What makes investor relations management so difficult is that it spans many corporate disciplines and affects many aspects of business and governance. We have gone one step further and taken this challenging task online. Successfully.
We specialise in building online communities
African Information Solutions for Companies Online Limited (“African Is Cool”) specialises in online stakeholder communications and investor relations. Based on best IR practices, we use the internet to create and grow an online investment community with which you can communicate, and from which you can receive feedback. The bigger the online community, the lower the costs of communication, the greater your influence and the more efficient your communication is.
We use robust specialised software: Investorpass™
The key part of our service is the maintenance of a fully comprehensive interactive investor relations website that includes investor relations specific online software (Investorpass™). Investorpass™ is hosted in Texas in the USA. InvestorPass is US Sarbanes Oxley Act compliant online communications software, which means that the directors are able to certify that the platform is secure – over 300 companies use this software in the USA and on a number of other continents.
InvestorPass uses comprehensive data and interactive features to automatically build an online investor contact database. It is low maintenance since the security and upgrades to the software are all handled online. There are therefore no domestic IT implications to this service, and we do not even need to touch your existing corporate website – we just provide the link to append to your website. In fact our software is so flexible it can manage your whole corporate website should you want a “one-stop” corporate and online investor relations managed solution.
Managed online our service is relevant to companies of all sizes
Our service is managed online so other than an initial visit to your senior executives, generally all of our services are managed over the web. Country visits do depend, however, on the extent of the services required of us: Some clients expand our online mandate to include face-to-face consulting.
We introduce best IR practices to our clients, made relevant for Africa
We also provide advice on investor relations best practices and related communications policies specifically for sub Saharan Africa’s environment; i.e. we focus on the basics and do not get bogged down with onerous regulatory and legislative implications of US securities law.
There are many ways to measure our IR performance (and yours)
We report back monthly to our clients on progress. The key transparent measurement of our and our client performance is the number of visitors registering in Investorpass and opting in to receive information.
We appraise IR practices and research them in Africa
Our blog and news section includes original information and coverage of developments in sub-Saharan capital markets that are relevant to investors and listed companies. Our alerts and feedback interactivity ensures we are responsive to the community’s needs and represent them in the best interests of investor relations.
Our client base is growing rapidly. So is our investor community
We currently have 15 clients in four countries, with several more in the contract implementation stages. Our clients’ market capitalisation exceeds US$1.2 billion and we serve over 75,000 shareholders in our rapidly growing online investor community. In Zimbabwe, we manage the investor relations websites of Kingdom Meikles, Econet and OK Zimbabwe and are currently signing on two other Zimbabwean listed companies. In Botswana, we manage Imara’s online investor relations, and in Zambia Copperbelt Energy’s website and IR function. In addition, we have three clients in Malawi. Our offices are in Zimbabwe, Johannesburg and the UK.
The crux of the matter is not good governance…
If there is one reason you should consider breaking your many barriers (such as technology, lack of time and of resources) to an interactive website, it’s the commercial return enjoyed from communicating effectively with your investment community.
Ask our clients.
Our experience from our clients in the past five years shows really meaningful feedback from all stakeholders in all areas of our clients’ business: new deals, reducing input costs, employment opportunities etc. And we make sure that each feed back submission is responded to. Quickly. If our clients do not respond quickly we remind them repeatedly to do so, in the nicest possible way. This creates so much goodwill.
Our services appeal to a broad range of companies
Brand oriented companies such as telecoms companies and banks find our solution ideal for brand growth and enhancement. These advantages are also very marked in organisations that have a significant number of stakeholders, i.e. a large number of clients, policyholders, outgrowers, depositors, employees, stakeholders and product ranges etc.
Our solution is also a retail shareholder strategy at no extra cost
By providing a proprietary online email service to each and every investor the levels of appreciation shown by ordinary investors is high since most, if not all, companies in Africa ignore their retail shareholders. This appreciation evolves into improved corporate reputation and more business.
It’s also about actively pursuing investors but keeping costs low
We actively attract investors and other stakeholders to our clients’ websites: One of our initiatives is www.africanfinancials.com, Africa’s largest portal of online annual reports, freely accessible to investors. This website directs significant visitor numbers to our clients’ IR websites through the prominent position of our clients’ annual reports, and the traffic is then converted to stakeholder contacts. There are many other communications practices that we recommend to ensure your online community grows. A recent blog on Africanfinancials.com sheds more light.
So what sets us apart from our competitors?
- We identify visitors to your website individually.
- We offer each investor an online webmail function to enable to them to archive and manage your communications, and participate in the communications process. They can even include their own contact details.
- An online investor contact database categorises the investors and other stakeholders that are interested in your website. Investor lists can be exported at any time, which complements other traditional means of investor interaction, e.g. through advisors.
- All that is required in order to create a two-way communication channel with investors is a single visit to your website. There, email options are available to enable your company to “push” the information desired to the email addresses supplied. If your organisation has information of use to the investment community, then you are ideally placed to implement an online stakeholder relations management programme.
- All the activity of each investor on your website is tracked, so there is a full audit trail.
- We solicit and manage feedback from your stakeholders and investment community at every opportunity, i.e. in every email and other exchanges, and it is in this feedback where the strategic value lies.
Our clients are our greatest supporters
Have a look at the African Sun testimonial for an example of what our clients think. All our clients have recommended our services and if you want to know more, and perhaps speak to them directly, you will find them in the document named “What Our Clients Say” on our website.
Being unique means we don’t stand on anyone’s toes
We offer a truly unique comprehensive online investor solution across Africa. Our solution does not in any way conflict with your current IT, PR or marketing initiatives – in contrast, it complements them.
The crux of the matter is…
The core objective of having an investor relations approach such as this is to ensure that investors have access to information that enables them to make educated investment decisions about the value of your business. This protects directors from the wrath of shareholders when shares are undervalued and overvalued.
This is prima facie about hassle free responsible communications that ensure that directors carry out their core governance obligations. In reality the efficient mechanisms we implement to solicit feedback are of strategic commercial value. It is this latter point that set us apart from any other communications or website firm.
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