WESTPORT, Conn., Dec. 15, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rivel Research Group hosted its fifth semiannual Intelligence Council Conference in San Francisco in early December, attracting nearly 100 senior-level investor relations professionals seeking the most up-to-date research on best practices in IR. "Our first event outside of New York City far surpassed our expectations, and really showed us that IROs will travel long distances to get the latest insight on buy-side needs and current IR trends," said Rivel President Brian Rivel.
Focusing mainly on best practices for investor days and PowerPoint presentations, and looking at how social media is being integrated into communication strategies, the event hosted IROs from all over North America and as far away as Germany. Conference attendees gained valuable perspective on what makes an investor event a success, the mistakes to avoid, what should be included (and excluded) from investor presentations and how the investment community is using social media. Several roundtables were convened during the conference to allow IROs to discuss these topics and others more in depth, and provided insight into how peers are handling current issues facing investor relations today.
In addition, Rivel Research Group revealed preliminary results of its vendor study, research aimed at uncovering the companies providing the best-in-class services IR departments widely use. "Our vendor study is something new to the marketplace and really overdue. IR professionals rely on these services every day, and yet nobody has taken the time to shine a light on who does what the best (or the worst). So for us to have preliminary research for the investor relations space was very insightful for the audience," added Rivel.
This fifth installment of the IC conference also included the Second Annual Rivel 5.0 Awards, which honor management teams and IR executives across all industries who excel in their profession, according to the investment community. Among the 13 award winners, Southern Company won the 2011 Rivel Best-in-Class IR Award for recognition of winning an unprecedented eight 5.0 honors this year. Other notable winners included Amerigroup and the H. J. Heinz Company, sharing the overall effectiveness in investor relations award. Amerigroup also won for providing top-notch management access while Heinz took home the IR responsiveness and transparency awards. Another multiple award winner was Applied Materials for the levels of disclosure and transparency awards.
"Our Rivel 5.0 program encompasses senior executives that excel on management characteristics like credibility and capability and IR professionals who exhibit best-in-class investor relations practices," said Rivel. "And performance on these measurements is determined solely by the investment community through our perception studies. This is not simply a popularity contest, it's Wall Street that is distinguishing who is the best of the best across all industries." Learn more about Rivel 5.0 here.
In addition, the day was highlighted by insights derived from a distinguished buy-side panel, offering attendees the opportunity to discuss the buy-side's views on investor days and presentations, and social media use for investor communications. Panelists included: Melissa Chadwick-Dunn of RS Investments, Marty Dirks of McCullough & Associates, David Hoeft of Dodge & Cox, Walter Price, Jr. of RCM and Jim O'Donnell of Forward Management.
"Taking nothing away from our previous conferences, the information coming out of this event was extremely valuable to any person working in investor relations today," remarked Rivel's Executive Vice President and Head of Research Jim Peebles. "Having the buy-side analysts working alongside such senior-level IROs was highly productive and informative, plus the peer roundtables offered attendees a sounding board to bounce ideas off each other and really get a glimpse into how others are addressing key IR challenges at their companies."
For a summary of the event's discussions or for information about Rivel's Intelligence Council, please contact Barbara Sullivan, Director of Marketing, at (203) 635-4383 or bsullivan@rivel.com.
About Rivel Research Group
Gathering, analyzing and interpreting investment community feedback is Rivel's core business. Rivel Research Group specializes in delivering actionable insight based on in-depth measurements of the global investment community. Rivel's highly experienced staff provides the well-informed, unbiased and strategically relevant intelligence companies need to effectively communicate with such important constituencies as sell-side analysts, buy-side analysts, portfolio managers, the financial media and other influential audiences. The comprehensive information that Rivel supplies enables companies to evaluate performance, formulate strategy and identify opportunities to achieve corporate objectives directed toward these groups. Additional information concerning Rivel is available on its website at www.rivel.com
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About the Intelligence Council
Rivel's Intelligence Council is the only program of its kind that involves the perspective of the buy-side in the discussion of what is best-in-class investor relations. Most programs that exist today use peer-based information to uncover what is a "best" practice, which is more of a "common" practice rather than a "best" practice. By understanding buy-side needs, the Intelligence Council provides a better platform to connect with peers on discussion. It is no longer about what everybody else is doing, rather the question becomes, "What does the investment community expect and how does this correlate with what is currently provided?"