Investor relations: a European survey

Abstract

Investor relations is the communication of information relating to the company to the financial community; analysts, investors and potential investors. It is regarded as a relatively new phenomenon, which has developed most rapidly in the USA followed by the UK. Traditionally continental European companies have been viewed as more reliant on loan rather than equity funding. However the development of increasingly important equity markets throughout Europe has led to a growth in importance of the Investor Relations function. This paper examines the importance of the investor relations function within the top 80 continental European companies by reporting on the result of a postal questionnaire. The results confirm that many continental European companies have well established investor relations practices and the function is growing in importance.