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AIRA releases Updated Guidelines and Calls on Listed Entities to be More Open about their Market Briefings
THE Australasian Investor Relations Association (AIRA) today urged listed entities to be more proactive in informing investors about their market briefings in order to comply with new best practice guidelines and also to lead by example.
AIRA, the industry association for investor relations professionals, used the release of its updated Best Practice Investor Relations guidelines to call on companies to lift the bar in communicating important information to their shareholders.
“We would like to see listed entities tell all shareholders exactly when they are scheduling investor briefings, presentations and webcasts so that more people can find out in a timely manner exactly what is happening,” AIRA’s CEO, Mr Ian Matheson said.
“Such routine details are not always made widely available, but it is essential to do so if all investors are to be kept fully informed. The details can easily be posted on a company’s own website and more particularly lodged with ASX and/or NZX.”
Mr Matheson said that regulators have made it clear that they want ALL investors to be provided with all price sensitive information in a timely manner. He said it was up to corporations to use the communications tools at their fingertips to engage effectively with as many of their shareholders’ as possible.
The fourth edition of AIRA’s best practice guidelines also calls for live webcasts of annual general meetings, including question and answer sessions. It also recommends that companies consider providing a full transcript of proceedings, including formal speeches and presentations, along with relevant question-and-answer exchanges of all significant briefings.
When it comes to investor days and analyst briefings, all questions and answers should be monitored for market-sensitive information and be released immediately to securities exchanges if any inadvertent disclosures are made. All presentations should be released prior to the investor day commencing, and also uploaded to company websites along with question-and-answer sessions.
AIRA also recommends that listed entities lodge all of these presentations and particularly financial results prior to the market opening to enable analysts and investors to digest the information before trading commences.
On the recent disclosure issue of releasing sell-side earnings consensus forecasts, AIRA says that any publication should be made on a company’s website and should also be updated on a regular basis to ensure the market was fully informed. If such details are published, the company should include a disclaimer saying it did not endorse the analysts’ forecasts.
“These guidelines reflect all recent regulatory initiatives, including the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) report on the handling of confidential, market-sensitive information,” Mr Matheson said. “They also cover the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s revised principles and recommendations, ASX’s updated guidance note related to continuous disclosure and ASIC’s regulatory guide on better disclosure.
ASIC, ASX and the New Zealand Securities Exchange (NZX) have all provided comments on the guidelines.
“We want to make it easier for listed entities to comply with their obligations by including in the guidelines an investor relations toolkit, which provides easy-to-adopt briefing templates, policy examples and content checklists.”
AIRA’s guidelines are intended to provide practical advice on how listed entities can better communicate information to investors. They account for regulatory imperatives and compliance options and outline the principles and practices that investor relations officers should apply to maintain an efficient and transparent market.
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About AIRA
AIRA is Australasia’s premier member-based organisation advancing awareness of best practice investor relations, thereby improving the relationship between listed entities and the investment community. The Association's 171 corporate members now represent more than A$760 billion of market capitalisation, which is greater than two-thirds of the total market capitalisation of companies listed on the ASX.
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