Delivering a Great Investor Communications Meeting
Many investments struggle over investment communications.
Using a fixed presentation approach and report approach goes far to correct miscommunication and issues.
As important as the presentation, hold these meetings on a fixed regular schedule (probably quarterly or even monthly).
Over communicating with investors accomplished properly should be simple and is reassuring to them.
Additionally, when events turn sour or difficult their early involvement prevents questions and may help create effective solutions.
First, I recommend a conference call format for regular investor communication because the format provides availability to the principal for investors, managing the agenda and information is simple, and limiting time is more manageable.
Second, before a conference call, your investors expect to receive supporting information.
I recommend that this include:
plan and exceptional items.
With all of this accomplished, what are the points of an exception investor communications meeting:
Conducting meetings as outlined will assure consistent, regular information is in the hands of investors, that almost all issues developing or underway are clearly understood or can be clearly understood, and that investors feel they are receiving excellent information about their investment.
The calls will serve to increase the principal's credibility, to entice other investors, and to protect the interests of the investors and principal.
Using a fixed presentation approach and report approach goes far to correct miscommunication and issues.
As important as the presentation, hold these meetings on a fixed regular schedule (probably quarterly or even monthly).
Over communicating with investors accomplished properly should be simple and is reassuring to them.
Additionally, when events turn sour or difficult their early involvement prevents questions and may help create effective solutions.
First, I recommend a conference call format for regular investor communication because the format provides availability to the principal for investors, managing the agenda and information is simple, and limiting time is more manageable.
Second, before a conference call, your investors expect to receive supporting information.
I recommend that this include:
- The current month's income statement,
- The year to date income statement,
- If the meeting is quarterly, provide all three statements,
- Budget vs.
Plan statement, - Other exceptional items
plan and exceptional items.
With all of this accomplished, what are the points of an exception investor communications meeting:
- Regularity and predictability.
Investors need to know what will be covered routinely, what is considered exceptional, what information they will receive, and how to join the session. - Brevity.
The call should quickly review the situation, performance, and ongoing activity.
The point of the call is to update investors on the progress and condition of the investment.
The point is not to fill time. - Attendance.
The call should capture who attended each time. - Questions and Answer.
Each call should include a question and answer session.
The questions and answers should be captured as given along with who asked each question. - Action items.
The meeting should close with any action items identifying who is assigned, clearly describing the action and the expected satisfied conclusion, and establishing a due date or update schedule. - While not part of the call, each call should result in distributed minutes to the investors and placed in the entity minute book.
Conducting meetings as outlined will assure consistent, regular information is in the hands of investors, that almost all issues developing or underway are clearly understood or can be clearly understood, and that investors feel they are receiving excellent information about their investment.
The calls will serve to increase the principal's credibility, to entice other investors, and to protect the interests of the investors and principal.