Canadian Natural Resources
Calgary-based oil and natural gas company Canadian Natural Resources won for most improved investor relations for the second year running. ‘It used to have disastrous IR. It has completely turned around over the past two years,’ noted one respondent in the Investor Perception Study, Canada 2005. Award winners are chosen using research for this report.
‘Most investors now understand how we work and what to expect from us,’ explains Corey Bieber, director of IR. ‘We have added significant transparency to our financial disclosures and our forward business plans, enabling our stakeholders to better understand our prospects and our firm. We developed a plan to involve select members of senior management in conference and non-deal roadshows. By having a few management members involved, we are able to significantly increase our IR activity level without compromising our attention to running core business activities.’
Progress Energy Trust
Toronto-based Progress Energy Trust was a triple IR champion this year in the mid-cap category. The natural gas producer claimed the grand prix for best overall IR plus awards for best IRO and best IR web site.
Greg Kist, the firm’s vice president of IR, says the key ingredient for an excellent IR function is commitment to investors. ‘Organizationally there must be a relentless commitment to meeting the information needs of investors through a high level of disclosure, access to management and knowledgeable IR,’ he explains. ‘As an IRO it’s imperative to have a sound understanding of the business and the key success drivers, and then be able to effectively communicate these to analysts and investors. I believe the information needs of the investment community continue to grow. My goal for 2005 is to do much of the same, but also to find ways to enhance our disclosure even further.’
ATI Technologies
Leading multimedia, graphics and video supplier ATI Technologies stole the show at this year’s awards, winning in five separate large-cap categories including the grand prix for best overall investor relations.
IR director Janet Craig, who scooped the prize for best IRO for the second year running, holds herself to the highest standards. ‘Because you are replacing the CEO and CFO as a spokesperson you need to be able to talk about the business as if you were them,’ she observes. ‘So if I talk about the business with less understanding or ability then the CEO or the CFO, I’ve failed. That gives me a benchmark to talk against.’
The IR team won major kudos for holding excellent conferences. ‘We hold ‘teachings’ at least once a month to respond to investors’ interests,’ explains Craig. ‘So we have senior-level product managers, who live and breathe the business, go through a webcast presentation and then open it up to questions. What makes these teachings successful is that I send an e-mail to people who typically attend these events and ask them what they want to learn and what their objectives are on the day of the teaching, and make sure we meet those objectives at the end of the day.’
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan’s vice president of corporate relations Betty-Ann Heggie was among the brightest stars of the evening, winning the award for best IRO in the mega-cap category.
Heggie’s IR team makes understanding the investor base a top priority. ‘We spend a great deal of time on shareholder ID,’ she explains. ‘We try to know as much as possible about our investors: why they invest in our company and what they expect from us. We make it our goal to visit every investor that holds more than 100,000 shares at least once a year. We believe an ongoing and aggressive communications program built on real transparency helps increase shareholder loyalty, which, over time, translates to a higher share price.’
Heggie intends to learn from the best to keep on succeeding. ‘I’ll call the other people who won this year and see what ideas are working for other companies!’ she says.
‘I can say that and laugh, but there is truth in it. PotashCorp is a best practices company and we believe there is value in learning from what others do well. I’ll take a look at what has been successful in other IR programs and see if it can improve the way we deal with our shareholders.’
Cognos
Ottawa-based business intelligence and software provider Cognos was a double IR prize winner this year, taking home the awards for best communication by senior management in the large-cap market category and for best IR in the US market.
‘Senior management is involved daily and extensively in IR,’ comments John Lawlor, vice president of corporate relations. ‘I often say we have the largest investor relations team of any company in the world because it extends well beyond the Cognos IR department – which is already top-notch – to at least a dozen of our key executives, who are in regular contact with the Street, in a managed fashion and through a variety of venues.’
Lawlor explains that the IR team puts significant effort into growing analyst coverage in the US, which has increased from seven analysts five years ago to 52 today.
‘We’ve done this by zealously focusing on what investor relations departments are supposed to focus on: quality, candor, credibility, quantity, accuracy, timeliness of information, access to senior management and responsiveness to requests made to the IR department,’ Lawlor concludes.
EnCana
Gwyn Morgan, CEO of oil and gas colossus EnCana, received top honors for best IR by a CEO, while the company snapped up the grand prix for best overall IR in the mega-cap category for the second year running.
‘We try to focus on all aspects of the investor relations program, including the quality of the press releases and the quality of the overall disclosure,’ says Sheila McIntosh, vice president of IR at the Calgary-based firm. ‘The staff within the group tries to be extremely responsive to the questions and the issues raised by the investment community, and we try to ensure that our management is accessible.’
Top management’s accessibility and involvement in IR – especially that of Morgan – has certainly helped EnCana’s IR team to shine.
‘You just have to look at Morgan’s record – he has turned the company into a world-class contender,’ commented one analyst in the Investor Perception Study, Canada 2005.
‘[Morgan] certainly believes in the importance of communicating with the investment community, so he is always very open to meeting with investors. I think that permeates everything he does,’ notes McIntosh.
BCE
Telecom giant BCE was one of the evening’s brightest lights and stole the mega-cap limelight in many of the technology-related categories with five awards: best use of conferencing, best investment community meetings, best financial media relations, best use of technology and best IR web site.
The firm relaunched its web site in January 2004 to provide in-depth company information to satisfy all stakeholders. ‘Establishing and maintaining effective web-based relationships with stakeholders is a vital element of online business, and we believe BCE is an outstanding example of how the rapid delivery of valuable and informative content can enhance such relationships and improve the online investor experience,’ says Richard Bengian, manager of IR at BCE. ‘In addition to presenting real-time financial data and allowing regular and precise monitoring by investors, it also provides detailed information on our business, growth prospects and performance expectations. Our site makes excellent use of technology, providing webcasts of conference calls and shareholder meetings, transcripts of quarterly results conference calls – which include the analyst Q&A – and interactive financials.’
ING Canada
Toronto-based insurance and investment services company ING Canada took home the award for best IR for an initial public offering. The investment community felt that, of the 87 initial offerings that took place in Canada in 2004, ING Canada’s IR team was the best at presenting its ‘unique’ offering to the Street.
Brian Lynch, IR consultant at ING Canada, attributes the company’s win to its senior management team.
‘We would not have won this award if it weren’t for the ING Canada executive team that represented us on the roadshow,’ he points out. ‘That team maintained its wits, enthusiasm and energy throughout a truly grueling schedule, while articulating the story in a compelling, conservative and knowledgeable manner.’
After a winning start, Lynch is aiming to create ‘a first-class IR function’ at ING Canada, but for now his team is happy with the award.
‘As a newly listed company we are still shaping our investor relations program and processes,’ he explains. ‘Our primary accomplishment was successfully getting this far!’
