InsuranceIR's Blog

Twice in the past week, larger companies have faced premature disclosure of material news because of poor website controls and procedures. The specifics have been widely reported (IRWebReport’s posts offer a summary of the various events).

As a former corporate IRO, I feel compelled to step up to the table to defend over-worked investor relations teams. These teams are being forced to cobble together less-than-ideal web solutions because of a lack of resources (both time and money) and the low priority their needs are given by corporate IT departments. When problems like these arise, the IR team may share some of the responsibility, but they do not deserve full blame.

From my view, it is more important that these recent events serve as a wake-up call to C-suite executives and board members.

Isn’t it time company’s give investor relations departments access to the right resources — internally and externally — if only to avoid unnecessary damage to corporate reputations. (We won’t dwell on the myriad of positive reasons for giving IR additional resources, e.g., improving valuation, etc.)

Filed under: Important ideas, Investor Relations |