Disclosure: Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together

Tuesday, June 4, 2019 | 1:30PM - 2:30PM | Room: Grand Sonoran G  |   Marketing Outreach & Stakeholder Communications

 |  Ann Scott | Jonathan Kuai | Molly Doran | Ali Saribas | Adam Kanzer |

Michelle Edkins, Global Head of Investment Stewardship at BlackRock, said recently that “disclosure is a form of engagement.” In the somewhat still new world of engagement with shareholders, both sides often dismiss the value of disclosure and focus a lot on 1-to-1 meetings. This can of course can be very useful but is incredibly time-consuming and not scalable across the vast majority of an issuer’s stakeholders. Another piece of the puzzle is that in many companies the internal dynamics still have room for improvement, such that brand marketing, internal communications, IR, media relations and the corporate secretary team are not generally as strategically integrated with each other as they could be. The final piece of the puzzle is that companies need to target their messaging to different stakeholders. There is a lot of disclosure out there, but ensuring the right target audience takes note of a particular aspect of a company’s communications means embedding that intent into the content and distribution. This session will draw on the experiences of various stakeholders as they share best practices and trends around stewardship activity, communicating effectively, and creating long-term value.

Learning Objectives:
  • Hear perspectives on disclosure and communication from different stakeholders
  • Learn best practices and trends in stewardship activity and engagement
  • Learn best practices around strategically integrating internal groups so that messaging is more effective
  • Explore how disclosure can be leveraged to better tell their company’s ESG story