For a public company, an Investor Relations Website is more than just a regulatory requirement, it's a communications platform. Investor Relations Officers should view the IR Website as an opportunity to connect with investors and analysts in a medium that offers technological and functional advantages that cannot be matched by paper filings, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Companies can utilize their IR Websites to differentiate themselves and provide a more comprehensive sense of their strategy and results by including content that speaks more directly to their business and their industry. It's also an opportunity for companies to outline their own unique approach within the industry that makes their value proposition compelling to an investor, and to provide the financial data alongside that message to back it up. This whitepaper provides some examples of sector-specific data that can add great value to company IR Web sites in different industries.

1. Leverage Sector-Specific Data
for a More Compelling IR Website

2. Leverage Sector-Specific Data for a More Compelling IR Website
Overview company information and news, or even providing high-
level, generic financial data. Companies can differentiate
A company’s Investor Relations website provides an themselves and provide a more comprehensive sense of
opportunity for firms to connect with shareholders, potential their strategy and results by including content that speaks
investors, analysts, the media, and others who may just be more directly to their business and their industry. Following
interested in learning more about the company. The IR site are some examples of sector-specific data that can add
also offers a vehicle through which companies can tell their great value to company IR Websites in different industries.
story, the way they want it to be told.
Most IR sites attempt to do so by presenting a collection of
standard information including SEC filings, press releases,
Banking & Financial Services
corporate governance information, and stock price data. In the banking sector, investors looking to get a sense of
These are all important pieces of information, and are the how well a company is performing will want to know detail
necessary components that create the framework of a great surrounding deposits, loan composition, and performance
investor relations Website. However, if a company really metrics like asset quality and capital ratios. By including this
wants to differentiate itself in the eyes of the investment detail in the IR Website, the company controls its message
community, it needs to go beyond just these standard rather than leaving analysts to rely on their own models and
elements. metrics that may not take into account performance drivers
unique to a specific company.
Whether analyzing the company as a potential investment
target, or looking for more detail about a company’s
strengths and strategies, investors and analysts may
walk away unfulfilled if some of their basic questions go
un-answered. Questions such as:
• How does this company stack up against its industry
peers on key financial measurements?
• What metrics are most important for companies in
this industry, and is this firm among the leaders on
these key items?
• What % of revenue comes from different geographic
areas or from specific product and service lines?
• Where does this company rank in terms of market
share in different regions across the country?
• What are the key performance indicators that are
most relevant to the company’s strategic and
financial objectives?
Answers to these questions might all be found in the Table 1: Financial Highlights – Balance Sheet/Asset Quality Ratios
company’s financial documents and SEC filings, and
Especially following the recent financial and market turmoil,
experienced, long-term investors won’t make a decision to
deposit/loan composition is a critical component in evaluating
buy without that knowledge. But, if you have a good story to
a bank’s financial position. Providing this information in
tell, why make investors and analysts hunt for this type of
a transparent way helps investors make intelligent and
critical information? And, if your company has a better value
informed decisions fueled by data that has been vetted
proposition than your peers’, why not make sure everyone
internally, and adds credibility to your company’s financial
knows this by putting this material front and center?
disclosure.
The best IR sites don’t settle for only communicating general
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3. Leverage Sector-Specific Data for a More Compelling IR Website
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
For REITs, it’s just as important to leverage the IR Website
by highlighting financial metrics critical to their company’s
financial performance strategy that go beyond standard
GAAP disclosures. For example, adding tables that show FFO
and per share ratios, as well as same-store NOI and growth
rates (along with the inputs behind those calculations)
provides investors with deeper insight than they would
find elsewhere, and presents them in a transparent way
using calculation methodologies endorsed by the company.
This can help alleviate confusion and save time that could
otherwise be spent clarifying and validating financial models
and templates for investors and analysts.
Table 2: Deposit Loan Composition
While GAAP data found on the income statement and balance
sheet tell an important part of any bank’s story, they won’t
provide a full 360 degree view of the company’s operations
on their own. Showing deposit market share information,
based on data filed with the FDIC, adds context to financial
performance by illustrating the bank’s geographical footprint
as compared to its peers. Investors want to know how the
bank compares to other banks of similar size in its markets.
Including data like this provides a much more complete
picture of how a particular bank stacks up against their Table 4: Financial Highlights
peers and the market as a whole. Because REITs are legally required to distribute at least 90%
of taxable income to shareholders in the form of dividends,
their dividend history and yield is naturally top of mind for
a REIT investor. By bringing these metrics front and center
on the IR Website, as well as offering insight into how they
stack up against peers, REITs can provide their potential
investors a valuable service.
IR websites should highlight
financial metrics critical to a
Table 3: Deposit Market Share
company’s business strategy.
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4. Leverage Sector-Specific Data for a More Compelling IR Website
other industry, providing this data adds significant value to
any IR Website.
However, the insurance industry carries additional regulations
that require companies to report supplemental information
that is of critical importance to their business, and is
extremely valuable when evaluating overall performance.
By including these documents on the Investor Relations
Website, companies give investors additional tools to make
informed investment decisions by taking them beyond the
standard generic financial statements.
Table 5: Peer Analysis & Dividends
Potential REIT investors also want to see detailed property
portfolio data – property types (shopping centers,
commercial office space, etc.), allocation as a % of the
portfolio, geographical exposure and transaction history.
Table 7: Insurance Regulatory Filings
Leveraging this data, an insurance company can also
supplement their NAIC filings with breakouts of their net
premiums written by business line. This gives investors a
strong understanding of how their premiums are allocated
without having to dig through paper filings and update their
models manually.
Table 6: Property Portfolio Data
Insurance Industry
Most public companies are required to file quarterly and
annual financial results with the SEC, and those filings
drive many of the valuable reports and datasets referenced
above. For insurance companies, this information is no less
important, and investors will always utilize GAAP financials,
per share measurements and profitability ratios. Like any
Table 8: Statutory Business Lines
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5. Leverage Sector-Specific Data for a More Compelling IR Website
Energy Industry
Energy companies have a unique opportunity to provide a
wealth of information about their operations, taking investors
and analysts far beyond the standard financial disclosures.
Especially in a highly regulated industry, providing insight
into energy throughput, customer counts and plant capacity
(among other key business drivers) is extremely valuable
to investors and analysts interested in evaluating your
company. By not forcing them to hunt through FERC and
other regulatory filings for data, you allow them to focus on
the numbers themselves, sourced to your IR Website, and in
the context of your company’s story.
Table 9: Financial Charting
Summary
These are just a few examples of the sector-focused data
that can be used to turn a good IR site into a great one.
Ultimately, the goal of the IR Website should not just be to
comply with regulatory requirements, but to create another
channel of communication between an investor or analyst
and the company. Leveraging this type of data, while also
The Power of Charts providing investors and analysts with powerful tools and
convenient features such as robust charting capabilities,
IR sites that allow investors to chart financial information
mobile accessibility, and alternative distribution formats
to compare data over time add a completely new dimension
including RSS feeds and social media integration, can
to financial tables, providing a unique and interactive
help drive traffic to the company’s IR site and position the
experience on the company Website.
company more effectively to the public.
Charts are a great way for companies to drive investors to key
performance metrics and paint an impactful picture that will
assist them in evaluating the company. Whether it’s a bank
simply visualizing their Assets/Equity trend of the last four
years, a Financial Technology company showing quarterly
Providing powerful charting
Sales Revenue vs. Operating Income, or a Media company capabilities on an IR Website
displaying its Recurring EBITDA against EBITDA Margin,
providing powerful charting capabilities on an IR Website
has an impact that just can’t
has an impact that just can’t be matched by a standard be matched by a standard
financial table.
financial table.
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