Overview of key Investor Relations activities in the company:

• Annual General Meetings (AGM)

Make it a showpiece for the company’s strategy

• Institutional investor and analyst meetings

• Media briefings

• Regional shareholder meetings

• Road shows

Maintain regular face-to-face contact with investors.

• Annual reports

You know the annual report has to be published by a set date so work back twelve months and design a calendar with target dates accordingly. Thinking about next year’s report when you have just sent the current one to press is unlikely to be an attractive proposition but that is exactly what you should be doing. Call designers, printers and other agencies well in advance and make sure everyone can work together as a team. Annual report distribution can be a major headache. Ensure that your registrar is as up to date as possible so that your mailing list is correct. You can reduce distribution costs by putting a PDF copy of your annual report on your IR web site and directing students and other researchers to the site. Your annual report should follow best practice in reporting - see the check list included in the pocket at the back of this guide. Also remember to seek feedback from shareholders and other stakeholders to make sure that you are dealing with the information needs of all of your audiences.

• Web casts and conference calls

In times of the technology era, you want to make sure you reach out to your investors with all means of modern technology. Today, Web casts and regular conference calls are expected. Also, these are cost effective ways to communicate your story to Wall Street.

• Results announcements (Quarterly, interim and preliminary results)

• Investment presentations, Message strategy

There is nothing worse than a flawless presentation to the wrong audience. Make sure that your contact database is up to date and that you know the information needs of the audience to whom you are going to present. Larger traded companies tend to slightly tailor their presentations according to the information or cultural needs of shareholders in different markets. There is nothing to stop smaller companies from taking the same tack on a domestic basis - as long as they abide by the rules for the release of price-sensitive information. Prepare in advance for all presentations and persuade those giving the presentations that they need to set time aside for a rehearsal. IROs should assess the ability of their senior management to convey corporate messages to the financial community. Frequent presentation training is a crucial part of any IR programme, regardless of the seniority of those making the presentation. It ensures that presenters are up to date with current issues, on their toes, and helps them avoid falling into the same traps time after time. It may be that training advice is best delivered by a senior external adviser. Rehearsing with external advisors can be a useful way of highlighting potential presentation or Q&A problems and tactfully preparing senior management for some of the challenges that may arise during a presentation. For example, during rehearsals, never shy away from asking the most difficult searching questions that might arise. Answers should be honest, transparent and stick to the relevant facts. The rehearsal is also an opportunity to smooth out any technological glitches. If you are not capable of producing high quality electronic presentations in-house then outsource the presentation well in advance. Regulatory considerations should be paramount throughout a presentation. Think carefully about what best practice requires at every stage of developing a presentation and carefully monitor the event as it goes live. Make sure that anything that is said complies with current regulations and, if necessary, send out a release to announce further price-sensitive information to the market. If the presentation is well planned in advance and the senior management team know the relevant responses then there should be no need for corrective action after the event. After a presentation the IRO should solicit feedback from the audience and offer further access to senior management if needed.

• Market feedback

• Investment analysis

• Corporate governance

See „Corporate Governance – A practical Guide“ in IR Downloads)

• Media relations

Media relations is not difficult. You simply have to know the right people, in the right place, at the right time and what to say to them. Like any new activity in business, it requires some thought, planning and control. Think of it as a crusade and there are obvious steps to take before you reach your goal. (See Media Guide in IR Downloads)