I’ll admit I have a tendency to obsess about ways investor relations can leverage time already being invested by a company in other activities. I look for these opportunities because management time is a limited commodity, particularly at smaller companies. And it is at those smaller companies where management involvement in investor communications is most critical.
One of the best opportunities companies have to create efficiencies in the communications process is by being consistent — making strategic use of their required (and time-consuming) SEC filings and leveraging that time to simplify development of other communications. Plus, investors read the SEC filings, and trade on the information they contain. Investors rely on the filings whether or not those documents share the strategic messages contained in presentations, news releases and other written and verbal communications.
I nearly jumped up and down for joy at NIRI’s National Conference when consistency (and IR’s appropriate role in SEC filings) was highlighted in the keynote address given by Meredith Cross, Director, Corporation Finance.
But rather than editorialize, below is a transcription of a section of Director Cross’s speech. The excerpt includes her segue into the use of non-GAAP data, which is a topic of particular interest to insurance companies.
At the beginning of her remarks, she included the normal SEC disclaimer that these were her beliefs, not necessarily those of the commission.
Follow the link to read what Director Cross said on consistency: Continue reading
Filed under: Important ideas, Investor Relations, Non-GAAP, SEC | 1 Comment »
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