Top 5 trends for IR Websites in 2022
Top 5 Key Investor Relations Websites Trends for 2022
An Investor Relations website is still the most trusted source of information when making investment decisions. Going beyond compliance requirements, it centralizes the company’s investment thesis, historical financial data and all its communication materials, being accessed by individual and institutional investors and sell-side analysts.
According to “Digital Investor Survey 2021”, conducted by Brunswick, 92% of investors reported using company IR websites to investigate problems. And 72% of investors reported making investment decisions based on information they found on IR websites.
As a result, IR professionals must maintain IR websites under the highest technology, information and interactivity standards, so that they serve as a tool that helps communicate with shareholders and potential investors, without requiring time, technical expertise and operational work to keep information fully up to date as fast as possible.
To help you with that, we present 5 key IR website trends for 2022:
- 1.Security
Even though it is a basic requirement, the pandemic triggered off and brought to light a number of cyberattacks, so we decided to list security as the number one trend for 2022. “PwC’s 2021 CEO survey”, which interviewed 5,050 corporate leaders around the world, reveals that cybersecurity threats are the second biggest cause for concern for companies. As an IR professional, you should be especially concerned about your company’s investor relations website, monitoring potentially fraudulent actions and making sure that the website is built on a secure structure so that shareholders and potential investors are not induced to make mistakes, have their data leaked, or fall victim to scams. Have the IT or Cyber Security department validate your website and the environment in which it is hosted. It is worth noting that the SEC is attentive to this type of incident, such as in the case of First American Financial Corporation, and other regulators around the world are probably following the same path.
- 2.Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG)
ESG remains a consistent topic. According to the latest edition of the “Global Sustainable Investment Review”, disclosed by the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance, total AUM available to be invested in companies with good ESG practices was over US$35 trillion in 2020. Therefore, many institutional investors are dedicated to the topic. Pay attention to those investors’ requirements and keep away from greenwashing. Everybody likes to look at a web page that is visually appealing and contains a great sustainable message. But you should focus on the content and use meetings with funds to discern the most required information and actions concerning the theme. MSCI’s “2022 ESG Trends to Watch” report is an excellent guide to the most relevant and recent topics. It is also important to highlight the growing importance of the factors leading to climate change.
- 3.Social media and alternative media sources
Over the past 2 years – which were marked by the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide – we saw the increased use of other media sources of information. Nowadays, for example, we commonly see conference calls and webinars broadcast over YouTube and Zoom. IR websites still must be the central hub of information, being updated as frequently as possible. However, use social media channels to disseminate information and attract more users and potential investors for your website. Encourage the company’s trained spokespeople to disseminate information already disclosed on the IR website and by regulators on their personal social media platforms. Besides disseminating the information through personal means, this effort draws social media users’ attention, who now know its disseminators, thus making the information credible. Social media platforms and alternative sources of information that are highly relevant include Zoom, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, LinkedIn and Twitter.
- 4.Autonomy and Automation
It’s 2022, so it’s unacceptable that you rely on someone from IT, communications, marketing or any other area to update your IR website. Only the IR professional knows how agile and fast they need to be to update the IR website on a late-night earnings release or a last-minute material fact. With current technology, it is very simple for these tasks to be fully performed by the IR area and automated, linked with regulatory bodies (SEC for example). Only in this way can you guarantee a quick information equity and without having an operational work that does not add anything to your day to day. If your website is not automated with regulatory bodies in all sections, at least make sure you are empowered to do this quickly and simply. And always remember the compliance requirements of regulatory bodies.
- 5.Data Protection and Accessibility
With the consolidation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe, various countries followed suit, consolidating or updating their data protection laws. Examples include the Brazilian General Data Protection Law (LGPD) and the Chilean Data Protection Law (CDPL). In the U.S., user data protection is still decentralized, being individually regulated by states and specific sectors of society – such as the SEC. It is worth consulting the latest U.S. regulations on the collection, processing and use of data. Some laws governing the topic are the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the New York Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security Act (NY SHIELD). We still cannot affirm that the U.S. is following suit to consolidate their data protection regulation. However, as IR departments aim to attract an increasingly global audience, it is fundamentally important that all your IR websites and tools dealing with the data of shareholders and potential investors comply with local laws. This includes:
– The use of cookies on IR websites;
– Registration data in platforms requiring login and password credentials;
– Data obtained through forms to access earnings conference calls;
– Data obtained through mailing list subscription forms;
– Data obtained through forms to contact the IR department; and
– Registration data of shareholders and potential investors;
It is important that the IR website is adapted for accessibility, especially to serve investors with visual, cognitive or physical impairment. In many places, accessibility is not only considered a good practice but also a requirement enforced by law. In the U.S., IR websites must be in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards for Accessible Design, while in Brazil, with the Brazilian Law of Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (LBI).
About MZ
MZ has been a global leader in investor relations services for over 22 years. Our solutions are trusted by more than 800 clients worldwide, and we have published over 2,000 IR websites. Our portfolio of intelligence and communication solutions empower our clients to remain ahead of the market by providing them with all the tools and insights they need to make effective decisions and better engage with the capital markets community.
João Marin
Partner & Sales Executive
