Investor Relations » Investors

Virtual Investor Presentations – How To Meet Public Company CEO’s From The Convenience Of Your Desk

Admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:43:30 +0000

Investor meetings are the life-blood of public companies. They can motivate potential investors to invest in a company as well as provide existing investors with information about their investment. To reach new investors, CEOs traditionally engage in road shows traveling from city-to-city to meet with investors. However, today the time and financial costs of travel have skyrocketed for busy executives, as well as investors and analysts. Worse, with today air traffic problems executives find themselves stranded in airports wasting valuable time that could be used to build a business.

Virtual Investor Presentations (VIPs) solve this problem through live virtual investor meetings using the internet to present the PowerPoint and the audio for the speaker’s presentation and Q&A. This allows CEO’s of public companies and investors to attend a live meeting in the convenience of their offices.

VIPs are NOT webcasts of live conference presentations. They allow the audience to interact with the presenter and receive answers to their questions just as they would at the live conference itself.

VIPs don’t replace face-to-face meetings; rather, as part of a comprehensive Investor Relations Program, they complement such meetings. Just as companies use webinars to market their services and products to potential buyers, and then follow-up with one-on-one sales meetings with serious prospects, cost-effective Investor Relations Officers companies use VIPs to introduce their company to potential investors, and then travel for one-on-one meetings with investors anxious to make a commitment.

One of the best benefits of a VIP, is that it can reach a larger, potentially, national audience, since all investors and analysts can attend from the convenience of their offices. This allows the public company to put itself on these people’s radar screens, and then follow-up with them to show that they are delivering on the promise. And when they do, they can announce another VIP to let people know that the company is executing on its growth strategy – something every investor wants to hear!

Few Points About Reliance Power Ipo Investors Should not Overlook

Admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 10:15:27 +0000

The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has asked Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Ltd, lead manager to the Reliance Power IPO, to provide certain clarifications related the public offer even as concerns have been expressed over corporate governance issues involved in issue of the company’s shares to promoters at par and transfer of Reliance Energy’s power projects to Reliance Power. The Anil Ambani Group had stated recently that SEBI’s clearance for the IPO is awaited.

REL investors say that approval of shareholders was not obtained for transfer of power projects –– core business of the company which is to bring in revenues –– to Reliance Power. This, being a major decision with a significant impact of the company’s future –– should have been placed before the shareholders.

REL did not inform stock exchanges about the transfer of power projects to Reliance Power. Being a listed company, REL should have informed the exchanges about this important decision which has an impact on the future earnings of the company. According to SEBI norms, listed companies have to inform stock exchanges about all decision that have a bearing on their earnings.

Dharampal Sabharwal, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, had drawn the attention of finance minister P Chidambaram and SEBI to irregularities reported about the Reliance Power IPO. While the promoter companies have been issued 500 crore shares of the company at Rs. 2 per share, the IPO is said to be aiming at a premium of Rs. 60 per share from the public. Some investors have also written to SEBI, complaining about irregularities.

Reliance Power had filed draft red herring prospectus with SEBI on October 3. Usually, clearance from the regulator is granted in three weeks and there was expectation that the IPO would get clearance on Tuesday.

While ADAG still awaits clearance for the issue, it is understood that Kotak Mahindra is communicating with SEBI for the clarifications. The Group wants to issue shares at a face value of Rs. 2 per share, but the regulator provides permission for such pricing only in case the value of the shares is Rs. 500 or more.

The clarifications sought by SEBI are in line with SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) Guidelines of 2000. “If any additional information/clarification is sought by SEBI in relation to the draft offer document from the merchant banker(s), SEBI may issue such observations within 15 days from the date of receipt of satisfactory reply from the merchant banker(s),” say norms framed by the regulator for such clarifications.

What Commercial Real Estate Investment Clubs In Michigan Can Do For Investors

Admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:23:44 +0000

The commercial real estate investment clubs in Michigan can help investors find properties that are sitting waiting to be purchased by someone. There are different kinds of commercial properties for sale, such as regular commercial sites and commercial lots. Some of these have not been developed yet. Once they get a buyer, development can begin.
The state of Michigan has lots of families whose income fits in the middle class range. Since the state is known for supporting different types of things relating to sports, such as swimming pools and other related sports, there is no doubt that commercial real estate would thrive here. The commercial real estate investment clubs in the state have connections to make things happen.
In the state of Michigan, you will also find commercial real estate for retail areas, physician’s offices and industrial areas. With the help of the local investment clubs, you can find information on commercial lots and office buildings. There are lots of places in Michigan where you can get your money’s worth in commercial real estate investments.
Members of the commercial real estate investment clubs can help you create a business plan. This plan should include what your business is about, the focus and objective of you business, and who your customer base will be. As long as you provide the club members enough information, they can assist you with finding viable commercial properties.
The commercial real estate investment clubs in Michigan can help you search for different investment properties if you are not familiar with the process. You should narrow your choices down to a few in the beginning. This way, you won’t get overwhelmed with information. There are plenty of commercial properties to select. However, the best properties that investors seem to thrive on are the ones by the lake area.
If your business is one that needs to have a location near the lake or waterfront, keep in mind you will be paying a little bit more because of the location. Location means a lot when you are want to invest successfully in commercial property.
You as an investor should choose an area in Michigan where it is conducive to the demands of your business. The commercial real estate investment club can help you do that. They can help you select an area where the traffic will flow. If you choose a high traffic area, it may cost you a little bit more. Don’t despair, it will be worth it in the long run. The clubs in Michigan are very familiar with the industrial areas that surround where they live.
Some of the club members may be familiar with the lake front and waterfront areas in Michigan, and can provide tips and insight as to whether or not the area is a viable location for you. There is no need of setting up shop there if you don’t have anything to show for it.
The commercial real estate investment clubs in Michigan can help you find quality real estate agents and brokers who can secure a deal for you with that property. The clubs can also help you check out getting financing and insurance for it.
If you are considering a commercial investment in the state of Michigan and need assistance, do your homework, check a few local clubs out, find the best one that suites your needs, attend their meetings, educational seminars. Find people that are successful and have experience investing, see if you can partner up with them, learn from them.

How to use Index Funds as low-cost options for investors

Admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:23:49 +0000

Index funds are designed to imitate the performance of benchmark market portfolios and replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market. To achieve that, the fund purchases all the securities in the index and buys or sells investments according to the index changes aiming to always keep in line with the underlying index. One of the main advantages of index funds for investors is that they are passively managed and as such, they incur lower-than-average management fees costs and lower expense ratios than actively managed funds. Because an index composition does not change frequently, fund managers have to make fewer trades when dealing with index funds and therefore fees and taxes are lower. On the contrary, fund managers, who deal with actively managed funds, have to follow the track of the index on a regular basis in order to anticipate any changes in its composition. Consequently, fees and taxes are higher. Index funds do not incur expenses related to the stock selection. Typically, index funds use sampling and mirroring models to decide the appropriate timing to buy, hold or sell individual securities and be in agreement with the target index. However, this does not guarantee that passive management is always effective, because sampling and mirroring models are, by default, not 100 percent accurate and this justifies the occurrence of tracking errors. Index funds offer to investors a high level of diversification at a relative low cost. If investors would invest directly in stocks using the same portfolio allocation, they would probably incur significantly higher costs. Moreover, index funds are always fully invested to the particular index, which means that portfolio returns are higher during market upturns and lower during market downturns. However, investors should be aware that indexing is quite a risky investment strategy during economic downturns. Instead, an actively managed fund would consider risk as an opportunity and would outperform the index. To choose properly an index fund, investors should know which index the fund mirrors and what is the risk associated to the index. The risk/return relationship is not the same in all index funds and therefore, investors should choose an index fund that really reflects the risk that they are willing to undertake. Considering the tax effects associated to an index fund is another important consideration. A common assumption about index funds is that they are cheap because of passive management. However, some index funds incur high annual expenses and do not obtain considerable taxable gains as their gains depend on the position they sell. The most widely used index funds track the Standard & Poor’s (S&P 500) index, the Russell 2000 that tracks small companies, the MSCI EAFE that tracks the performance of foreign stocks in Europe, Australasia, and the Far East, the DJ Wilshire 5000 that measures the performance of all U. S. equity securities, and the Lehman Aggregate Bond Index that that tracks the performance of bond market. Conclusively, index funds are an investment strategy with clearly defined rules of ownership that are held constant in spite of market conditions. However, among low cost index funds, risk exposure is more important than any fees associated to the fund. Therefore, investors should primarily consider the risk associated to the fund. Risk is the uncertainty of their expected returns. If they don’t know what to expect, they won’t be able to choose the right index fund to match their risk profile.

Media Influence on the Behavior of Investors and Traders

Admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:23:33 +0000

The media has always had the power to influence behaviors, whether you are talking about investors, ethnic persecution, or potential catastrophic events, the media releases information and the public reacts. However, there is more to investor reaction than whether there is discernable and foretelling information in the news. There are psychological aspects that come into play when traders are looking to determine the media’s information as a warning or just fluff.
While there are many psychological stances on loss, any trader who experiences loss or is experiencing a current loss is likely to react within the realm of their personality as well as categorically in line with their own value system. If a loss means that the investor means they are not smart enough for trading, they may hang onto it for an extended period of time to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible. If a loss to an individual trader is just an event without any ego attached to it, changes are pretty good that he or she will just dump the stock, minimize their losses, and move on. These psychological factors play a role in any single investor’s response to media coverage and interpretation.
The media does have the power to influence the majority of investors, bad news often leads to a high number of dumped stock and good prices often lead to a high number of profitable sales. These sales then cause a different fluctuation in the market. When you combine the media influence, the personal psychological aspects of any given trader, and the general fluctuation of market conditions, you end up with an interesting scenario governed by expectations of public reaction.
Studies have proven that the media does not have carte blanche over the general trading population. In fact, the media news must be specifically related to a company, as opposed to the general climate of the economic state of affairs, before the general population of traders would be expected to sell and dump. When specific companies are named and projected to head south in the near or immediate future, the stock holders want out immediately. Fluctuation predictions really have much less of an affect on mass dumping. Generally, there is no impact when the media reports a decline in the economic climate overall, nor is there a great response when the media reports that there is a warming economic climate.
The basic psychology behind these results is pretty simple, and a savvy investor can actually learn to profit from media news that helps to prompt a mass dumping. Specific companies are those that the investor chose themselves, they are responsible for their own choices and often the news that they have “made a poor choice” creates a regretful sense of wounded pride in the average trader. Thus, those who chose to invest with the specified company now try to seek out redemption or damage control by dumping the stock. Since any single individual trader has absolutely no power over the market conditions, this becomes less personal, and usually no action is taken.
When the media begins delivering unsettling news to stockholders of specific companies, you have the opportunity to decide whether the company is in a downward spiral that will end on the bottom or if they have simply hit a small slump. In the end, as the majority of traders are unloading this particular stock you may have an open window to follow the golden rule of trading. Buy low and sell high becomes a prime opportunity for those who can recognize that media coverage is just that, and over reaction leads to great opportunities for the emotionally aware investor.