IR Monitor – 19 March 2025

In this week’s newsletter:

• The Broome Yasar Partnership will be hosting a book launch for ‘The Global Investor Relations Revolution’ at Goldman Sachs on Thursday 22nd May. The book is arguably the first time that IROs and advisers from all over the world (including FTI Consulting) have come together as a global industry to steer a future path together. 
• Can we turn AIM into the Nasdaq of London? The Times suggests that an exodus from AIM presents an opportunity for junior market reform to stimulate growth. 
• Proactive AGM engagement by shareholders is vital explains Investors’ Chronicle. The IC shares tactics designed to encourage shareholder engagement at AGMs. 
• US listings often fail to boost European companies’ valuations. Financial Times analysis finds that, while liquidity usually improves, adding a New York listing does not always boost either valuation multiples or analyst coverage.
• JP Morgan CEO brands two of the world’s top shareholder proxy advisers as “incompetent”. Glass Lewis and ISS between them currently advise 90% of the world’s largest pension funds and asset managers on votes in shareholder resolutions, giving them huge sway over corporate decision-making, reports The Telegraph. 
• And finally … the hidden alpha of corporate websites: the larger, the deeper and the more sophisticated a company’s web presence is, the better its stock does.

This week’s news

The Global IR Revolution

On Thursday 22nd May, the Broome Yasar Partnership will be hosting a book launch and panel event at Goldman Sachs for ‘The Global Investor Relations Revolution’ – authored by Oskar Yasar, a passionate advocate of IR with 30 years’ global experience both in investor relations advisory and executive recruitment. A groundbreaking examination of the evolution, challenges, and future of investor relations, the book is also the first time that IROs, key IR associations and advisors (including FTI Consulting) have come together as a global industry to celebrate achievements and steer a collaborative path forward. This event is by invitation only but readers of the IR Monitor who would like to attend should get in contact or follow the link. 

AIM – could it be London’s Nasdaq?

Hornby’s decision to leave London’s junior market last week and go private, citing concerns over the regulatory burden and costs associated with being listed, is part of a broader exodus trend. It’s not just model train makers leaving the junior market; The Times highlights that in 2024 a total 89 companies quit AIM. With Rachel Reeves’ introduction of a 20% effective inheritance tax rate on AIM-quoted shares in her autumn budget, AIM is becoming increasingly unattractive for some of London’s highest-quality, growth-oriented companies. As growth sits at the heart of the Labour government’s agenda, it’s imperative that they revitalise AIM to encourage investment and ultimately economic growth. Whilst there is an argument to ditch the junior market all together, the success of AIM-quoted companies (such as Jet2, Fever-Tree and Keywords Studios) demonstrates its value. The Labour government have an opportunity to transform AIM into a genuine high-growth market, a European equivalent of Nasdaq. 

Proactive AGM engagement by shareholders is vital – the IC

Whilst AGMs for the largest FTSE100 companies are well attended by individual shareholders, Investors’ Chronicle notes that this is not the case for most companies. AGMs present a unique opportunity for holders to hear from and engage with directors, as well as other investors, in a company. Whilst companies are keen for shareholders to attend AGMs, reaching them ahead of the meeting is a convoluted process often requiring a ‘middle man’, typically the platform which holds the shares. As a high concentration of retail investors is based in southern England, London is the natural choice for in-person company meetings. For companies located in geographically distant regions, the decision to hold fully digital AGMs has often been met with heavy criticism. As a consequence, hosting hybrid meetings based at an easily accessible venue in London, not starting too early especially during the busy April–June period, will help attract shareholder attendance.

US listings often fail to boost European companies’ valuations

The London Stock Exchange, and other European exchanges, have seen a wave of companies listing in America, either as a primary or additional listing. Typical reasons given are to increase analyst coverage, valuations, liquidity and price-earnings ratios. However, according to research published in the Financial Times, this can often backfire – while liquidity usually improves, adding a New York listing does not always boost multiples or coverage. Analysis into 12 European-listed companies who added a second or primary US listing actually found that half had a valuation decrease, which was especially true for smaller companies. Furthermore, price/earnings ratios for smaller companies decreased by 7% on average. This was attributed to the size of the US market – meaning far more competition for the attention of analysts and investors. However, two-thirds of companies did see greater liquidity in their shares, with an increase of around 4 times for larger companies and nearly 45% for smaller companies, showing there are still clear benefits to an American listing.

JP Morgan CEO brands two of the world’s top shareholder proxy advisers as “incompetent”

Amid a backlash against DEI initiatives, spearheaded by US President Donald Trump, JP Morgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has described two of the world’s top shareholder proxy advisers – Glass Lewis and ISS – as “incompetent”.  The backlash is due to the advisers’ support for diversity policies in investment choices, which Dimon suggests has contributed to a regulatory environment that drives companies out of the public market. Glass Lewis and ISS together advise 90% of the world’s largest pension funds and asset managers in shareholder resolutions giving them huge sway over corporate decision-making. In response to the wider pushback, ISS last month stated they would no longer take race, gender or ethnicity into account when recommending director nominations, while Glass Lewis has so far stated they will continue to consider diversity in their nomination advice. This is the second time in recent years Dimon has directly clashed with Glass Lewis, writes The Telegraph, after GL advised investors against voting to increase his $34.5 million renumeration package in 2022. 

And finally … the hidden alpha of corporate websites – Alphaville

When trying to increase stock valuation, it’s rare a company will turn to  website designers for the task. But, according to Wolfe Research’s quantitative analysts, that could be what’s missing. By scraping the current and historical websites of the almost 800 companies listed in the S&P 500 since 2013, the Financial Times’ Alphaville found that companies with informative websites were associated with future outperformance ratings.  And in terms of web contents, firms that raised unique topics in their industry tended to deliver better returns in the future. While there were some outliers – just look at Berkshire Hathway’s website – Alphaville concluded that the deeper and more sophisticated a company’s web presence was, the better its stock performed.