For three days in May, IROs from across North America headed to the base of Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, British Columbia. The majestic setting of the fourteenth annual Canadian Investor Relations Institute (Ciri) conference drew the largest number of IR professionals in the event’s history. With 295 attendees – including 15 percent visiting from the US – it’s clear that Canadian investor relations is thriving.
‘It’s very fitting to be here in the mountains because as investor relations officers we have climbed great peaks already and we are here to help each other learn to climb a lot faster and safer,’ theorises Wilma Jacobs, Ciri chairman and vice president of health and life sciences firm MDS.
Indeed, Ciri’s mission has always been to educate and advance the professional competency of its members, Jacobs says. ‘You can get an MBA but that won’t teach you investor relations.’
The IR topics on this year’s agenda included volatility management, retail investors, targeting, and attracting analyst coverage. But perhaps the most prominent issue was the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA’s) new draft policy on disclosure practices.
Issued only two days before the conference, it is designed to prevent selective disclosure by providing suggested guidelines to companies including establishing written disclosure policies and observing of a quiet period after each quarter.
‘Virtually all these recommendations are consistent with what securities regulators have been suggesting all along, the difference is they are now looking to enforce continuous disclosure,’ says Paul Goldman, securities lawyer and managing partner with Goodmans’ Vancouver office. ‘Canadian securities commissions are focusing more on issuers’ ongoing disclosure practices rather than just the initial prospectus,’ adds Brenda Benham, director under the policy and legislation group of the British Columbia Securities Commission.
While the new guidelines are been touted as Canada’s answer to Reg FD, this is not a new legislation; it’s simply a reinforcing existing Canadian laws. ‘We’ve had these rules for a long time but companies haven’t been paying attention to them,’ suggests Goldman.
In anticipation of the release of the CSA guidelines, which are up for comment until July 25, Ciri came out with a model disclosure policy in April. The organization recently conducted a study into disclosure practices, finding that 60 percent of Canadian companies claim to have written disclosure practices. This contrasts a year-old Ontario Securities Commission survey that found 71 percent of companies did not have a written disclosure policy. ‘What has changed isn’t what we disclose as public companies, it’s how we disclose it,’ says Kym Robertson, VP of external communications at Toronto-Dominion Financial Group.
Good news/bad news
A recurring message at this year’s conference was that IROs have to learn to be the bearers of bad news. ‘The real challenge for IR professionals is not how to communicate good news, it’s how to communicate bad news,’ says David Main, president and CEO of Inex Pharmaceuticals. ‘By all means, highlight the positive side of your story but speak to those negatives, those dark clouds of uncertainty as well,’ echoes Michael Phelps, chairman and chief executive of Westcoast Energy.
Canadian companies have been hit hard by market lulls and much of the two-day conference was dedicated to discussions about managing expectations in today’s environment. Dealing with market volatility ‘begins with finding out why your stock price is low’, suggests Richard Young, VP of IR at Barrick Gold. Perception studies are often ‘the first step in developing a proactive IR plan,’ he adds.
Next year’s annual conference will take place at the Manoir Richelieu on the edge of the Saint Lawrence river in Quebec.
‘Oh Canada’
Canadian IROs proved they are a patriotic and competitive bunch at this year’s Ciri party, where the theme was ‘what it means to be Canadian’. This resulted in scores of red-clad attendees sporting hockey jerseys. Canada NewsWire demonstrated its patriotism by announcing a new initiative to support the Canadian Olympic Association. ‘For every news release and every webcast, we will donate one dollar to support Canadian Olympic athletes at the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City,’ announced Tom Enright, president and CEO of Canada NewsWire. Olympic medalist Susan Auch, a speed skater who has competed in five Olympic games, was on hand to announce CNW’s ‘Canada Wins!’ campaign.
