I’ve been reviewing a number of websites lately and it seems as if investor relations web sites are becoming more robust. I’ve been impressed with the variety and ingenuity exhibited on some of the sites I’ve seen, particularly for European companies. Overall, my impression is that the European IR websites have been more innovative in their use of the power of the web.
As you might expect, not every site does everything, so for the benefit of those investor relations officers that don’t have time to conduct a review of other web sites, I thought I would provide a series of posts that list some of my favorite features that can help you help investors.
First, charting – there are lots of charting sites available, but some things can be done better on the company page. For example, interactive charts with links to events and press releases are very helpful. Many times I’ve stared at a stock price chart with a big dip or rise and wondered, “What happened here?” Such large dips or rises are almost invariably accompanied by a press release, so an interactive chart that leads you straight to the event saves a lot of time and effort.
Another helpful feature is being able to specify an exact time frame for your chart. After all, most investors don’t invest on the exact day necessary to fit into the standard time range specified on most web sites. I also found that charts that let you specify other companies to chart against very useful, although I’m sure many companies are not thrilled about having their competitors charted on their site.
As I continue to review sites, I hope to be able to cite more examples of best practices. It’s kind of fun to be able to hand out praise instead of criticism.
John recently retired as a Lecturer in Management at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Management, where he taught investor relations. Prior to that, John was in charge of investor relations for Sysco Corporation and Walgreen Co. He holds a MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a law degree from Loyola University of Chicago.
You can learn more about John’s thinking about investor relations at his blog, Investor Relations Musings.
