NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- BNY Mellon, a
global leader in investment management and investment services,
today released its "2017 Global Trends in Investor Relations"
report, which finds that geopolitical risk remains the predominant
issue affecting overall global market confidence, according to the
Investor Relations (IR) professionals responding to its survey.
Companies report they are depending less upon the sell-side
for key types of investor outreach, with the majority of companies
now prioritizing the ability to pick their own target investors as
a defining factor for their roadshows.
This is the 11th edition of the Investor Relations
survey, first published annually starting in 2004, and biennially
starting in 2013. This year's results, compared to the previous
survey, published in 2015, illustrates an overall drop in focus on
the top five traditional global financial centers, as leading
sources for new or increased investment in the next five years.
While the U.S. continues to be perceived by most respondents as a
source for investment opportunities, cited by 80% in 2017,
this decreased from 91% in 2015. Over the same period, the
number two-ranked United Kingdom
declined to 58% from 76%, followed by China at 26%, which declined from
50% in 2015, Singapore at
26%, down from 44%, and Hong Kong at 24%, down from 37%
in 2015, respectively.
"IR professionals are responding to critical market developments
such as the growth of passive investment and the headwinds
affecting the global brokerage community by taking on more
responsibility for market engagement themselves," said Christopher Kearns, CEO of BNY Mellon's
Depositary Receipts business. "These developments stem from, among
other things, regulatory reforms resulting from MiFID II, new
global stewardship codes and the realities of the current market
environment, which are in turn placing considerable new demands on
investor relations teams globally."
The role of an IR professional continues to evolve and increase
in strategic importance, and this year's research also highlights
major trends and issues in IR to help the issuer community best
prepare for the future. This includes insights into gender equality
in the IR profession based on the gender profile of survey
respondents and how IR professionals are reacting to critical
market developments, including the growth of passive and
environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing.
Companies also noted that changing shareholder structure, for
example, passive versus active investment, will be the number one
influence on the function of investor relations over the next 10
years. Additional key findings from the "2017 Global Trends in
Investor Relations" report include:
Gender Equality (based on the gender profile of survey
respondents):
- The gender profile of survey respondents: 29% of
Investment Relations Officers (IROs) surveyed were female and
71% male
- Female IROs globally earn nearly one third (31%) less than
their male counterparts (total mean salary and bonus)
- The salary gap was much greater in emerging markets, where male
IROs earn almost two-thirds or 65% more compared to female
IROs
- The largest concentration of female IRO professionals was in
the Financials, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors
- The largest concentration of male IRO professionals was in the
Technology, Basic Materials, and Telecommunications sectors
Passive and ESG Investing (based on survey respondent
feedback):
- As the significance of passive investing grows, almost
one-third or 32% of IROs reported communicating with this
type of investor, with the focus being on governance issues
- Issuers reported the highest engagement with passive investors
in North America at 35%,
followed by Asia-Pacific
29%, Latin America
21%, Africa and
Middle East 9% and
Europe 7%
- In North America, nearly
two-thirds or 62% of respondents believe growth of passive
investments will have greatest impact on investor relations
functions in the next 10 years
- As companies become more socially responsible, IROs are
increasing outreach to ESG investors as potential new sources of
investment, up 34% this year compared to 26% in
2013
- Asia-Pacific companies
communicated and engaged with ESG investors the most at 48%,
followed by North America
16%, Latin America and
Europe 15%, Africa and the Middle East 6%
"BNY Mellon dedicates considerable resources for research not
only to ensure that the issuer community can consider how to best
prepare for the future, but also to identify areas where we can
actively partner with our clients to help them navigate these
developments," said Guy Gresham,
Head of the Global IR Advisory team in BNY Mellon's Depositary
Receipts group. "We look forward to discussing the findings of this
report with clients to identify areas where they can enhance their
current—and future—market engagement strategy."
BNY Mellon's survey, "Global Trends in Investor Relations," is
the longest running and most comprehensive global survey of the
investor relations industry and explores how publicly traded
companies are managing their IR practices and the issues that
affect them. Now in its eleventh edition, the 2017 report is based
on results from 537 respondents in 51 countries that span the range
of market cap and industry sectors including: Basic Materials,
Consumer Staples, Financials, Energy, Healthcare, Industrials,
Technology, Telecommunications, and Utilities.
To learn more about BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts and its
global Depositary Receipts team, please visit our website or submit
a request by clicking here and a member of BNY Mellon's Depositary
Receipts team will contact you.
BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping
its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout
the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for
institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon
delivers informed investment management and investment services in
35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of September 30, 2017, BNY Mellon had $32.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or
administration, and $1.8 trillion in
assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of
contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage,
service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the
corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE:
BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com.
Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at
www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.
Contact:
Frank Pinto
+1 917 309 1065
frank.pinto@bnymellon.com
Peter Gau
+1 212 815 2754
peter.gau@bnymellon.com
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SOURCE BNY Mellon