9.3 External Support
The majority of companies employ their own resources to perform the most important IR activity, the direct interaction with the institutional investors and analysts.
Nevertheless, there are good reasons for involving external support:
- For smaller companies that do not have or want to hire a permanent employee for IR, as an «extended workbench», for example for the management of media releases, annual and interim reports, or the IR website
- For the procurement of expertise in specific projects, for smaller and also for larger companies, for example in capital market transactions (M&As, spin-offs/listing), in crisis situations, for perception studies, or – increasingly important on account of MiFID – the organization of roadshows
- For a regular or occasional check from an outside perspective
- For foreign companies listed on SIX as a kind of steward in Switzerland, also for regulatory concerns
Successful IR Consultancy Requires:
- Independence and objectivity
- Long-term approach (when not related to a specific project, e.g. M&A)
- Good networking on the financial and capital market and in the industry in question
- Competence in the professional field
- Competence in the human field
What distinguishes good from not so good IR consultants is that IR objectives are defined and tied down before various IR measures are planned and implemented. And additionally, as with any management consultant, a high degree of efficiency in the cooperation.
In addition to IR consultants, companies resort to the services of external specialists for all kinds of factual questions – here’s a non-exhaustive list:
- Attorneys, especially in capital market transactions or sensitive cases of Ad hoc Publicity or financial reporting
- Specialized consultancy firms in order to thoroughly investigate the shareholder structure, shareholder identification in the technical jargon (see ➔ Chapter 4.4)
- Specialist service providers for managing the share register