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TUESDAY 4 DECEMBER 2007: CONFERENCE DAY TWO
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08:45
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Day two opening and welcome
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SESSION 5
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GROWING CHALLENGES – IS IR READY?
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A panel of the most experienced practitioners discuss some of the key challenges for global IR
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09:00
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Key challenges for IR – 1) Global markets and standards – are they making things worse?
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Companies wanting to access global markets need to consider the availability of their shares and the disclosure regulations they will need
to meet. What are the key issues?
Some argue that Sarbanes Oxley requirements, class actions and US GAAP accounting have made the US markets less attractive to
non-US companies; others say London’s lower standards may offer less long-term access to the top investors. There is also mixed evidence
on whether listing ADRs / GDRs in Western markets is worthwhile. As Asian companies prepare for the introduction of Sarbanes Oxley-style
disclosure rules, and consider how best to attract global investors, we ask how Western companies are coping with Sarbanes Oxley,
International Accounting Standards, and new EU MIFID, transparency and disclosure regimes.
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09:30
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Key challenges for IR – 2) Identifying shareholders - do we know who to talk to?
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If you don’t know who owns your company, how can you talk to them?
A major stock exchange merger (NASDAQ / OMX) is just the latest of many that have been disrupted by secret stakes built via derivatives.
Even Asian companies are beginning to feel the pressure from activist shareholders building influential stakes. But many companies around
the world cannot even identify their ordinary shareholders, and even those who can are getting increasingly worried about voting power and
influence changing through increased use of “Contracts For Difference” and other derivatives, let alone the increasing influence of bondholders.
Share registers are not the only records of who owns and votes shares, and companies can still control where their shares are listed and how
much information / contact they offer to unidentified investors, so why should they yield to ever-increasing demands from investors without
insisting on more transparency?
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10:00
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Reaching investors around the globe - is IR keeping up with global challenges?
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Experienced international IR directors discuss their companies’ IR efforts to reach major markets.
Even the most experienced IROs in the world would agree that they learned a lot at some stage by hearing about the IR programmes of other
global companies. A group of companies with international programmes discuss recent research on global IR trends and talk about their
programmes and experiences.
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11:00
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Coffee / tea in exhibition area - sponsored by
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SESSION 6
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PRACTICAL ISSUES IN GLOBAL IR – PART 1
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| 11:45 |
Three parallel sessions focusing on some of the key practical challenges in global IR
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6A) Proxy voting and dividend distribution
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Often the most useful opportunities for communicating with your investors are the regular proxy and dividend notices that go to
all shareholders. And the most important feedback of all comes through investor votes. But, in many countries, the processes
for collecting votes and distributing dividends are often extremely inefficient, and these communication opportunities are often
sadly neglected by IR departments. This is one area where technology, improved regulation and new methods are offering real
benefits – what are they and can you take advantage?
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6B) IR's role in social responsibility and climate change issues
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For years, social / corporate responsibility, and environmental / climate concerns were ignored by investors and IR, or treated
as public relations material. But many investors now see these as crucial issues of competitive strategy as well as moral
responsibility. How do investors measure companies and how are the most enlightened companies responding?
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6C) Disclosure and accounting go global
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Until recently, companies wanting to attract the biggest international investors were told they needed to meet US disclosure
and accounting standards. When their ineffectiveness was exposed by Enron and others, much harsher regimes were introduced,
but many (inside as well as outside the USA) argue that Sarbanes Oxley has produced an expensive over-reaction, still too
dependent on inflexible rules. “Principles-based” regulation and international accounting standards appear to be winning more
investor trust and the major markets appear to be converging. Which standards and practices should companies now use the
attract global investors?
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Lunch in exhibition area sponsored by
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SESSION 7
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PRACTICAL ISSUES IN GLOBAL IR – PART 2
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Three parallel sessions focusing on some of the key practical challenges in global IR
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7A) New media: XBRL, blogs & others
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Work by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) is taking XBRL to the centre of corporate financial reporting
and US companies report rapid increases on real-time discussion of results via blogs and other internet forums. These –
and other - technologies promise a continuing technology revolution in IR techniques in the US markets – and beyond.
Big changes are taking place in Japan, Europe and elsewhere, but how quickly are they catching on in other markets?
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7B) IR in mergers & acquisitions
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One of the ultimate challenges for IR is to be on either side of a major merger or acquisition – which could double the IR department
or totally remove their function – particularly with a foreign company. It can be their first involvement with competition regulators,
foreign regulations, lawyers and banks as well as involving major strategic and financial changes for the company. Do you have
detailed plans for a sudden bid? How can you prepare yourself, your management and your team for this challenge and what are
some of the more common mistakes?
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SESSION 8
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GLOBAL CHALLENGES: MEETING THE CHANGING NEEDS OF GLOBAL INVESTORS
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We have seen a massive shift in equity markets, with big flows of investment money from traditional funds to private equity and hedge funds,
a wave of IPOs from East Europe and Asia, the rise of contracts for difference and other derivatives obscuring ownership of ordinary shares and
unprecedented pressure from investors for companies to increase leverage and improve corporate governance. Is this shift over or just beginning?
How does a panel of leading investors see these trends developing?
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14:15
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Growing supply: the changing face of global equity markets
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Michael Santoli, senior editor, Barrons
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Reducing their cost of capital should be one of the primary competitive advantages companies seek from their investor relations programmes,
but they cannot seek cheaper capital without knowing where to find it.
How should you prioritise the continents and regions to plan the most effective IR programme? How do the world’s main markets compare in
terms of size and structure of their investment markets? Should Asian (and Western) companies focus on Asia – are capital flows reversing to
make it the leading target market for global IROs? Should Western companies worry about being taken over by their Asian competitors or vice
versa? A summary of the structure of global investment markets:
- types of institution, regional market sizes, etc
- global capital flows: can Asian companies take a bigger share?
- is Asia going to become the leading target market for global IROs?
- are Western companies becoming the key targets of Asian M and A?
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14:45
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Coffee / tea in exhibition area - sponsored by
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15:30
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Growing demand: global investors want more from all of us - -
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Yuji Kage, managing director, Pension Fund Association of Japan
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Was the boom in leveraged buy-outs by private equity funds the result of a temporary glut of cheap credit, or did it suggest traditional institutions
are becoming more impatient with public companies?
Have higher standards of disclosure made it too difficult for big institutions to distinguish themselves? Do they prefer private equity ownership,
where inside information for investors is not illegal, or do they want even more information from public companies? Do long-term investors really
want higher levels of debt-financing by public companies or did they have no choice but to take advantage of the high prices they were offered
in the recent credit boom? How do some of the biggest traditional investment institutions want companies to react to recent events? What do
they offer in return? Are they happy for activist hedge funds and private equity to take their place in putting pressure on companies or is there
more we could do to earn their loyalty? Are sovereign wealth funds a new form of foreign takeover, or the ultimate in long-term, supportive owners?
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15:55
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- - and some will press hard for it: hedge funds, private equity and shareholder activism
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Tim Sims, managing director, Pacific Equity Partners
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When the major global institutions are not happy with companies, they are increasingly likely to back activist hedge funds with their big demands
for change, or to back bids by sovereign wealth funds and private equity.
When it happens to even stock exchanges like Deutsche Börse and OMX, and major banks like ABN/AMRO, we need to take notice. Have
hedge funds grown so fast because their higher fees attracted the best fund managers, or because they are more effective at forcing companies
to change? Do they use borrowed shares and derivatives to hide their activity from competitors or to be able to buy and sell faster without
moving share prices? Are they ultra-short-term speculators or more skilful long-term investors? Do they want more detailed information about
current trading or better guidance about long-term trends and strategies? Do they want to engage with companies or simply buy and sell their
shares privately? Should companies treat them as key IR targets or try to avoid them altogether? Why have private equity
funds been able to take over so many public companies and what reactions do they want from companies when they approach them? How
should companies react if they are approached? How should management assess whether a private equity approach offers the best shareholder
value? Will private equity firms be more likely to invest in ordinary shares if the days of plentiful, cheap credit are ending?
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16:20
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Hedge and sovereign wealth funds: Locusts, long-term investors or both?
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Peter Tasker, founding partner, Arcus Investments
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With private equity funds currently less active than recently, sovereign wealth funds are beginning to join hedge funds as arguable the most
feared and misunderstood investors. Is this fair?
Some IROs who have dealt with them extensively, and include them in their regular programmes, describe both types of funds as better briefed,
more supportive and with longer-term investment views. Others have suffered from their aggressive activism. How does an experienced hedge
fund chief see himself and what does he want from you?
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16:30
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Panel session: Is the balance of power changing?
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A panel including all session 8 speakers debates the issues and discusses them with the audience.
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17:00
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Conference close – cocktails in exhibition area and buses to closing dinner
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18:00
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CLOSING CONFERENCE DINNER AT GENPIN FUGU-SHIMBASHI |