ALEXANDRIA, VA (September 2, 2020) – The National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) thanks the 237 public companies and 26 investor relations counseling firms that joined NIRI’s comment letter against the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal to significantly reduce Form 13F disclosures. 

The 237 issuers that supported NIRI’s letter have a combined market capitalization of more than $2.92 trillion. Ranging in size from IPO biotech firms to mega-cap utility and financial companies, these corporations represent variety of industry sectors, such as homebuilding, technology, oil and gas, hospitality, and manufacturing. These issuers hail from 32 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and seven other countries.

Also signing NIRI’s August 28 letter were five other high-profile business organizations: the Federation of American Hospitals, the Insured Retirement Institute, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, Nareit (which represents real estate investment trusts), and the Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose’s CEO Investor Forum. 

“The more than 230 issuers co-signing the letter demonstrates the broad concern across the corporate community over the SEC’s 13F proposal. Together with them, IR counselors and other associations, NIRI urges the SEC to withdraw this rulemaking and instead consider the various reforms suggested by NIRI, NYSE, Nasdaq, and other organizations to increase market transparency and improve issuer-investor engagement,” said NIRI President and CEO Gary A. LaBranche, FASAE, CAE. 

“NIRI also is grateful to all the IR professionals who educated their management teams about the importance of 13F transparency and obtained approval for their companies to join this important effort,” LaBranche said. 

Under the SEC’s proposal, the minimum threshold for 13F disclosure would increase by 35 times from $100 million in U.S. equities under management to $3.5 billion. As a result, 4,500 fund managers overseeing $2.3 trillion in assets (or 89 percent of current filers) would no longer have to disclose their holdings each quarter. 

According to IHS Markit, an average Russell 3000 company would lose visibility into 55 percent of its current 13F filers and 69 percent of the hedge funds on its 13F list. In addition, 86 percent of activist investors would no longer have to make 13F filings. 

The SEC’s 13F rulemaking also has sparked widespread opposition from retail investors and small investment managers, who have submitted more than 1,000 comments. 

NIRI encourages public companies and IR counselors to submit their own comment letters to the SEC before the September 29 comment period deadline. For more information, including comment letter templates, please visit NIRI’s Advocacy Call to Action page

 


About the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI)
Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial community constituents. The largest professional investor relations association in the world, NIRI's more than 3,000 members represent over 1,600 publicly held companies and $9 trillion in stock market capitalization. Through its collaborative community, NIRI advances engagement in the capital markets and drives best practices in corporate disclosures, governance, and informed investing. 

Contact: Ted Allen; tallen@niri.org