Strategic Financial and Investor Communication

In today's aggressive marketplace, listed companies can no longer rely on their numbers to do the talking: communication counts. In Strategic Financial and Investor Communication: The Stock Price Story Ian Westbrook argues that share price is more a story than a number. This book will teach you how to tell your own story by guiding you through the fast-paced world of financial corporate communications with a professional's pragmatism as well as academic rigour.

'In this new work on the vital linkage between communication and stock market price Ian Westbrook challenges a number of old assumptions and provides clear evidence that the future for corporate investment lies in the vertical integration of communication throughout the firm. It is at once a good read and a significant contribution to the theory and practice of financial communication. Mr Westbrook has taken a considered approach to the vexed issue of how, why and when CEOs should engage with stakeholders: he provides timely advice on dealing with provocateurs such as news media, citizen journalists and activist investors. His description of 'proxy fights' in which corporations allow others, particularly media, to become leading actors is engaging while the case studies he has chosen provide a well-balanced complement to the processes and theories set out in a highly readable narrative. This book should be a 'must read' for everyone in the corporate world, or as Mr Westbrook argues, engaged in the corporate 'stakeholder' world rather than the 'shareholder' world.' - Dr Richard Stanton, Department of Media & Communications, The University of Sydney, Australia 'Westbrook is most instructive and current with best practice and thinking as regards navigating the capital markets. He stresses an understanding of both non-financial and basic elements of the value mosaic and is realistic in his theses, which are well resourced in academic study. Westbrook recognizes that factual information and comparative metrics only tell part of the story...colour counts. He underscores the importance of communicating with one voice and in a timely manner. This text is for the serious student of capital and value formation. Westbrook digs deep into the underlayment of the art and presents a strong case for his conclusions. This book is a standard-setter for IROs, with valuable lessons.' - Robert D. Ferris, Chair, Capital Markets Practice, RF Binder Partners 'This outstanding book will be a great resource for students, scholars, and practitioners as it combines solid theoretical background with very practical and current examples from the world of financial communications and investor relations.' - Alexander V. Laskin, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Public Relations, Quinnipiac University, USA 'I am delighted to say that this is a fantastic book. Not only is it the first decent, dedicated financial communications book to emerge in many years (since 1989 by my reckoning); it's also the first text to apply academic theory to financial communications in a meaningful way. I recommend it both to business and communication students alike, as well as those readers with a general interest in contemporary strategies used in financial markets.' - Clea Bourne, Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK 'Westbrook ends the debate on 'art vs. science' in the field of communications. For any corporate or investor communicator, The Stock Price Story quantifies the studies, metrics and conclusions which validate communications' role in a company's stock following and price. A must read for professionals in the field who need to answer to a board or the C-suite on the inherent value of communications for a public company avoid the steep costs for those who fail to tell their corporate story.' - John Mattio, CEO & Founder of Lamnia International, a New York and Connecticut based corporate and investor communications firm focused on branding a company's corporate story in US markets.

Autorentext

Ian Westbrook is Principal of Westbrook Financial Communications, Australia, and a part-time lecturer at the University of Sydney, having established the Financial and Investor Communication unit of study for postgraduate students in the Department of Media and Communications.

Inhalt

1. Applying Theory from Communication 2. Applying Theory from Management and Markets 3. Storytelling and Application to Corporate Communication 4. Linking Communication with Strategy, Story and Stock Price 5. Investment Perspectives on the Corporate Story 6. Numbers and the Corporate Story 7. Disclosure and Communication Content 8. The Financial Market Place 9. Communicating with the Investment Community 10. Communicating with the Business Media 11. Communicating with Shareholders 12. Transactions and Issues - M&A, IPO & Crisis 13. Role and Responsibilities of a Chief Communications Officer 14. Connecting Theory, Practice and the Corporate Story

Chapter 1: Applying theory from communication
Theory underlying financial and investor communication is not a common topic for practitioners, and yet there are many influences that can be discerned, ranging from the Ancient Greek idea of rhetoric to post-modern public relations theory. Important ideas along the way that connect with financial and investor communication are persuasion through reasoned argument, symmetric communication, the way stakeholder needs influence communication, relationships, the value of context in in enhancing understanding of corporate information and how messages are received. More recent developments of theory have explored the way in which language is a tool in competing for capital, a direct connection with investor relations.

Chapter 2: Applying theory from management and markets
A connection between communication and stock price can trace its beginnings to establishment of the world's first stock exchange, in Amsterdam in 1602. Since then, there has been a gradual transfer of power from owners - the shareholders - to managers, with this paralleling a stakeholder relationship from a communications perspective. With early 20th century economist, Josef Schumpeter, having identified the economic importance of financial markets in channelling capital to entrepreneurs, there is a current era connection with investor relations which adopts competing for capital as a primary objective. Since stock price is a critical factor in this competition, it is important to appreciate two competing views around how information affects prices - the efficient markets hypothesis and behavioural finance. Another focus of investor relations is communicating corporate strategy, establishing a connection with Michael Porter's five competitive forces which define strategy. While the concept of shareholder value has influenced communication in recent history, so too has modern portfolio theory, in describing decision making in investment markets. Each of these developments provides pointers to the content of financial and investor communication.

Chapter 3: Storytelling and Application to Corporate Communication
From a corporate communication perspective, narrative is a way of "interpreting the past, coping with the present and shaping the future." The effectiveness of storytelling depends on the rapport between teller and listener and storytelling can also evoke action, with parallels between how a corporation's CEO communicates and the way this can influence stakeholders and investors. A corporate story comprising narrative, facts and numbers is not a fixed notion since, in the process of "financialization", a significant variation in the numbers can enforce a change in narrative when performance does not meet promise. There is inevitably a link between the components of story and how companies negotiate business challenges in the market place.

Chapter 4: Linking Communication with Strategy, Story and Stock Pri…