WEBSITE MATTERS ...................................... 4
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MAKE INVESTOR CONTENT EASY TO ACCESS ........................................................................ 5
1.1 NAVIGATIONAL STRUCTURE WITH MULTIPLE ENTRY POINTS .............................................................5
1.2 HOMEPAGE INTEGRATION OF INVESTOR CONTENT ................................................................................7
1.3 IR INDEX PAGE ..............................................................................................................................................8
1.4 AIDS TO SORT AND SEARCH INFORMATION ........................................................................................... 10
1.5 STRATEGIC USE OF JAVASCRIPT INSTEAD OF USING FLASH ............................................................... 12
2
CONVEY A COMPELLING INVESTMENT PROPOSITION..................................................... 14
2.1 WHY INVEST ............................................................................................................................................... 14
2.2 BUSINESS/COMPANY OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................ 17
2.3 AT-A-GLANCE ............................................................................................................................................ 20
2.4 MISSION STATEMENT ................................................................................................................................ 22
2.5 STRATEGY .................................................................................................................................................... 24
2.6 EMPHASIZE WHY LEADERSHIP IS SUITED TO EXECUTE STRATEGY .................................................. 27
3
PROVIDE CONTENT IN FORMATS THAT ENGAGE VISITORS .......................................... 29
3.1 SNAPSHOT INFORMATION AND RELATIONAL LINKS ............................................................................ 29
3.2 SCORECARDS ............................................................................................................................................... 31
3.3 MULTIMEDIA............................................................................................................................................... 32
3.4 IMAGERY ...................................................................................................................................................... 34
3.5 BEYOND THE PDF ..................................................................................................................................... 35
3.6 ARCHIVED INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................... 37
4
BE ACCESSIBLE AND OFFER MULTIPLE WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED ........................ 41
4.1 COMMUNICATING ACCESSIBILITY............................................................................................................ 41
4.2 EMAIL ALERTS AND RSS FEEDS .............................................................................................................. 45
4.3 IR CALENDAR ............................................................................................................................................. 48
4.4 SHAREHOLDER SERVICES.......................................................................................................................... 50
4.5 GLOSSARY OF TERMS ................................................................................................................................. 52
4.6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ’S)............................................................................................. 54
5
OFFER INVESTOR TOOLS AND PACKAGE USEFUL INFORMATION ............................... 56
5.1 INTERACTIVE FINANCIAL DATA .............................................................................................................. 56
5.2 HISTORICAL FINANCIAL DATA ................................................................................................................. 57
5.3 INVESTOR BRIEFCASE................................................................................................................................ 59
5.4 INVESTOR SURVEYS ................................................................................................................................... 62
5.5 SORTING & FILING ..................................................................................................................................... 65
5.6 MULTIMEDIA QUARTERLY REPORTS ...................................................................................................... 67
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HIGHLIGHT SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS AND EMBED MULTIMEDIA CONTENT ....... 71
6.1 HIGHLIGHT SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS .................................................................................................. 71
6.1.1 Stay Connected........................................................................................................................................73
6.1.2 Connect With Us .....................................................................................................................................76
Q4 Whitepaper: IR Website Best Practices Winter 2011
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6.2
EMBED SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT............................................................................................................ 78
CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................... 82
BEST PRACTICE WRAP-UP................................................................................................................. 83
ABOUT Q4 WEB SYSTEMS .................................................................................................................. 84
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INTRODUCTION – Why having a better IR website matters
Investors and stakeholders of all types are avid users of investor websites. Research shows that
over 75% of institutional investors and analysts use corporate websites on a weekly basis1. As
well, over 95% of financial journalists access corporate and investor websites to research
companies they are writing about2.
In addition to these statistics, it is generally accepted across the investment industry that the
corporate and investor website is a basic requirement for conducting business and investor
relations. So the question that begs an answer is, why does having a better IR website matter?
In short, a good IR website helps investors better understand your company and your
investment proposition, and informed investors are more likely to hold their investment during
tough times than those that do not have this same understanding and connection with the
business.
A best practice IR website is not simply a list of press releases, PDFs and a stock quote, it goes
beyond this basic content and provides context, insight and interactive tools for investors to
clearly understand your business today and in the future.
It provides investors and stakeholders with the context of your industry, your company’s
position within that industry and your ongoing strategy for creating value. It also highlights the
strength of management and builds confidence to the investing public that the company has the
right team to execute the business strategy.
The following report highlights companies that exemplify today’s IR website best practices
according to the following six categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Make Investor Content Easy to Access
Convey a Compelling Investment Proposition
Provide Content in Formats that Engage Investors
Be Accessible and Offer Multiple Ways to Stay Connected
Offer Investor Tools and Package Useful Information
Highlight Social Media Channels and Embed Multimedia Content
Due to the shear size of the market, our research represents a sampling only (and we welcome
any suggestions from our readers regarding other sites that are exemplary). In addition, some
examples portray best practices in a specific category, but the site may not meet best practice
standards in other areas.
Having said that, what you will find throughout are examples of companies that make their
website a prime communications channel and invest time and resources into making this
channel an effective one.
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2
Source: Rivel Research
Source: Bulldog Reporter/TEKGROUP International: ‘2010 Journalist Survey on Media Relations Practices’
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One of the first things companies should consider is ensuring that access to content is easy for
three investor audiences: potential, new and long-term. Each audience is at a different point in
their relationship with the company and they have different motivations for visiting the website.
The investor site needs to consider all of these audiences in the way that the site is structured,
the manner in which content is layered etc. – from walking a potential investor through the
investment proposition to permitting long-term investors to get timely information fast so they
can get in and out quickly.
Some best practice tactics to quickly address all audience requirements include providing a
navigational structure (accessible right from the homepage) that offers entry points to key
information such as ‘About Us’, ‘Investor’ and ‘Customers’; an investor index page that provides
quick entry points that drill down into key content; using quick links to bring information
forward with one click; and integrating helpful aids to sort/search information.
1.1 Navigational Structure with Multiple Entry Points
Shell (NYSE:RDS) has made it very easy for investors to find information. As soon as you click on
the homepage it is difficult to miss the ‘Investors’ tab that is prominently displayed in the middle
of the page. Upon clicking on this tab, visitors are then taken to a comprehensive ‘Investor
Center’ landing page that has everything a potential, new and long-term investor needs:
http://www.shell.com/
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Also of note, is the ‘About Shell’ tab on the left-hand navigation that provides another outlet to
access investor information through the ‘Investor’ tab that resides in the drop-down menu:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/
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1.2 Homepage Integration of Investor Content
Teekay Tankers* (NYSE:TNK) is a great example of a company who uses their homepage to
highlight key messages that take into consideration all key investor audiences. For example,
potential investors are targeted by the message ‘Teekay Tankers has a full payout dividend
policy which is displayed on a graphic panel in the center of the page. A link is then provided to
‘Watch our Why Invest in Teekay Tankers’ video:
http://www.teekaytankers.com/
Current and long-term investors are also given direct access to the information they seek
through the ‘Latest News’ and ‘Events’ tabs.
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1.3 IR Index Page
A good website needs to show users where they are, where they want to go and how to make
their way back (using devices such as breadcrumb trails and a consistent navigational structure).
It should also bring key content forward so users are presented with the next logical step in their
navigation of the website.
Here is an example of how Danske Bank (OMX:DANSKE) has used their investor page to present
the most frequently sought information and has brought additional content forward using lots
of quick links:
http://www.danskebank.com/EN-UK/IR/Pages/investor-relations.aspx
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They even come right out and ask: ‘Are you a new investor?” – asking this question is a very
simple way to direct new users to the appropriate content. Once a visitor clicks on this link they
are taken to a page that directs them to all relevant information for a new investor:
http://www.danskebank.com/en-uk/ir/the-group/Pages/new-investor.aspx
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1.4 Aids to Sort and Search Information
In addition to making the content easy to access, companies should also consider ways to help
investors search and organize the information.
A common area that gets accessed by all three investor audiences is the press release section.
Daimler (STU:DAI; FSE:DAI) has a great feature that enables users to look up press releases by
year and category:
http://www.daimler.com/dccom/
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Investors also frequently access the ‘Financial’ section of the website. CGI (NYSE:GIB; TSX:GIB)
does a great job of displaying an annual review with the archives immediately accessible as well
as a tab that links to all of their filings:
http://www.cgi.com/en/investors/financial-reports
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1.5 Strategic Use of JavaScript Instead of Using Flash
Over the past few years, we’re seeing companies replace Flash with JavaScript because it loads
faster and displays on all devices more consistently than Flash.
For example, Agnico-Eagle* (TSX:AEM; NYSE:AEM) uses JavaScript to cycle through a series of
pictures on the homepage of their corporate website:
http://agnico-eagle.com/
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Similarly, Vical* (NASDAQ:VICL) also uses JavaScript that pans through four panels including:
Technology; Opportunity; History of Success; and Team to accentuate their ‘Why Invest’
proposition:
http://www.vical.com/investors/Why-Invest/default.aspx
In our next section we reveal best practices examples of how to present a compelling
investment proposition.
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In this section we’ll be discussing some best practice examples to help communicate why a
person should invest in your company.
2.1 Why Invest
More companies are incorporating a ‘Why Invest’ section on their IR website. It is a very
important section/page that should tie together key information and connect the dots on the
market opportunity and how your company stands out as a good investment in this particular
industry.
Every company has many reasons why someone would want to invest in them. Companies can
get more impact from using visuals that can be easily incorporated into a presentation/video as
opposed to using just text. For example, Agnico-Eagle uses charts and graphs to convey the
strength of their business from four key areas:
http://agnico-eagle.com/English/Investor-Centre/WhyInvestInAEM/default.aspx/
Charts and graphs help investors visualize the company’s current and future performance which
can help them decide whether to invest or not.
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In addition to charts and graphs, we have seen companies who use slideshows to walk investors
through the reasons for considering buying shares in their company.
For example, Potash Corp. (NYSE:POT; TSX:POT) uses ‘6 Keys to Understanding our Business’
that clearly outline the opportunity and outlook:
http://www.potashcorp.com/investors/why_invest/
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Similarly, Cameco (NYSE:CCJ; TSX:CCO) uses videos to outline ‘Strengths’ and their ‘Business
Overview’. Using a video helps investors see concrete things such as company assets and this
can be more impactful then just listing the strengths and business overview in text:
http://www.cameco.com/investors/strengths/
It isn’t necessary to have pages of information in the ‘Why Invest’ section but each point must
be supportable – not a claim – and should be expanded on with more detail elsewhere on the
site.
In addition to blatantly asking the question ‘Why Invest?’ companies are also providing
background and context on their business in the ‘About’; ‘Our Company’; ‘Industry Overview’;
and ‘At-A-Glance’ sections. Some are also detailing their objectives; mission statement; and
strategy all with the goal of helping stakeholders better understand their investment proposition.
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2.2 Business/Company Overview
The ‘About’ section is commonly used by companies to provide context about their business.
We are seeing an increasing number of companies incorporate this in their main navigation like
Femsa (NYSE:FMX). As you’ll see below, Femsa uses the ‘About’ section to provide a few words
about their financial results and a brief history of when the company was formed. They also
succinctly describe their business and overall strategy:
http://www.femsa.com/en/about/
Investors are also given the option to find out more through links to additional background
information on the company such as philosophy and strategy in the left-hand navigation.
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Another way companies are providing context about their business is through the ‘Our
Company’ section. For example, GE (NYSE:GE) uses this section to describe their different
business units. They also provide a link to their fact sheet that supplements other commentary
provided on the homepage of the ‘Our Company’ section:
http://www.ge.com/company/index.html
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‘Industry Overview’ is yet another way companies provide context for their business, industry
and market position. This can be especially useful during or following a market downturn when
investors are more open to diversify their portfolios.
For example, Descartes (NASDAQ:DSGX; TSX:DSG) provides a high-level industry overview then
provides a dropdown list of the various sectors that links to the main markets in which they
operate:
http://www.descartes.com/industries/
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2.3 At-A-Glance
It’s important to give a top-level view of the company to provide context and pull the user into
greater detail. We are seeing many companies use the investor section with a company page or
section that begins with At-A-Glance information.
The type of information offered by companies in this section varies, but we are seeing that many
companies update At-a-Glance information quarterly – as BCE (TSX:BCE; NYSE:BCE) does here:
http://www.bce.ca/en/investors/investmentoverview/investingbce/
They provide an overview of the company, business units, their customer breakdown & financial
information including revenues by segment and product. They also link to additional information
in their Company section.
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Newmont (NYSE:NEM) also provides At-a-Glance information in their company section. It covers
key statistics with financial highlights that are also updated quarterly:
http://www.newmont.com/about/company-glance
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2.4 Mission Statement
A mission statement is a brief written statement of the purpose of a company or organization.
Ideally, a mission statement guides the actions of the organization, spells out its overall goal,
provides a sense of direction, and guides decision making at all levels of the organization.
For example, Bayer (XETRA:BAY) pulls Mission Statement and Strategy together in a pdf off the
home page:
http://www.bayer.com/en/Mission-Statement.aspx
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While Acorda (NASDAQ:ACOR) has chapters that speak to their Mission, Vision and Inspiration
incorporated in video format with commentary provided by the CEO:
http://www.acorda.com/About/MessageFromCEO.aspx
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2.5 Strategy
Based on an organization’s mission statement, the corporate strategy comprises the crossfunctional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. It
specifies the policies and plans (often in terms of projects or programs) that are designed to
achieve these objectives and it involves the allocation of resources for implementation of the
strategy.
BASF (XETRA:BASF) offers in-depth information on their corporate strategy by focusing on four
strategic guidelines that provide direction for the day-to-day activities of their employees:
http://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/investor-relations/strategy/index
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More detail is provided on each of the four strategic guidelines including an explanation and in
some instances, supporting case stories; how the guidelines are measured and achieved; and
the fact that measurement is linked directly to target agreements with employees:
http://www.basf.com/group/corporate/en/investor-relations/strategy/cost-of-capital/index
Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) is another good example. They discuss their strategy for moving
forward and give investors an understanding of how this same strategy helped to lessen their
exposure in the recent financial crisis:
https://www.credit-suisse.com/who_we_are/en/strategy.jsp
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Laird (LSE:LRD) is an example of a small cap company that summarizes it’s strategy on one page
and provides a visual that dramatically illustrates the effectiveness of its strategy to focus on
high growth markets:
http://production.investis.com/laird/about/strategy/
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2.6 Emphasize Why Leadership is Suited to Execute Strategy
Communicating a clear strategy to support corporate objectives is more important now than it
ever was. Equally as important is to clearly state that the company has the right leadership team
to execute the strategy – which means a straight line must be drawn in the minds of investors
between the required skills needed to execute the company strategy and the people who have
been hired to do so. Also communicating how board effectiveness is evaluated is very telling.
Nexen Inc. (NYSE:NYX; TSX:NYX) has comprehensive biography pages for the board of directors
that spell out areas of expertise. The biographies are also connected with a matrix that
describes how the collective board expertise comes together to help them execute the strategy
and ensure appropriate oversight. They also provide information on how they annually evaluate
the effectiveness of their board:
http://www.nexeninc.com/en/Governance/BoardofDirectors/AreasofExpertise.aspx
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Imperial Tobacco (LSE:IMT) also provides key performance indicators in their latest online
annual report that the board uses to evaluate the effectiveness of their strategy:
http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/files/financial/reports/ar2009/index.asp?pageid=32
A company that takes the time to tell investors who they are as well as communicating a clear
mission, a sound strategy and a strong leadership team can have a competitive advantage when
all other things are equal.
Next, we’ll discuss some best practice alternatives for presenting content in different formats to
help engage investors.
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Provide Content in Formats That Engage Visitors
In this section, we’ll reveal some best practice alternatives for presenting key content on your IR
website in different formats to the usual ways (read: pdf or long monotonous scrolls of text) on
your IR website.
3.1 Snapshot Information and Relational Links
We are seeing a lot more companies use ‘Fast Facts’ to help provide a quick snapshot of the
organization. This is a great feature to use on the Company index page or ‘About Us’ page. It is
especially effective when used in conjunction with some relational links.
For example, Danisco (OMX:DCO) uses the center panel to provide fast facts on the company.
They also use the right rail for relational links such as the fact sheet – as a way of bringing
information forward & moving users deeper into the site:
http://www.danisco.com/wps/wcm/connect/www/corporate/about_us/danisco_in_brief/facts
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We also often see Fast Facts in the right rail along with Quick Links as a way of highlighting key
information from the center panel like Barrick Gold* (TSX:ABX; NYSE:ABX) does:
http://www.barrick.com/Company/Profile/default.aspx
As you can see they use Fast Facts to present compelling stats on their global presence. Fast
Facts could also help companies quickly highlight information regarding performance and
generating cash.
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3.2 Scorecards
Scorecards (or some form of measurement over time) are another way to provide a quick
snapshot of key company information. We are seeing them being used more often particularly
to show stakeholders how effectively an organization is executing its strategy like Matrikon
(TSX:MTK) does:
http://www.matrikon.com/corporate/investors/corporateinfo/strategy.aspx
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3.3 Multimedia
Some interesting things we are seeing on this front are multimedia areas that give investors an
opportunity to download pictures; view videos of company assets and hear management
provide color on the latest quarterly financials or commentary by the CEO in the form of a ‘Year
in Review’ like BMO (NYSE:BMO; TMX:BMO) does:
http://www2.bmo.com/content/
BMO makes it very easy for investors to find videos on their IR website as they have a dedicated
‘Videos’ dropdown on the left hand navigation of their IR index page.
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Chemring (LN:CHG) is a great example of a company who has an extensive image library which is
located in the media section of their website:
http://www.chemring.co.uk/media/image-library/pyrotechnics.aspx
As you can see, they allow visitors to view or download – this is a particularly useful feature in
the event the media needs some images to supplement a story they are doing on the company.
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3.4 Imagery
Nothing can help tell a story or convey a key message or idea better than providing some
imagery. Using pictures that accompany the text is a great way to provide a visual break.
There are many places that imagery can be used. For example, we are seeing more companies
use headshots of the board of directors and management in the biography section like AgnicoEagle:
http://agnico-eagle.com/English/Our-Company/Directors/default.aspx
Providing a photo puts a face to the name and biography, which can then later be repurposed in
other company materials such as the annual report.
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3.5 Beyond The PDF
We are seeing quite a few companies migrating away from providing information strictly in pdf
format. For example Shell provides their sustainability report in variety of other formats
including a summary report, an online version and a print version that can be ordered:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/environment_society/reporting/s_reports/
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Nexen also doesn’t bury their board of director information in a pdf but instead has great
biography pages that give an overview of their employment and education. They then
supplement this with a section to the right of the page that provides additional background
information such as the number of shares they hold; how long they have been a director; their
areas of expertise; and the committee(s) they are a member:
http://www.nexeninc.com/en/Governance/BoardofDirectors/BoardBios/WilliamBerry.aspx
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Nexen also provides many links on the left hand navigation including an ‘Areas of Expertise’ that
describes how the expertise of the board members combine to help the company execute its
strategy and ensure appropriate oversight:
http://www.nexeninc.com/en/Governance/BoardofDirectors/AreasofExpertise.aspx
3.6 Archived Information
Including at least five years of separate archives for press releases, financial reports, key
presentations and webcasts is a good best practice. We are seeing some great things happening
on this front whereby companies are breaking out specific events and providing all of the
relevant information in a table with associated assets.
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For example, BP (LSE:BP) does this for their annual and quarterly reporting:
http://www.bp.com/extendeddownloadscript.do?categoryId=9007137&contentId=7045446
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HP (NYSE:HPQ) is also another great example of a company who does this for their quarterly and
annual reporting:
http://h30261.www3.hp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71087&p=irol-reportsAnnual
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HP also even has a section dedicated to their Mergers & Acquisitions:
http://h30261.www3.hp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=71087&p=irol-mergers
Now on to some ways to make your company more accessible to investors as well as providing
them with multiple ways to stay connected.
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Next, we are going to talk about some best practice tools that companies are using on their IR
website to make themselves more accessible to investors and increase awareness about their
brands.
4.1 Communicating Accessibility
It is not uncommon to find a generic email address such as [email protected] on a company’s
website. Thankfully, this is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Instead we are seeing a surge in
more detailed ‘Contact Us’ pages with useful information.
For example, Bayer not only gives the title, direct phone number and email address, they also
provide a picture of the IR contacts:
http://www.investor.bayer.com/en/funktionsnavigation/kontakt/ir-team/
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Aviva (LSE:AV.L) also provides a picture and a bio for their IR contacts:
http://www.aviva.com/investor-relations/contacts/institutional-investor-contacts/
We also like how Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) offers explanations for why/where/who to
contact along with links to resources:
http://www.chk.com/Pages/Contact.aspx
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Potash Corp. has incorporated a ‘Frequently Asked Question’ (FAQ) link into their Contact
section and has segmented specific FAQ’s depending on the department you want to contact:
http://www.potashcorp.com/contact/
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Lastly, we thought we should highlight Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) as they do something we haven’t
see a lot of – which is providing a way to contact the board:
http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/contact_board.html
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4.2 Email Alerts and RSS Feeds
More and more companies are now offering segmented email alerts that allow users to select
the type of information they want. For example, TVI Pacific* (TSX:TVI) has a very
comprehensive ‘Connect With Us’ page with integrated RSS feeds so investors can sign up for
news releases, events and presentations.
They also provide links to the other communication channels they use such as: Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube:
http://tvipacific.com/Investors/Investor-Connect/default.aspx
Note they also let investors know that dialogue is encouraged on Facebook here as well. (Recall
earlier in 2010 the company announced in a news release that they recognized the discussion
board on the company’s Facebook page as its ‘official Corporate Discussion Forum’).
But it’s also a best practice to inform visitors on the IR website, as it shouldn’t be assumed
investors know.
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RSS feeds can distribute timely information to users as soon as that information becomes
available. GE also uses segmented RSS feeds:
http://www.ge.com/news/newsfeeds/index.html
As you can see, they make it quite easy for investors to choose what kind of information they
are interested in as they break out the feeds by business, sub-business and topic.
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Another good example is Rogers (TSX:RCI) who integrates their email alerts and RSS feeds into
their IR contact form:
http://bit.ly/i1Luq5
Providing investors the option to sign up for email alerts and RSS feeds in one place alleviates
time potentially wasted looking for other places this can be done on the website.
Lastly, Teekay Offshore* (NYSE: TOO) also does a good job as they give investors several options
to subscribe to such as news, Events and SEC filings:
http://www.teekayoffshore.com/Contact-Us/Email-Alerts/default.aspx
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4.3 IR Calendar
Another emerging best practice tool to help keep investors informed of company events is an
interactive calendar that provides more details and links to associated assets.
Some good ones include upcoming corporate actions; conference calls; webcasts; presentations;
and other related events and allowing users to add the event to their online calendar like
Heineken (Euronext: HEIA) does:
http://www.heinekeninternational.com/ircalendarpage.aspx
In addition to an IR calendar, we are seeing increased use of event reminders like Microsoft
(NASDAQ:MSFT):
http://www.microsoft.com/investor/Events/upcoming.aspx
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We are also seeing companies offer visitors the ability to download events into ical like Imperial
Tobacco:
http://www.imperial-tobacco.com/index.asp?page=55
Note they also offer a few different options to download the events such as outlook.
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4.4 Shareholder Services
More and more companies are also incorporating a ‘Shareholder Services’ page/section on their
website where they include basic information regarding tax information; dividends; annual
meeting voting results; and transfer agents to name a few.
Intercontinental Hotels Group (LSE:IHG) has a ‘Shareholder Center’ that has links to the most
recent annual and Corporate Responsibility reports; share price; and the latest news:
http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=60
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Potash Corp. also has a good ‘Shareholder Information’ page – we especially like how they give a
geographical breakout of their shareholders when you click on ‘Distribution of Shareholders’ and
the retail/institutional split:
http://www.potashcorp.com/investors/shareholder_information/
Taking the time to think through what information should be included in a ‘Shareholder’ section
can potentially alleviate inbound calls to the IR department.
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4.5 Glossary of Terms
A glossary of terms can be particularly useful for companies to help provide an explanation of
any financial, technical, complex terms or industry jargon.
The oil industry is very complicated and often company materials are riddled with jargon. For
example Encana (TSX:ECA) has recognized the need for including a glossary of terms that can be
found on their website:
http://www.encana.com/news/glossary/
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Agnico-Eagle has a ‘Glossary’ tab that is universally accessible across their website which makes
it easy for investors to quickly access a term they are unfamiliar from whatever section they may
be in:
http://agnico-eagle.com/English/Investor-Centre/WhyInvestInAEM/default.aspx
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4.6 Frequently asked questions (FAQ’s)
FAQ’s are another very useful way companies can reduce investor calls. Content can vary by
organization but some good examples include when the company was formed; how many
employees; areas of operation; market; and competitors.
Once again, Potash Corp. is an innovator in this area:
http://www.potashcorp.com/faqs/
We particularly like how they drill down and segment the questions by category i.e. ‘Corporate’,
‘Investors’ etc. They also give visitors the option to filter questions and even the opportunity to
suggest a question.
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TVI Pacific is another good example of how the FAQ section can be used effectively as it is
prominently featured on the homepage of their IR website:
http://tvipacific.com/Investors/default.aspx
Now for an overview of how companies are using technology to aid communication and engage
users.
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The right investor tools can help to effectively aid communication and engage users. Financial
information is a key metric that investors use to decide whether they want to buy shares of your
company. So it is critical to take the time to ensure that all of the relevant information is one
place. You should also consider how you could make it easy for investors to download and
analyze the information. Here are some interesting things we are seeing:
5.1 Interactive Financial Data
Agnico-Eagle has a Financial and Operating Database that gives analysts a full set of quarterly
financials and fundamentals, delivered through a browser or as excel downloads; customizable
charts; and the ability to share content from the model through email and social networks:
http://agnico-eagle.com/English/Investor-Centre/Financial-and-OperatingDatabase/default.aspx
56
5.2 Historical Financial Data
It is becoming quite common for companies to incorporate ways for investors to lookup
historical financial data on their IR websites. Benetton Group (MILAN:MIL) is a great example.
Note how they offer investors the option to download the historical data in various formats
including HTML, excel and CSV:
http://investors.benettongroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=114079&p=irol-stockLookup
In addition to historical data, they offer investors one place to view the stock quote/chart; the
ability to determine the current value and return of a given amount of stock via the investment
calculator; and provide a ‘Benchmark Table’ feature, which compares the last trading value to
prior periods:
http://investors.benettongroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=114079&p=irol-stockBenchmark
57
Some other great examples include Nexen:
http://www.nexeninc.com/en/Investors/StockInformation/ShareCalculator.aspx
and Carlsberg Group (OMX: CARL):
http://www.carlsberggroup.com/Investor/Shares/Pages/Lookup.aspx
58
In addition to providing investors many options to download and view financial data and
historical statistics, companies are also increasing their use of a downloads area commonly
referred to as an ‘Investor Briefcase’.
5.3 Investor Briefcase
This term means many different things – but in general offers ‘wish list’ functionality that lets
visitors choose the items they are interested in as they move through the site and view them in
a summary area as illustrated by Teekay Offshore and Healthstream (NASDAQ:HSTM):
http://www.teekayoffshore.com/Investors/Investor-Briefcase/default.aspx
http://ir.healthstream.com/confirm.cfm?destination=/briefcase.cfm
59
Most of the investor briefcase examples we are seeing are an aggregate of downloads that a
user can choose from in one area. A majority have a summary of the most frequently accessed
investor downloads, structured in various ways. For example, Cameco displays recent financial
information in the form of quarterly and annual reports; a video of one of their assets; and their
fact sheet all segmented in individual sections by file type and size:
http://www.cameco.com/investors/briefcase/
60
‘Investor Briefcase’ is also often used interchangeably with ‘Investor Kit’. The Intercontinental
Hotels Group uses the latter reference:
http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=55
Note how they have taken their different audiences into consideration as they offer a wide
variety of options users can choose from such as ‘All’, Factsheets, ‘Media’ and ‘Investors’.
We also urge you to check out WGL Holdings (NYSE:WGL):
http://www.wglholdings.com/downloads.cfm?CategoryID=&Year
61
5.4 Investor Surveys
Investor and user surveys are a helpful way of gauging whether your site is delivering what users
need and whether it’s providing an optimum experience.
For example, Provident Financial (LSE:PFG) has a ‘Tell Us What You Think’ box that appears on
the homepage of each main section with a link to survey:
http://www.providentfinancial.com/index.asp
62
The survey is very comprehensive and covers everything from user profiles, usability to priority
information. A lot of time and effort went into the survey as they have tailored questions
depending on what section of the site you indicate an interest in. For example, specific
questions for the ‘Investor’ section include:
http://www.providentfinancial.com/index.asp?pageid=191&step=1
They also have a dedicated tab entitled ‘The News’ that includes a link to sign up for email news
and RSS feeds as well as some questions asking visitors to rate the email and RSS feeds and how
the service could be improved.
63
We are also seeing surveys used to elicit feedback about a particular document. For example,
Barrick Gold asks specific questions related to their latest sustainability report:
http://www.barrick.com/CorporateResponsibility/Reporting/
64
5.5 Sorting & Filing
We’re seeing a much greater use of tools that allow users to sort, filter & search information
such as News, Events and Webcasts by date, topic and speaker. Here Adidas Group (FTSE:AG)
lets users search their Events by topic, month and year:
http://www.adidas-group.com/en/investorrelations/events/default.aspx
The calendar also allows you to sign up for reminders.
65
Provident Financial also does an excellent job of breaking out key information in a ‘Results and
Reports’ section – which makes it easy for investors to sort through financial information, the
annual and corporate responsibility reports and presentations:
http://www.providentfinancial.com/index.asp?pageid=44&year=2010
66
5.6 Multimedia Quarterly Reports
Cameco is a forerunner in the presentation of their financial reports – here they provide all of
their quarterly and annual reports in grid format:
http://www.cameco.com/investors/financial_reporting/
67
Here is a drill down of the quarterly report page. As you can see below they provide a summary
of the report and aggregate all associated assets in a single view: an audio of the conference
call; a podcast; and downloads in both PDF and Excel format:
http://www.cameco.com/investors/financial_reporting/quarterly_reports/2010_q2/
68
Ensco’s*(NYSE:ESV) ‘Financial Reporting’ page is clean and easy to navigate. Take note of the
left-hand navigation where they provide links to download the most recent quarterly
information. They also display all of their quarterly assets in one page:
http://www.enscous.com/Investors/Financial-Reporting/Quarterly-Reports/2009/default.aspx
69
Lastly, Agnico-Eagle is also a notable example for their quarterly summary page that has a video
of the CEO:
http://www.agnico-eagle.com/English/Investor-Centre/Financial-Reporting/
Now for an overview of how companies are highlighting social media channels and embedding
multimedia content.
70
6
More companies are adopting social media and the IR website can be used to let investors know
of the additional channels that they can access information.
6.1 Highlight Social Media Channels
A review of some IR websites has revealed some interesting examples of how social media has
been integrated. For example, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) has a ‘Follow the Story’ with links
to all of their social network accounts on the homepage of their IR website:
http://corporate.ford.com/investors/investor-overview
71
Northgate Minerals* (TSX:NXG) also has a ‘Get Connected’ feature on their IR Index page:
http://67.192.1.226/investor-relations/default.aspx#panel-1
We are also seeing a number of companies who are providing links to all of the social networks
via a “Stay Connected”, “Connect With Us”, or “Follow Us” approach.
72
6.1.1 Stay Connected
Novartis (NYSE:NVS) has a “Stay connected” feature that appears on the top of every page:
http://www.novartis.com/util/stay-connected/media/index.shtml
Once you click on this you will be taken to a page with various ways you can “stay connected”
with the company such as signing up for email alerts and RSS feeds; following them on Twitter
and/or subscribing to their YouTube channel.
73
Another great example you should check out is PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) – they have a ‘Stay
Connected’ section that is universal across the site with links to news alerts, RSS feed, Twitter
and Facebook:
http://www.ppg.com/en/newsroom/Pages/default.aspx
74
Under the ‘Newsroom’ tab on the left-hand navigation visitors have the option of clicking on
‘Social Media Links. This link launches a comprehensive list broken out into various categories
with each social media channel listed for each:
http://www.ppg.com/en/newsroom/Pages/SocialMediaLinks.aspx
75
6.1.2 Connect With Us
Alaska Airlines has a “Connect With Us” link prominently displayed on the “About Company”
homepage:
http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/help/contacts/social-media.asp
Also note that they have a dedicated “Social Media” tab on the left-hand navigation. Upon
clicking on either of these tabs, users are taken to a listing of all social networks with a link and a
description of what can be found on each channel.
76
TVI Pacific* also has their ‘Connect With Us’ section prominently displayed on their corporate
homepage:
http://www.tvipacific.com/Investors/Investor-Connect/default.aspx
This makes it easy for visitors to ‘connect’ with the company on Twitter and Facebook and
provides links to their YouTube videos and SlideShare presentations. It also provides the ability
to register for email alerts and sign up for RSS feeds.
77
6.2 Embed Social Media Content
Agnico-Eagle provides a library of video and photos on their site and publishes them on social
media sites: Vimeo and Flickr:
http://agnico-eagle.com/English/Investor-Centre/Multimedia-Gallery/default.aspx
Providing pictures and videos can help investors get a better understanding of the underlying
business of the company. Also, giving visitors the option to download pictures can be a useful
feature for financial media who may want a visual to accompany a story.
78
Magma Energy*(TSX:MXY) makes good use of multimedia by displaying videos and photos of
their operations in action. These photos and videos are also published on social media sites
Flickr and Vimeo:
http://www.magmaenergycorp.com/Properties/default.aspx
Some companies are also using specific social networks like SlideShare to publish their corporate
presentations and YouTube to publish a video of their assets or an interview with their CEO and
then subsequently embed the presentation and video on their website.
79
For example, Intact Financial*(TSX:IFC) and Magma Energy both publish their corporate
presentations on SlideShare and embed them on their website:
http://intactfc.com/English/Investor-Relations/Presentations/default.aspx
http://www.magmaenergycorp.com/Investors/Presentations/default.aspx
80
Doing this provides highly visible, quick access to this content on their site and increases
readership in both channels.
Companies are also increasingly using YouTube to publish corporate videos and subsequently
embed them on their IR website.
We are seeing a few different kinds of material that is being shared.
Shell (NYSE:RDS) houses several YouTube videos in different locations on their website. For
example, the video below is located in ‘About Shell’ in the ‘Strategy’ section and talks about
energy trends over the next few decades:
http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/our_strategy/shell_global_scenarios/
81
Conversely, Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS) typically only posts YouTube videos on their IR blog. A
wide variety of topics are covered including an interview with the CEO that addressed questions
received on behalf of investors about an upcoming industry-related conference:
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/?p=1322
Repurposing presentation or video content on SlideShare and YouTube makes it easy for
interested parties such as the financial media, institutional and retail shareholders to share
company information as the embed code is easy to copy and paste virtually anywhere online.
Conclusion
The IR website continues to be a key source for the investment community to access and verify
company information. Investors that frequent your website are better informed and are more
likely to hold their investment during tough times than those that do not have a connection with
the business.
Recognizing this, leading companies have placed greater emphasis on their websites and have
adopted best practices to ensure more effective online communications with their investor
audiences.
82
Best Practice Wrap-Up
A best practice IR website is not simply a list of press releases, PDFs and a stock quote, it goes
beyond this basic content and provides context, insight and interactive tools for investors to
clearly understand your business today and in the future.
We have provided examples of companies that have made their website a prime communication
channel and invested the time and resources into making this channel an effective one. One
thing in common to all is the fact that all of the best practices are based on making the
company’s investment proposition easier to understand and easier to access for all of their
stakeholders.
Here is a review of the six IR website best practice categories discussed in this whitepaper:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Provide Content in Formats that Engage Investors
*Disclosure: Agnico-Eagle, Vical, Barrick Gold, Intact Financial, Teekay Offshore, Teekay Tankers,
Ensco, TVI Pacific, Magma Energy are clients of Q4
83
About Q4 Web Systems
Q4 is the fastest growing IR website provider in North
America. Hundreds of public companies choose Q4 for their IR
website and online communications because our web based
platform is easy to use and helps them achieve results.
Through our active research into IR website and social media best practices we have earned a
position at the forefront of online investor relations. We use our findings to evolve our web
platform and service offering, and share our knowledge through our blog, webinars,
whitepapers and reports.
Throughout this whitepaper we have provided 100+ examples of what leading companies are
doing with their investor websites. Everything contained in this paper is achievable if you
choose Q4 for your IR website.
Contact Us for a Demo Today!
www.q4websystems.com/ContactUs
Toll Free: 1-877-426-7829
www.q4websystems.com
[email protected]
84

IR Website Best Practices to Help Improve Online

Transcription

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