Even in today’s hyper-connected, technological marketplace, investors still put a premium on face-to-face meetings with senior corporate executives. According to IR Magazine’s latest Global Roadshow Report this is especially true for small and mid-cap companies for whom non-deal roadshows (NDRs) are a critical component of their investor targeting and retention efforts.

As we discussed previously, the way in which many companies design and execute their NDRs will change dramatically in the wake of Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II — immediately in Europe and sooner than expected in North America.  

To better understand the “MiFID ll effect” on NDRs, we sat down with two seasoned, North American IR professionals Amy Wakeham, VP Investor Relations at Integer Holdings, and Alexandra Roy, Senior IR Specialist at Plug Power, to hear what they are doing to prepare for this new market reality.

Amy Simmonds (Q4): Getting in front of the right investors at the right time is critical for any IR program. How do you go about doing that today?

Amy Wakehem (AW): At Integer, we find NDRs extremely valuable, as they enable me to put interested investors in front of management and make good use of time on both sides. We organize our own NDRs, which  gives me more control over who we’re meeting with and when. We typically go on the road with a sell-side analyst, which is great, but the downside can be that they want the Company to meet with investors who we are not interested in meeting with — we manage this by proactively identifying who we want to be in front of and travelling with the analyst who can get us in front of our targets, and then we balance out the schedule by meeting with some of their priority clients. We augment scheduling of roadshows through direct outreach to investors to schedule meetings or to gauge interest in a meeting.

Alexandra Roy (AR): Plug Power has emerged as a leader in the commercialization of fuel cells, and we recognize we can leverage this to strategically grow our institutional investor base. Significant events thus far in the year, including multi-site agreements with two of the top global retailers and securing favorable financing solutions, have positioned Plug Power as a firm on track to achieving sustainable positive cash flow. While these events have put us on the radar of new institutional investors or enhanced existing prospective investors’ views of our value proposition, roadshows are an excellent means of facilitating our interactions with strategic targets. Relationships with our sell-side analysts help set the itineraries. We maintain an open line of communication with the corporate access team, ensuring a strong institutional presence with our high-potential targets.

Q4: Do you believe that your team will continue to attend roadshows at the same frequency in the future, or do you see roadshows on a downward trend?

AW: We will continue to use roadshows as a key vehicle for meeting with investors, both new and existing. It’s important for management to meet regularly with shareholders and hear what’s on their mind. Demands for management time and schedules can be challenging, but I do not predict a downward trend for Integer. We are lightly covered on the sell-side, so we must be more proactive about getting in front of investors to tell our story.

AR: We have seen an uptick in the number of roadshows we have attended, and expect to continue to see an increase as our business grows and we consistently deliver on our stated goals. In the past, investors have seen us as a “wait-and-see” story. With the track record we’re building, demand for our time from investors is only getting stronger.  

Q4: Although it is a European legislation, MiFID II will no doubt have a ripple effect on companies around the world. What is your team doing to prepare for the integration of MiFID II come January 2018? How do you feel this will impact the relationship with your investors moving forward?

AW: We are doing more monitoring of the situation right now versus active preparation. We have very few European/international investors today and do not anticipate this changing in the near future. That being said, we do have a global manufacturing presence. I believe as our market cap increases, our story may become more interesting to European investors. As we think about how to attract European investors into our stock, I expect we will utilize many of the same tactics we have done stateside — proactively identifying potential investment fits and then doing European roadshows. Given that we have not relied heavily on brokerages to get us in front  North American investors in the past, I would see us doing a lot of the outreach and heavy lifting ourselves in Europe.

Q4: What impact do you think MiFiD II will have on corporate access? For the industry at large?

AW: For Integer, I do not think that MiFiD II will have a significant impact. I can see how the industry, at large, may be impacted — particularly if companies rely heavily on a broker or a sell-side corporate access provider. I believe the new legislation will force companies to take more ownership of their investor targeting and outreach efforts if they want to do be in front of investors on a regular basis.

AR: Given our [Plug Power’s] current investor base, MiFID II won’t have a meaningful impact over the short-term horizon. That being said, the industry does need to prepare itself for the MiFID ll implications and educate itself how this may impact communications. More often than not, firms can be reactive versus proactive on the eve of regulations going live. I think there will be a learning curve, and should we find that MiFiD ll will have a more meaningful long-term impact on corporate access for our company, we need to have these conversations sooner rather than later.

Q4: What are the pitfalls of the current corporate access experience?

AW: I think over reliance on the sell-side to put the company in front of investors. It’s also challenging, as a “small-cap” with thin coverage, to find the right team to take us on the road sometimes.

AR: Transparency is key when it comes to effectively allocating our senior management’s time with prospective investors. Unfortunately, while NDRs and conferences are an excellent means to propel these interactions, more often than not we see missed opportunities due to corporate access communication shortfalls. Our team will be ready for a conference, but members helping coordinate meetings sometimes “overpromise” and “underdeliver” without providing details behind light schedules, or giving sufficient notice such that we can actively reach out to prospects in the days prior. We often face challenges in the absence of a sell-side analyst relationship in the ability to make direct introductions. Feedback is a critical component, exercised by some firms and not others as to how they believe our management delivers our firm’s message. In order to enhance our IR strategy, feedback and transparency will be the primary drivers to paring interested investors with company management teams who are well informed of their audiences’ goals.  

Amy Simmonds is currently hustling in the Implementations team at Q4, and an occasional contributor to the Q4 Blog.

The post A look ahead: North American IROs weigh in on NDRs in a MiFID II world appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Investors have been benefiting from a bull market rally, which is ready to enter it’s 9th year. However, history has shown that bull markets often don’t last this long, which has many asking if this current market rally is coming to an end. The financial crisis was a scary time for investors, with all asset classes becoming correlated and moving to the downside. Volatility was extremely high with panic setting in and investors rushing to buy protection. The Federal Reserve bailed out the markets by lowering rates to zero, while congress passed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in an effort to stabilize the banks. Since the lows seen in March of 2009, the market has been steadily moving higher and making all-time highs nearly on a daily basis. Many thought the market would collapse once the Federal Reserve began  to raise rates, but that has not transpired. Are we far enough removed from the crisis that investors have become complacent? Or are we in a healthy bull market with a strong trend, low volatility, and low yields?

The Trend

The S&P 500’s trend is higher with all three moving averages sloping from the bottom left to the top right. All pullbacks in the S&P 500 should be a buying opportunity with key support levels sitting at 2,544 and 2,496. The 2,544 level was tested a few times and held strong with bulls regaining control and pushing the market higher. We will need a change in character with increased volatility, lower lows, and a breakdown in prices  in order to start thinking about an end to the current bull market. Right now the bulls have positive economic activity, increased corporate profits, low yields, and tax reform working in their favor.     

The Volatility Index

Low volatility is an indication of a healthy bull market. The volatility index or VIX has recently been trading below 10, indicating that we have small amounts of fear in the market. In the chart below, selling volatility has been very profitable as each spike in the VIX was short lived. When fear sets into the market the VIX jumps as investors rush to buy put options. In turn, implied volatility increases and put options become more expensive. If the bull market were to end we would see the VIX remain elevated for an extended period, signaling a change in sentiment. Currently, put options on the broader market are cheap, allowing investors who want to hedge an opportunity to do so rather inexpensively.

The 10-Year Yield

The 10-year yield is very much in focus. We had a double top of ~2.61% in Dec/Jan, held the 2% support level in September, and are now holding the 200-day moving average of 2.31%. For the bull market to end, we need to see a bond sell-off and a jump in yields. We don’t anticipate the market really panicking unless the 10-year yield gets above ~2.61%. In order for the yield to rise, we need bonds to be sold. Bonds usually lead stocks into a bear market.

The bull market may seem overdone, but it is important to keep in mind we are coming off an unprecedented stock market crash. The top in 2001 was marked by the technology bubble bursting and the top in 2008 was marked by the housing crisis. Bull markets don’t end until we see rapid expansion, which coincides with industrials, materials, and energy stocks making highs. Additionally, as we have pointed out above, we have a well-defined trend higher, historically low volatility, and low yields despite the Federal Reserve raising rates. In order for the market to begin to show weakness and for sentiment to shift, we need one of these factors (trend, volatility, or yields) to begin to reverse. Until that happens, I think all dips should be buying opportunities and we have a risk on environment.

* Data is of 11/8 market close.

Rodney Raanan is the Director of Capital Markets & Market Intelligence at Q4 Inc. Rodney works directly with C-level executives of publicly traded companies by providing real time money flows, stock activity updates, options analysis, and technical analysis. Rodney has over 10 years of capital markets experience as an equity trader and an analyst. Follow Rodney on Twitter and Linkedin.

The post Q4 Insights: Bull market intact and still running appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Now that earnings season is coming to an end, let me ask: how successful was your Q3 earnings call and webcast? Were your investors engaged in what your presenters were saying? How did they perceive your message? Was there anything you could have done better? There’s one way to really gauge success: webcast analytics. 

Most webcast platforms will allow you to export your webcast data into Excel, making it easy for to compare calls for each quarter. By analyzing this data over time, looking for correlations and finding patterns, you can draw solid conclusions and gain real insights about the interests of your audience and the effectiveness of your messaging.

Here are some key metrics that will help you do that:

Average Duration (Live or On-Demand).

The easiest way to tell if your audience is engaged is to look at how long they stay connected to your webcast. You’ll be able to tell who stayed on and who dropped off and exactly at what time, regardless of whether they connected to the live webcast or the replay.  

If you notice a common drop-off time, it could be that the nature of the content was causing your audience to lose interest. Or, if the drop-off time is consistent over a period of quarters regardless of content, it could indicate that the prepared remarks are taking too long. Most importantly, this suggests that key messages should be presented early on before listeners start existing the call.

In general, on-demand viewers will tend to stay on longer and are more engaged because they have the power to control their experience and how they interact with your content. For example, viewers will skip sections of the presentation, or replay certain content repeatedly. Having insight into how an investor engages with your content helps you prepare and lead more productive conversations. 

In the dashboard below you can see that average live duration was almost as long as the actual event duration, however for this presentation the on demand viewers took 10 additional minutes viewing the same presentation. If you drill into the report further you can see that the engagement rate for on-demand viewers is significantly higher than the live attendees.

Questions Asked.

The Q&A portion of the earnings call can provide valuable insight on what concerns analysts and investors the most. Questions submitted through the webcast can be exported each quarter into an Excel spreadsheet, and you can use keywords to categorize them. Once you collect all of this information over a period of several quarters, you can start looking for patterns and correlations in what’s being asked.

The entire list of most commonly used keywords will provide you with topics that may need further explanation in your presentation. Consider this when planning your next earnings call, and incorporate these topics earlier on in the presentation.

Below you can see the total number of questions asked during this webcast. Simply export into Excel and start analyzing.

Geographic Distribution.

Where are your attendees located? Having this data may help you determine whether you’re scheduling your webcasts at the right time. For example, if a large audience from the western United States frequently registers but struggles to attend, you may want to schedule future webcasts to accommodate this region. Also, if you have a lot of interest from regions where your company has little presence, this may indicate opportunities for expansion in those regions.

You can analyze a specific webcast or an aggregate for the year to get a better idea of where your audience is located. You can get as granular as you like in your geographic data by adjusting the registration form questions to include what you need.

As a final thought, it is important to remember that webcast data is only good if it is accurate. Although behavioral data is dependent on the platform and is out of your control, the good news is that it’s always accurate. However, the demographic data that you capture in the registration form is not guaranteed to be accurate. To avoid human error, consider using standard drop-down options and limit open-ended questions.

There is indeed a tremendous amount of data to be gathered from your webcasts. By consistently analyzing the most important data and understanding how it can help, you can have confidence that you are meeting your investors’ needs and that future webcasts will be successful.

Dinka Lutvic is the marketing manager at Q4. Based in Toronto, Canada, Dinka is passionate about how technology is changing the role of IROs. 

The post How to get more from your earnings call with data analytics appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Online annual reports have enhanced our ability to tell our company story to investors. As digital tools continue to become more sophisticated and accessible, public companies are looking to new technology solutions to help create a fulsome online experience using video, interactive charts and graphs, and better UI – all tools that provide investors with a full and customizable understanding of a company’s performance, vision, and future strategy.

According to Rivel Research, digital annual reporting may lead to savings of tens of thousands of dollars over a printed report, depending on the digital features chosen. As you begin to think about the direction of your annual report for 2018, here are some tactics to consider.

Create an online experience

An online annual report may be as static or as interactive as you would like, depending on the resources for the project. Some ways to create a better online experience for your investors include:

Responsive design. Ensure your report is easy to digest on all platforms, including desktop, mobile, and tablet.

Thoughtful story layout. Share thought leadership pieces as separate “stories” to give investors the control to choose what they read first.

Downloadable data. Complement the online experience by including downloadable spreadsheets or PDFs throughout your report, so that investors can take information from the digital experience.

You may consider an online annual report as a tool that works alongside a traditional report. Yamana Gold opens its 2016 report with key highlights from the year to draw the reader in before delving into the company’s strategic priorities and corporate values, providing more context for annual financial performance and long-term vision.

Viad’s annual report creates a highly visual experience for investors with interactive graphics, and animated financial highlights which makes you stand out, and keeps investors engaged with your content for more.

Quick tip: always think “audience first” when creating your online annual report. Consider chatting with one of your investors to assess what he or she enjoys about engaging with annual reports.

Interactive Information

A major pain point of printed annual reports is the limitation of space when representing vast amounts of complex information. Interactive charts and graphs remove this limitation by adding “layers” to the amount of information that can exist in one space. Interactive information provides a roadmap for investors to view high-level data, and then drill down to additional sets that provide more detail.

You may want to consider interactive charts and graphs that investors can customize based on view, time period, metric, etc. By layering on more context about key performance measures over different years, investors are able to tailor the information to their interests.

Letter from the CEO

According to a July 2016 study by Rivel Research, the CEO’s letter is found “in virtually every company’s annual report.” As investors consume video at a higher rate than ever before, a CEO video is a great way to communicate your leadership’s strategy while personalizing the message.

Expanding reach: SEO and social media

An online annual report, unlike a printed version or PDF emailed to your investors, is a functioning, responsive mini-site that you can optimize for search engines so your content is prioritized in search results. This means that there is a greater chance that someone will stumble across the report via organic search, opening your report up to a wider audience that would not have found it otherwise.

Online reports also allow for social sharing, as you can insert social media share buttons onto each piece of content within your report. When you optimize your online report for social sharing, you’re inviting investors to share your report information with their networks — which may include potential investors you may not have otherwise reached.

If you’re looking to level up on how you engage with your investors online in 2018, building an interactive experience like an online annual report will definitely help get you there.

The post Embrace Online Annual Reports: Create an Experience for Investors appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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With just a few weeks left until the new MiFID II regulations take effect in January 2018, now is the time to start implementing measures into your IR strategy that address the changes. On our past blog post on MiFID II we described the broad implications of its implementation, particularly how IROs need to prepare for diminished sell-side research teams.

Investment banks have been feeling the squeeze for years, with firms like Nomura pulling back from equities coverage. MiFID II is expected to accelerate this trend. According to a new survey by Greenwich Associates, half of the European investors polled expect their use of global investment banks to fall by seven percent over the next 12 months.

Today we narrow in on some of the ways IR teams can prepare for MiFID II so as to avoid feeling sideswiped come 2018. We talked to Sarah Levy, group IR director at Kingfisher, and Martin Liedemit, deputy head of IR at BASF, who shared some practical advice on how to adapt to the regulation.  

Roadshows

According to the IR Magazine Global Roadshow Report, European companies undertake an average of 12 roadshows a year – making them more extensive travellers than North American and Asian companies. If MiFID II affects banks’ ability to provide corporate access services, European companies could suffer disproportionately due to their extensive roadshow schedule.

Possible solution: Levy recommends building a strong in-house team. “We already organize private client roadshows, and we’ve always seen a lot of direct requests from investors, which we action ourselves,” she says. “Those companies with IR departments that don’t do this should start thinking now about how they can restructure their teams, or bring in additional members to accommodate.”

Targeting

IR teams will also need in-house support for targeting. According to Rivel Research, companies spend an average of $25,000 and 16 percent of their time per year on targeting – figures that could rise post-MiFID II for European firms.

Possible solution: Liedemit, whose company already does a lot of in-house targeting, says IR teams should build in extra budget and resources for targeting. “Companies that don’t already do their own targeting need to consider how best they can identify those investors that are most relevant to them, and budget for the time and resources to do this effectively,” he says.

Sell-side research void

Post-MiFID II, companies will need to promote themselves more effectively as sell-side may be under resourced or lacking influence over buy-side. Channels such as the corporate website and use specialist intelligence tools will become even more critical.

Possible solution: Levy says she will be “simplifying and restructuring our processes, and increasing our use of digital tools so we can do more with our time.” For Liedemit, content will be king: “IR teams need to take a step back and assess the information they present,” he says. “In the future, we can expect to see an even stronger focus on content, with quality taking precedence over quantity.”

With MiFID II affecting roadshows, targeting and the sell-side, IR teams have plenty to think about, and implement ahead of the new year. Whether your team is able to staff up and increase costs, or simply have to re-strategize to save time and ultimately redirect resources, now is the time to do so. Levy, for instance, has started to identify areas where she can free up time for her team. “The best piece of advice I can give is to review where you can make time savings in preparation for the impact on resources that MiFID II will bring,” she concludes.

Amit Sangvhi is the senior director, international advisory at Q4. Based in London, UK, he’s passionate about how technology can change the face of shareholder ID in Europe. You can follow him @4mits.

The post MiFID II: Strategizing for January 2018 appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Cybersecurity attacks are becoming so common that it’s no longer a matter of if a breach will occur but rather when. Hackers are looking for vulnerabilities in your system 24/7 and in today’s digitalized world, their efforts have never been easier, or more successful. Over the last 12 months, 66.2 percent of financial organizations faced at least one cyber security attack. And the global cost of cyber crime is estimated to reach $2 trillion by 2019, a threefold increase from the 2015 estimate of $500 million.

Cyber breaches can cause any number of business challenges, from financial and reputational damage to a loss in shareholder value. For public companies whose websites house sensitive information such as quarterly financials, press releases and more, the stakes are high. The best defense is to understand security best practices and partner with an IR vendor who puts them into action.

Here are five key security measures you need to know about to help you stay ahead of future attacks.

Passwords: The necessary evil

How many times has IT reminded you to create a unique password (using letters, numbers and symbols)? The purpose: secure access to your resources. For many, the weak link in the authentication chain has been the much maligned “password”, however, new and secure technology trends are on the rise.

Many companies, large and small, are looking to new authentication trends such as: Two Factor Authentication (2FA or TFA). 2FA is an extra layer of security often referred to as two-step verification. The first step is the password and the second step could be PIN, token or smartphone app that is only accessible to the application user. 2FA makes it harder for attackers to gain access to your IR web application because knowing the password alone is not enough to pass the authentication check.

Data Encryption: Mathematical algorithms at work

Encryption, a system of mathematical algorithms that encode user data so that only the intended recipient can read it, is one of the best methods to safeguard your privacy. Using Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet is convenient, but in terms of security, there’s always a trade-off as it isn’t difficult for an intruder to intercept your connection, which could result in stolen user credentials and other sensitive data. This is why many websites use a protocol called HTTPS for encrypting data that’s being sent between sites. While this doesn’t guarantee absolute security, the risks are reduced as information being transmitted can only be decrypted by a destination site.

Before selecting a web partner, make sure their solution provides encryption of data in both Transit (SSL encryption) and at Rest.

Patch Management: Vital for online security

As you know, the cyber threat landscape is evolving at breakneck speed. While cyber criminals are able to compromise a system in hours or minutes, the reaction of companies usually takes months or even years. In fact, 18 percent of new malware remains undetected in the first 24 hours and 2 percent continues 3 months after infection, according to IDG Research.

For many companies that are implementing new technologies one of the top priorities during the planning phase is security. A critical aspect of security is Patch Management: the process of repairing system vulnerabilities that are applied to different parts of information systems, including operating systems, servers, routers, desktops, firewalls and many other components that exist in a network.

To protect from malware and ransomware and other external attacks, it’s important to work with a partner who conducts regular security patches to your website and hosted servers. The importance here is the prevention of viruses like Zero Day Attack or WannaCry, which have the potential to take down a company’s entire network.

Monitoring: Around the clock website check ins

Website downtime not only affects the end user’s experience and productivity, it ultimately affects a company’s bottom line. Proactively monitoring the network around the clock is an important pre-requisite for any organization wishing to protect itself from a potential security breach. There are various monitoring tools (New Relic, Splunk, Pingdom, IDS, Log manager, SCOM, etc. available in the market that allow infrastructure and security teams to monitor both up-time and any security breach in a network.

Security Assessment: Third party independent security reviews

Regular IT security assessments by a third party is key in preventing gaps in the application or infrastructure security. The third party independent vendor tests the application against OWASP standard. This universal security standard ensures the application is built following security best practices and is protected against attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. IRO’s should be requesting the third party audit reports before deciding on the final solution. These third party security reports are similar to a home inspection before purchasing a house. Third party independent reports will provide insight into the security of an IR web application.

With cyber threats on the rise it is critical that you prepare for a cyber incident with the same discipline and rigor as you would an operational one. This means getting up to speed on security best practices, taking the necessary precautions internally, and partnering with a vendor that has the measurements in place to mitigate risk and keep your information secure.

Vee Punia is Director, IT & Infrastructure at Q4 and holds over 17 years of experience in IT Infrastructure Management, Security operations, ITIL Change Management and Service Delivery of Enterprise or SaaS platform. 

The post Five security measures you need to know about to stay ahead of future attacks appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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There’s a lot to keep up with in Investor Relations for 2018. Extensive new regulatory requirements will bring change while new technologies will present opportunities as they seek to improve the accuracy and efficiency of IR programs. To get a better understanding of this year’s trends impacting the IR space, we caught up with industry experts including: Gary A. LaBranche, NIRI President and CEO, Darrell Heaps, CEO at Q4 Inc., Ben Ashwell, Digital Editor at IR Magazine, Amit Sanghvi, Senior Director International Advisor at Q4 Inc. and Adam Frederick, SVP Intelligence at Q4 Inc. and asked: what do you see as the big trends in IR for 2018?

Trend #1: MiFID II will bring sweeping changes

Amit Sanghvi (AS): The expectations are already well known: progressive shrinking of the European sell-side analyst pool, improved quality of research and an increased burden on European IROs to connect directly with the buy-side. But beyond that, I suspect MiFID II will start to be felt globally. My guess is that buy-side firms and their clients who, in theory, will benefit from better quality equity research and enjoy tighter spending control will demand the same from the sell-side the world over.

Gary A. LaBranche (GL): While the SEC has given a 30-month reprieve to brokers, we still expect to see a continuation of the erosion of sell-side research coverage for small and mid-cap U.S. companies, which will pose significant challenges for their IR teams. We expect that some companies will increase their investment in IR and expand their investor outreach efforts to help offset a decrease in coverage.

Darrell Heaps (DH): Certainly MIFID II is a massive trend for 2018. Although the impact in non-European markets may take longer to disrupt things, the trend and impact to the sell-side, buy-side and corporates seems very clear to me. For a large number of corporates, there is now an increased need to understand their current shareholders and proactively target new investors into the stock. The world of relying solely on the bank to take you out is quickly disappearing for most corporates. In demand companies will still have the sell-side reaching out, but even these popular firms will need to manage direct inbound requests for meetings from the buy-side, who are increasingly building their own internal corporate access departments. IR departments of all sizes are going to need to take matters into their own hands, in terms of marketing, targeting and meeting with investors from all markets.

Trend #2: Investors will continue to seek greater transparency

GL: Most U.S. companies will be making their first disclosures under the SEC’s CEO pay ratio rule during the 2018 proxy season. We expect that many IROs will take an active role in advising their management teams on how to address the concerns of investors, employees, the news media, and other stakeholders over this new disclosure. U.S. companies also are facing increased demands from governance activists to improve board diversity, while the rise of passive investing strategies likely will mean that IROs will face more governance-related inquiries in 2018.  

Ben Ashwell (BA): During last year’s proxy season we saw that investors were willing to side with activists on an unprecedented scale (at Arconic it cost the CEO their job) and were willing to vote against companies on climate-related proposals (at Exxon Mobil, Occidental and PPL Corporation) and against the nomination of certain board directors. As investors make greater efforts to connect the dots between their portfolio managers and investor stewardship teams, ESG will come into sharp focus. If IR is to be taken seriously by the Street, it should be able to answer questions relating to board diversity and composition, executive compensation, environmental risk and disclosure, political lobbying and a range of other ESG issues. Consulting investor’s voting guidelines is a good way to get briefed on their positions on ESG issues, as is reviewing the various governance frameworks that have come into effect.

Trend #3: Passive investment strategies continue to gain popularity

AS: We will see continued flow of funds from active to passive strategies. However, I believe the line between what is passive and active investment is set to be blurred with the advent of roboinvesting. Suddenly, like passive funds, active strategies will be dependent more heavily on data (and algorithms) rather than traditional stock picking by humans. What remains to be seen is how the IR community will adapt to this both in terms of managing any perception gaps created by algorithms and soliciting votes.

DH: 2018 will see no slow-down in the flow of funds from active to passive strategies. Algorithms will form the basis of investing decisions. For IROs looking to adapt to the rise in passive investing, survival lies in the ability to leverage data to tell a story and intelligence to interpret what the “machines” are doing. Unlike the active investor, machines don’t care about your qualitative story. It will be the job of the IRO to understand the underlying algorithms and leverage data in the required format.

Trend #4: AI & machine learning finally become mainstream.

AS: For too long – forever even – IROs have had to put up with intel that lacks in terms of quality and quantity when compared to what investors have access to. I think 2018 is the year when firms like Q4 will arm IROs with tools powered by artificial intelligence that truly help each IRO fight for capital with a focused plan.

Adam Frederick (AF): Artificial intelligence has gone from a buzzword to a real solution and will no doubt play a critical role in the evolution of the IR workflow. While we have already seen applications of these technologies put into play, 2018 will be the year its leveraged at scale in the IR world. These technologies will allow IRO’s to increase targeting efficiency, track investor engagement, analyze investor behaviour and improve corporate access.

Trend #5: The rise of Cryptocurrencies continues

DH: It is impossible for anyone who has access to the internet to not have heard about Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world. Although not a trend for IR in 2018, I do think it’s one of the most important trends for anyone connected to the capital markets to understand.  My reason is not bitcoin per say, but the underlying technology called “blockchain” and the explosion of “Initial Coin Offerings” or more recently ‘Initial Token Offerings” and Ethereum, which utilize the concept of “smart contracts” programmed into the blockchain. These smart contracts have the ability to function like a share certificate with a built in shareholders agreement and have the potential to be highly disruptive to the capital markets as we know them today. The impact of this is still a few years out, but for those in IR, it’s important to understand the tectonic shifts that are upon us.

Conor White is currently hustling in the Marketing team at Q4, and a passionate contributor to the Q4 Blog.

The post What do IR industry experts predict for 2018? appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Earlier today, Q4 introduced iris™: a new AI engine for investor relations that integrates machine learning, big data analytics and NLP to analyze and process high volumes of fragmented market data. The result: improved investor engagement and shareholder quality, leading to lower volatility and higher multiples.

Phase one of this revolutionary product, available today in the U.S., is applied to Q4’s stock surveillance business, where it has been achieving accuracy levels of real-time ownership that, until now, have been unheard of in the market. And because of iris’ accuracy levels, Q4 has also announced its commitment to proactively report accuracy results to clients, along with a money back guarantee on maintaining accuracy above 80 percent.

We caught up with Adam Frederick, SVP, Intelligence to understand how iris originated, its future role in IR and how AI is changing the capital market landscape.

Lorena Reyes (LR): This is a very exciting day at Q4 with the release of iris into the marketplace. Tell me about iris. 

Adam Frederick (AF): iris is the culmination of three years’ worth of development by Q4’s quant team, our experienced analysts, market experts, and former floor traders. It initially began as a way for Q4 to better monitor real-time trading flows in both the options and equity markets. But over the past 12 months, iris has transformed into a fully-functioning AI-engine that drives the entire Q4 intelligence platform.

(LR):  iris’ accuracy is unheard of in the market and changing the game. Perhaps the biggest impact to the market is Q4’s accuracy guarantee. I’ve got to ask: how and why?

(AF):  Within the first several weeks of putting iris to the test, and then backtesting her results, we were witnessing a level of accuracy never seen before in the industry. We found that our average accuracy in predicting shareholder activity was north of 80 percent for all US stocks, regardless of business cycle, macro-environment, sector or market cap. The intelligence produced by iris is accurate, there is no denying it.  So why not stand behind our data, and be accountable?  

Q4 is the only surveillance provider to officially guarantee its accuracy by self-reporting on it to clients each quarter, and, on the off chance we fall below our guaranteed target, we offer a rebate. This ultimately makes Q4 accountable and gives our clients the piece of mind to know they are getting a quality product that their provider stands behind. It allows IROs to feel confident in our data, and pass the intelligence upstream to their management.

(LR): Why has nobody historically been able to stand behind this data?

(AF): The reason no other surveillance firm has been able to make this kind of claim  is that the model hasn’t lent itself to it. Traditional stock surveillance is only as good as the analyst and limited to the amount of data he/she can digest. With humans there is room for error and subjectivity. But an analyst armed with iris – now that changes the game. 

(LR): AI technologies are changing many industries, and the way people work. How is AI impacting the IR landscape?

(AF): Q4 has been the leader in bringing AI and other innovative technologies to the IR space. That said, leveraging AI within the IR Workflow is still a very new concept, and I believe we’re still only touching the surface of what we can do with it. To date, we’re seeing the most significant advancements in shareholder monitoring (stock surveillance) and market structure analysis (deciphering order flow characteristics & drivers in real-time). With the traditional surveillance model an analyst is typically able to look at a few hundred lines of data, for 8-10 companies, in an average work week. Conversely, AI-driven intelligence, such as iris, sifts through millions of lines of data, and billions of individual data points, for thousands of stocks, in a matter of minutes. And as an added bonus to that, AI takes out the human bias and subjectivity. Therefore, our results are not only deeper and more informed in their basis, but decidedly more accurate as well.

(LR): We talked about how AI is changing the IR landscape. Can you talk to how it’s changing the way IROs work?

(AF): With better accuracy comes intelligence that an IRO can truly trust and act upon. Additionally, and this is important to note, iris is not only driving Q4’s surveillance efforts, but in utilizing machine learning and big data analytics, we’re able to empower our clients with deeper looks into such areas as: trading dynamics, market structure analysis, short-selling, sector rotations and trends, predictive analytics around shareholder sentiment and market expectations, forward-looking trading assumptions, etc. The sheer volume of data ingested and analyzed by iris on a daily basis is unmatched, and her results speak for themselves. It’s accurate, actionable intelligence that arms IROs with a real-time feedback loop, which leads to better stakeholder communications and messaging, lower turnover and dampened volatilities, and ultimately, higher multiples. In short, AI is improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRO Workflow.

(LR): How does iris differ from what is out there?

(AF): Artificial Intelligence is a term that is too often thrown around. For instance, having an algorithm that can decipher if/then statements to produce “AI-targets,” is nothing revolutionary. Technology like that has been around for 20+ years. What’s different about iris is that she is an intelligent being; the brains behind Q4’s Intelligence Platform. The system learns, and gets smarter as time goes on. It infers and makes interpretive decisions. AI-platforms, like iris, anticipate and predict what’s to come next – both from the market’s standpoint, as well as in how the IRO is likely to react.

(LR): We’ve now released phase one of iris. What’s next?

(AF):  Without giving too much away… In the future, AI-driven platforms will empower IROs with easily digestible intelligence, proactive next-step workflow suggestions, and complete transparency around shareholder engagement success or opportunities. In a true AI-platform, the IRO no longer is at the center of the process, driving the steering wheel from module to module. Rather, the platform itself, this intelligent being, has the controls. The platform will make smart and intuitive suggestions, anticipating your every move, and allowing you to focus on what matters most – driving value, and expanding market multiples.

The post Meet iris™: the AI engine set to revolutionize the IR space appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Over the past year, the Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE) has been out of favor with investors, made 52-week lows, and had several false buy signals. In August, the sector finally turned around and is making 52-week highs since touching a low of $61.80USD.  The key drivers for the XLE’s strong performance include a depreciating dollar, rising oil prices, and global growth.

The demise of the US dollar continues

The dollar has been falling due to inflationary concerns, a possible trade war, and strength in the basket of currencies tied to the dollar. The Federal reserve has been increasing rates in order to curb inflation, but it seems like they are falling behind. The US dollar index, which is calculated using six major world currencies, has lost 3.15 percent YTD and nearly 11 percent over the past 12 months. These are huge moves in the FX world — especially for the USD.

The euro makes up more than 57 percent of the index weighting; therefore, its appreciation has been putting significant pressure on the USD index due to a hawkish stance from the European Central Bank. All signs point to further weakness in the dollar as it continues to make lower lows.

China & Emerging Markets continue to push global growth

China’s manufacturing has picked up, subsequently causing growth in demand for the oil needed to facilitate  economic expansion. China’s manufacturing PMI and the Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index both indicate economic strength for the world’s third largest economy (trailing only the US and EU). We see China’s strength reflected in the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI). Emerging markets are also performing strongly, which is reflected in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (EEM). Both the FXI and the EEM are making 52-week highs.

Rising oil prices

Commodity prices, which are priced in USD, are some of the biggest beneficiaries of a weak dollar. Oil prices have soared, in turn sending the XLE to 52-week highs. The XLE is the easiest way to gain exposure to a basket of stocks tied to Oil. Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX), which makeup ~39 percent of the XLE are at, or near, 52-week highs. Ever since breaking out above $50 a barrel, oil prices have not looked back, and they continue to move higher. When looking at the five year chart below, we are seeing levels not seen since 2014. The trend in oil is strong as we are making higher highs on a near daily basis, and with the falling dollar, it’s not likely to change course anytime soon.

XLE is trading at $77.71. It recently made 52-week highs and is trying to get through the high of $78.45USD we hit in December 2016. The ETF is gaining strength relative to the S&P 500 and has huge potential to move higher given its underperformance since June 2015. If we are able to break through upside resistance, we will likely make a run towards $85-$90USD. On the other side of the trade, we see very little downside risk as we should see solid support near $76USD.

So, what’s next?

Recent trends will continue. The US dollar will continue to weaken, global expansion — led by China and Emerging Markets — will continue, and oil prices will rise. The XLE should resume making higher highs as energy stocks reap the benefits of higher oil prices. Another sector to keep an eye on is the solar sector. Alternative energy is a way to avoid higher oil prices and it stands to reason that investors may look to hedge their exposure by pouring money into this space. An investor can gain exposure to solar stocks through the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN). On the flip side, investors should be trimming back exposure to both Utilities and Real Estate related equities over the near-term. Both sectors are likely to see significant outflows given their negative correlation to rising rates.

* Data is of 1/24 market close.

Rodney Raanan, CMT is the Director of Capital Markets & Market Intelligence at Q4 Inc. Rodney works directly with C-level executives of publicly traded companies by providing real time money flows, stock activity updates, options analysis, and technical analysis. Rodney has over 10 years of capital markets experience as an equity trader and an analyst. Follow Rodney on Twitter and Linkedin. 

The post Q4 insights: Energy hitting on all cylinders appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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As global markets continue their momentum, competing for capital has become more challenging than ever. IR teams are facing more scrutiny and pressure as they battle against peers for institutional investors to allocate more assets directly in their company. In today’s fierce market, IROs need to be sure of both their investment proposition and that they are meeting with the right investors, at the right time.  

As IROs continue to adapt to a new market environment, they are turning to new technologies such as Q4 Desktop to attract new buyers to their equity, generate a broad and stable shareholder base, ensure management spends time with the ‘right’ people, and improve the overall quality of the institutional shareholders.   

With today’s release, Q4 Desktop’s CRM is more robust than ever, integrating new features and functionality, such as a calendar and itinerary builder to help with roadshow preparation. When utilized in collaboration with the platform’s ownership and targeting tool, IROs have all the tools and resources they need to raise capital and maximize the ROI on outreach efforts.

Here’s how Q4 Desktop’s fully-integrated platform prepares IR teams for future roadshows.

Understanding your shareholder base.

When preparing for a roadshow, understanding investor behaviour, history, and sentiment is crucial. Q4 Desktop’s ownership data provides a clear overview of investor trends in style, turnover, and quality over time, combined with historical interactions and contacts. Ownership activity charts make it easy to measure effectiveness of your corporate communications, highlighting the impact your news, events, and meetings have on your shareholder base. Peer analysis is simplified with modifiable peer matrices, while historical ownership provides the bigger picture with up to five years of data. By assembling your briefing books and tear sheets, Q4 arms you with everything you need to clearly understand your relationships with your investors.

Identifying the highest quality targets.

With Q4 Desktop’s screener tool, corporates can leverage a database of over 250,000 entities and utilize filters such as location, style, AUM, etc to identify compatible targets. Q4 Desktop also allows IROs to filter by Quality Rating (QR), a proprietary score that identifies whether a target is expected to be a long, mid or short-term holder; and Purchasing Power which goes a step further to quantify just how much investment the target could potentially make in the stock. Targeting by metro area is also possible, allowing you to broaden your search beyond a specific city.

Planning and executing a seamless roadshow.

Once your list of targets and investors is defined, the roadshow planning begins. With Q4 Desktop, IROs can easily group their contacts into distribution lists and initiate contact. Once meeting times and dates are established, the new itinerary builder helps capture every meeting detail in a simplified workflow, ensuring the user never loses track of where they are in the process of producing their event. Briefing books and printed itineraries are integrated with historical and customizable meeting notes, emailed directly to your account when ready for download, ensuring you have every detail to make the most of your meetings.

The new calendar makes it easy to see what your team is doing, who they’re meeting with, where they’re going, and when. Once on the road, take notes against each meeting and add tags to highlight particular topics of interest to the attendees. Every interaction can be grouped under your roadshow, updating your team’s itinerary while logging potentially significant events with your prospects and meeting guests.

Book a demo today to learn more about Q4 Desktop and how to integrate it into your IR workflow.

Conor White is currently hustling in the Marketing team at Q4, and a passionate contributor to the Q4 Blog.   

The post [Product] How Q4 Desktop prepares you for your next roadshow appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Please return to your seats. The market has turned on the seatbelt sign: what happened last week, and what do we look for next?

Two weeks ago, my friend’s daughter, Leah, asked me to help her select stocks for her high school economics class. To be honest,  I was nervous to recommend anything as the markets had gone straight up for an extended period of time. I really felt we were well overdue for a pullback. As the markets sold off sharply last week, I was less concerned about my portfolio and more fearful that because of the state of the markets (and more so the stocks I picked), Leah would fail economics, and my buddy since kindergarten would never speak to me again.

Looking for a bad guy

I have been in capital markets intelligence for over 20 years. What I’ve learned in that time is that while people are far less interested in what’s going on with their stock when it’s moving higher, senior management really leans in when stocks don’t perform as expected. That’s when I’m asked: Mike, who is the bad guy?

The recent decline in the market started on February 2nd, as the January employment report sent interest rates higher. The Department of Labor reported that January’s hourly wage rose 2.9 percent. This marked the biggest year-over-year increase since the last recession ended in June 2009. The report sparked inflation fears and sent interest rates sharply higher, making some believe that the risk/reward between stocks and bonds had changed.

The selloff continued on February 5th, as the Dow gapped lower by over 800 points and then slipped to the largest intraday loss in history -1,600 in approximately 10 minutes. How does this happen? Who is the bad guy? Did the markets break?

While higher interest rates were the original bad guy, traders quickly turned to inverse volatility ETNs and ETFs to explain the velocity of the sell off.

Following market close on February 5th, the two largest anti VIX funds — the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Futures Short Term exchange-traded note and the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures exchange-traded fund — came into focus. Shorting volatility has been free money for investors in a market that has shown very little volatility. The market had seen a record 404 days without a 5 percent move lower. The VelocityShares ETN and the ProShares ETF each gained more than 180 percent last year. This performance obviously attracted fund inflows and the products swelled into the billions. This incredibly successful trade turned horribly wrong in a matter of hours as the 4 percent selloff in the S&P 500 sent the VIX higher by over 115 percent. The biggest anti-volatility funds lost over 90 percent of their value (roughly $3 billion) and forced Credit Suisse (the sponsor of the XIV ETN) to shutter the fund.

Barclays estimates that an additional $500 billion of assets are tied to funds that target a given level of volatility and as volatility rises, these funds decrease their leverage to equities. This type of strategy creates more of a mechanical type of selling vs. fundamental and certainly added to the velocity of the declines we saw last week.

The Herd Mentality

Passive funds have swelled over the last three years pushing Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street Global to the top of most public companies shareholder list. When investors pulled a record $23.9 billion from funds last week, many of these firms were forced to sell stock.

State Street Global S&P 500 Index (top 10 holdings)

Our proprietary relative performance score helped keep IROs ahead of the curve with  its real-time look into trading showing senior management exactly how much of the company’s move was tied to broad-based market selling.

Before the market turned positive on February 9th, I noticed that many of our clients had institutional buyers picking up shares into weakness. My team informed clients that if we saw an end to the program selling we expected shares to rebound off the lows. Fortunately this thesis proved true as stocks rallied off the lows later in the day.

With the bad guys identified–rising interest rates, inflation, volatility funds and index selling– how do things settle out from here?

Three percent mark on the 10-year note

Traders remain focused on the bond market and the 10-year note. The yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note closed at 2.83 percent, significantly higher than the 2.41 percent at year-end 2017. Traders look at the 3 percent mark as the line in the sand and a spike above that level could trigger another downdraft in the markets. All eyes will be on the January Consumer Price Index when it is released February 14 for our next piece of inflation data. Traders are expecting the core rate (less food & energy) to rise  0.2 percent with the year-over-year expected to fall 0.1to 1.7 percent.

S&P 500 200-day moving average

Buyers stepped in February 9th after the market fell briefly below the 200-day moving average. This mark will be a key line of support if the bull market is able to resume.

While the possibility of a bear market remains low and much of the decline last week was tied to mechanical and index selling, we are likely to see much more volatile trading in the near term. So buckle up and keep your trays in the upright and locked position, because things are likely to remain bumpy in the near-term.

Mike Coffey is head of Business Development, Intelligence at Q4 and has over 20 years experience in the capital markets. Mike is a regular contributor to Q4 blog.

The post U.S. market insight: What happened last week and where do we go from here? appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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When it comes to investor relations, a website is one of the most crucial platforms to educate and engage the street about your company’s offerings and differentiate yourself from your peers. From your value proposition to performance metrics, investors need quick and easy access to digestible content, orchestrated by a fully seamless experience across devices. In an overcrowded and competitive marketplace, it’s more critical than ever to leverage web design to bring your brand to life. But capturing a user’s attention span (on average a mere five seconds) means that your IR websites need to not only communicate efficiently and intuitively but also creatively.

In the past, websites were text heavy, feverishly trying to cram everything above the fold with few visuals and sparse white space. Today, we’re creating sites that not only follow web design best practices, but also convey brand personality and differentiation. By thinking outside of the box, designers are giving content that space to breathe and fuelling user interactivity. The aim is to deliver an uncluttered, focused, and authentic experience that’s also unique and engaging.

While IR sites can be somewhat limited when it comes to the flash and flare of their corporate counterparts, bold minimalism and clean design are the key focuses for 2018. Here are four design trends to keep in mind for your upcoming site build or much-anticipated redesign.  

Vibrant colours, big typography, and eye-catching photography

This year, bigger and brighter is better. Bright, vivid and crisp colours are replacing traditional muted palettes. Portraying a strong and confident brand personality and catching (and keeping) visitor attention, these colour schemes are being paired with large and often oversized typefaces and headers. The impact is dramatic but still minimalist and clean.

Designers are also featuring big and bold photography with a focus on being real and engaging. Boring and generic corporate stock photos are being ditched for striking real-life images that truly reflect a company’s personality and tone.

Icons, infographics and animated graphics

Corporates are turning to design for high impact visual storytelling. Custom icons and infographics can effectively convey and simplify complex information at a glance. Flat design is an especially popular and minimalistic approach, featuring two-dimensional illustrations with vivid colours, crisp lines, and clean open space. Designers are also leveraging microinteractions to make content and metrics more dynamic by engaging the user through animated icons and graphics.

Embedded Video

Videos continue to add a human touch and breathe life into static content. A Hubspot study claims that 59 percent of executives prefer to watch videos instead of reading text, and 92 percent of these mobile users share video content with their network. Using smart design to cleverly and organically integrate video content throughout your website is essential. An innovative and interactive example is a scrolling “slider” which consolidates multiple videos from a variety of voices across the organization.

Mobile Optimized

Last year, mobile usage officially surpassed desktop browsing. According to an IR Magazine survey of 300 institutional investors, 83 percent of investors rely on mobile to do their work and 68 percent look at investor-related content throughout the day. Staying economical about space and user attention span, designers are finding more intuitive ways to organize information for mobile (including the long scroll), using graphics that are instantly consumable (like icons and infographics) and maximizing on microinteraction opportunities.

Overall, regardless of access point, design today is all about conveying a strong brand image and engaging the end user. The focus is on creating simple but powerful experiences, through accessible, digestible, and stand-out content. If these design trends are any indication, the future is clearly bright and bold.  

Marla Hurov is the Content Marketing Manager at Q4 Inc and blogs regularly about trends in brand strategy and digital communications.

The post Big and Bold Design Trends for IR Websites appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Online annual reports have enhanced our ability to tell our company story to investors. As digital tools continue to become more sophisticated and accessible, public companies are looking to new technology solutions to help create a fulsome online experience using video, interactive charts and graphs, and better UI – all tools that provide investors with a full and customizable understanding of a company’s performance, vision, and future strategy.

According to Rivel Research, digital annual reporting may lead to savings of tens of thousands of dollars over a printed report, depending on the digital features chosen. As you begin to think about the direction of your annual report for 2018, here are some tactics to consider.

Create an online experience

An online annual report may be as static or as interactive as you would like, depending on the resources for the project. Some ways to create a better online experience for your investors include:

Responsive design. Ensure your report is easy to digest on all platforms, including desktop, mobile, and tablet.

Thoughtful story layout. Share thought leadership pieces as separate “stories” to give investors the control to choose what they read first.

Downloadable data. Complement the online experience by including downloadable spreadsheets or PDFs throughout your report, so that investors can take information from the digital experience.

You may consider an online annual report as a tool that works alongside a traditional report. Yamana Gold opens its 2016 report with key highlights from the year to draw the reader in before delving into the company’s strategic priorities and corporate values, providing more context for annual financial performance and long-term vision.

Viad’s annual report creates a highly visual experience for investors with interactive graphics, and animated financial highlights which makes you stand out, and keeps investors engaged with your content for more.

Quick tip: always think “audience first” when creating your online annual report. Consider chatting with one of your investors to assess what he or she enjoys about engaging with annual reports.

Interactive Information

A major pain point of printed annual reports is the limitation of space when representing vast amounts of complex information. Interactive charts and graphs remove this limitation by adding “layers” to the amount of information that can exist in one space. Interactive information provides a roadmap for investors to view high-level data, and then drill down to additional sets that provide more detail.

You may want to consider interactive charts and graphs that investors can customize based on view, time period, metric, etc. By layering on more context about key performance measures over different years, investors are able to tailor the information to their interests.

Letter from the CEO

According to a July 2016 study by Rivel Research, the CEO’s letter is found “in virtually every company’s annual report.” As investors consume video at a higher rate than ever before, a CEO video is a great way to communicate your leadership’s strategy while personalizing the message.

Expanding reach: SEO and social media

An online annual report, unlike a printed version or PDF emailed to your investors, is a functioning, responsive mini-site that you can optimize for search engines so your content is prioritized in search results. This means that there is a greater chance that someone will stumble across the report via organic search, opening your report up to a wider audience that would not have found it otherwise.

Online reports also allow for social sharing, as you can insert social media share buttons onto each piece of content within your report. When you optimize your online report for social sharing, you’re inviting investors to share your report information with their networks — which may include potential investors you may not have otherwise reached.

If you’re looking to level up on how you engage with your investors online in 2018, building an interactive experience like an online annual report will definitely help get you there.

The post Embrace Online Annual Reports: Create an Experience for Investors appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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With just a few weeks left until the new MiFID II regulations take effect in January 2018, now is the time to start implementing measures into your IR strategy that address the changes. On our past blog post on MiFID II we described the broad implications of its implementation, particularly how IROs need to prepare for diminished sell-side research teams.

Investment banks have been feeling the squeeze for years, with firms like Nomura pulling back from equities coverage. MiFID II is expected to accelerate this trend. According to a new survey by Greenwich Associates, half of the European investors polled expect their use of global investment banks to fall by seven percent over the next 12 months.

Today we narrow in on some of the ways IR teams can prepare for MiFID II so as to avoid feeling sideswiped come 2018. We talked to Sarah Levy, group IR director at Kingfisher, and Martin Liedemit, deputy head of IR at BASF, who shared some practical advice on how to adapt to the regulation.  

Roadshows

According to the IR Magazine Global Roadshow Report, European companies undertake an average of 12 roadshows a year – making them more extensive travellers than North American and Asian companies. If MiFID II affects banks’ ability to provide corporate access services, European companies could suffer disproportionately due to their extensive roadshow schedule.

Possible solution: Levy recommends building a strong in-house team. “We already organize private client roadshows, and we’ve always seen a lot of direct requests from investors, which we action ourselves,” she says. “Those companies with IR departments that don’t do this should start thinking now about how they can restructure their teams, or bring in additional members to accommodate.”

Targeting

IR teams will also need in-house support for targeting. According to Rivel Research, companies spend an average of $25,000 and 16 percent of their time per year on targeting – figures that could rise post-MiFID II for European firms.

Possible solution: Liedemit, whose company already does a lot of in-house targeting, says IR teams should build in extra budget and resources for targeting. “Companies that don’t already do their own targeting need to consider how best they can identify those investors that are most relevant to them, and budget for the time and resources to do this effectively,” he says.

Sell-side research void

Post-MiFID II, companies will need to promote themselves more effectively as sell-side may be under resourced or lacking influence over buy-side. Channels such as the corporate website and use specialist intelligence tools will become even more critical.

Possible solution: Levy says she will be “simplifying and restructuring our processes, and increasing our use of digital tools so we can do more with our time.” For Liedemit, content will be king: “IR teams need to take a step back and assess the information they present,” he says. “In the future, we can expect to see an even stronger focus on content, with quality taking precedence over quantity.”

With MiFID II affecting roadshows, targeting and the sell-side, IR teams have plenty to think about, and implement ahead of the new year. Whether your team is able to staff up and increase costs, or simply have to re-strategize to save time and ultimately redirect resources, now is the time to do so. Levy, for instance, has started to identify areas where she can free up time for her team. “The best piece of advice I can give is to review where you can make time savings in preparation for the impact on resources that MiFID II will bring,” she concludes.

Amit Sangvhi is the senior director, international advisory at Q4. Based in London, UK, he’s passionate about how technology can change the face of shareholder ID in Europe. You can follow him @4mits.

The post MiFID II: Strategizing for January 2018 appeared first on Q4 Blog.

        

Cybersecurity attacks are becoming so common that it’s no longer a matter of if a breach will occur but rather when. Hackers are looking for vulnerabilities in your system 24/7 and in today’s digitalized world, their efforts have never been easier, or more successful. Over the last 12 months, 66.2 percent of financial organizations faced at least one cyber security attack. And the global cost of cyber crime is estimated to reach $2 trillion by 2019, a threefold increase from the 2015 estimate of $500 million.

Cyber breaches can cause any number of business challenges, from financial and reputational damage to a loss in shareholder value. For public companies whose websites house sensitive information such as quarterly financials, press releases and more, the stakes are high. The best defense is to understand security best practices and partner with an IR vendor who puts them into action.

Here are five key security measures you need to know about to help you stay ahead of future attacks.

Passwords: The necessary evil

How many times has IT reminded you to create a unique password (using letters, numbers and symbols)? The purpose: secure access to your resources. For many, the weak link in the authentication chain has been the much maligned “password”, however, new and secure technology trends are on the rise.

Many companies, large and small, are looking to new authentication trends such as: Two Factor Authentication (2FA or TFA). 2FA is an extra layer of security often referred to as two-step verification. The first step is the password and the second step could be PIN, token or smartphone app that is only accessible to the application user. 2FA makes it harder for attackers to gain access to your IR web application because knowing the password alone is not enough to pass the authentication check.

Data Encryption: Mathematical algorithms at work

Encryption, a system of mathematical algorithms that encode user data so that only the intended recipient can read it, is one of the best methods to safeguard your privacy. Using Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet is convenient, but in terms of security, there’s always a trade-off as it isn’t difficult for an intruder to intercept your connection, which could result in stolen user credentials and other sensitive data. This is why many websites use a protocol called HTTPS for encrypting data that’s being sent between sites. While this doesn’t guarantee absolute security, the risks are reduced as information being transmitted can only be decrypted by a destination site.

Before selecting a web partner, make sure their solution provides encryption of data in both Transit (SSL encryption) and at Rest.

Patch Management: Vital for online security

As you know, the cyber threat landscape is evolving at breakneck speed. While cyber criminals are able to compromise a system in hours or minutes, the reaction of companies usually takes months or even years. In fact, 18 percent of new malware remains undetected in the first 24 hours and 2 percent continues 3 months after infection, according to IDG Research.

For many companies that are implementing new technologies one of the top priorities during the planning phase is security. A critical aspect of security is Patch Management: the process of repairing system vulnerabilities that are applied to different parts of information systems, including operating systems, servers, routers, desktops, firewalls and many other components that exist in a network.

To protect from malware and ransomware and other external attacks, it’s important to work with a partner who conducts regular security patches to your website and hosted servers. The importance here is the prevention of viruses like Zero Day Attack or WannaCry, which have the potential to take down a company’s entire network.

Monitoring: Around the clock website check ins

Website downtime not only affects the end user’s experience and productivity, it ultimately affects a company’s bottom line. Proactively monitoring the network around the clock is an important pre-requisite for any organization wishing to protect itself from a potential security breach. There are various monitoring tools (New Relic, Splunk, Pingdom, IDS, Log manager, SCOM, etc. available in the market that allow infrastructure and security teams to monitor both up-time and any security breach in a network.

Security Assessment: Third party independent security reviews

Regular IT security assessments by a third party is key in preventing gaps in the application or infrastructure security. The third party independent vendor tests the application against OWASP standard. This universal security standard ensures the application is built following security best practices and is protected against attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. IRO’s should be requesting the third party audit reports before deciding on the final solution. These third party security reports are similar to a home inspection before purchasing a house. Third party independent reports will provide insight into the security of an IR web application.

With cyber threats on the rise it is critical that you prepare for a cyber incident with the same discipline and rigor as you would an operational one. This means getting up to speed on security best practices, taking the necessary precautions internally, and partnering with a vendor that has the measurements in place to mitigate risk and keep your information secure.

Vee Punia is Director, IT & Infrastructure at Q4 and holds over 17 years of experience in IT Infrastructure Management, Security operations, ITIL Change Management and Service Delivery of Enterprise or SaaS platform. 

The post Five security measures you need to know about to stay ahead of future attacks appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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There’s a lot to keep up with in Investor Relations for 2018. Extensive new regulatory requirements will bring change while new technologies will present opportunities as they seek to improve the accuracy and efficiency of IR programs. To get a better understanding of this year’s trends impacting the IR space, we caught up with industry experts including: Gary A. LaBranche, NIRI President and CEO, Darrell Heaps, CEO at Q4 Inc., Ben Ashwell, Digital Editor at IR Magazine, Amit Sanghvi, Senior Director International Advisor at Q4 Inc. and Adam Frederick, SVP Intelligence at Q4 Inc. and asked: what do you see as the big trends in IR for 2018?

Trend #1: MiFID II will bring sweeping changes

Amit Sanghvi (AS): The expectations are already well known: progressive shrinking of the European sell-side analyst pool, improved quality of research and an increased burden on European IROs to connect directly with the buy-side. But beyond that, I suspect MiFID II will start to be felt globally. My guess is that buy-side firms and their clients who, in theory, will benefit from better quality equity research and enjoy tighter spending control will demand the same from the sell-side the world over.

Gary A. LaBranche (GL): While the SEC has given a 30-month reprieve to brokers, we still expect to see a continuation of the erosion of sell-side research coverage for small and mid-cap U.S. companies, which will pose significant challenges for their IR teams. We expect that some companies will increase their investment in IR and expand their investor outreach efforts to help offset a decrease in coverage.

Darrell Heaps (DH): Certainly MIFID II is a massive trend for 2018. Although the impact in non-European markets may take longer to disrupt things, the trend and impact to the sell-side, buy-side and corporates seems very clear to me. For a large number of corporates, there is now an increased need to understand their current shareholders and proactively target new investors into the stock. The world of relying solely on the bank to take you out is quickly disappearing for most corporates. In demand companies will still have the sell-side reaching out, but even these popular firms will need to manage direct inbound requests for meetings from the buy-side, who are increasingly building their own internal corporate access departments. IR departments of all sizes are going to need to take matters into their own hands, in terms of marketing, targeting and meeting with investors from all markets.

Trend #2: Investors will continue to seek greater transparency

GL: Most U.S. companies will be making their first disclosures under the SEC’s CEO pay ratio rule during the 2018 proxy season. We expect that many IROs will take an active role in advising their management teams on how to address the concerns of investors, employees, the news media, and other stakeholders over this new disclosure. U.S. companies also are facing increased demands from governance activists to improve board diversity, while the rise of passive investing strategies likely will mean that IROs will face more governance-related inquiries in 2018.  

Ben Ashwell (BA): During last year’s proxy season we saw that investors were willing to side with activists on an unprecedented scale (at Arconic it cost the CEO their job) and were willing to vote against companies on climate-related proposals (at Exxon Mobil, Occidental and PPL Corporation) and against the nomination of certain board directors. As investors make greater efforts to connect the dots between their portfolio managers and investor stewardship teams, ESG will come into sharp focus. If IR is to be taken seriously by the Street, it should be able to answer questions relating to board diversity and composition, executive compensation, environmental risk and disclosure, political lobbying and a range of other ESG issues. Consulting investor’s voting guidelines is a good way to get briefed on their positions on ESG issues, as is reviewing the various governance frameworks that have come into effect.

Trend #3: Passive investment strategies continue to gain popularity

AS: We will see continued flow of funds from active to passive strategies. However, I believe the line between what is passive and active investment is set to be blurred with the advent of roboinvesting. Suddenly, like passive funds, active strategies will be dependent more heavily on data (and algorithms) rather than traditional stock picking by humans. What remains to be seen is how the IR community will adapt to this both in terms of managing any perception gaps created by algorithms and soliciting votes.

DH: 2018 will see no slow-down in the flow of funds from active to passive strategies. Algorithms will form the basis of investing decisions. For IROs looking to adapt to the rise in passive investing, survival lies in the ability to leverage data to tell a story and intelligence to interpret what the “machines” are doing. Unlike the active investor, machines don’t care about your qualitative story. It will be the job of the IRO to understand the underlying algorithms and leverage data in the required format.

Trend #4: AI & machine learning finally become mainstream.

AS: For too long – forever even – IROs have had to put up with intel that lacks in terms of quality and quantity when compared to what investors have access to. I think 2018 is the year when firms like Q4 will arm IROs with tools powered by artificial intelligence that truly help each IRO fight for capital with a focused plan.

Adam Frederick (AF): Artificial intelligence has gone from a buzzword to a real solution and will no doubt play a critical role in the evolution of the IR workflow. While we have already seen applications of these technologies put into play, 2018 will be the year its leveraged at scale in the IR world. These technologies will allow IRO’s to increase targeting efficiency, track investor engagement, analyze investor behaviour and improve corporate access.

Trend #5: The rise of Cryptocurrencies continues

DH: It is impossible for anyone who has access to the internet to not have heard about Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world. Although not a trend for IR in 2018, I do think it’s one of the most important trends for anyone connected to the capital markets to understand.  My reason is not bitcoin per say, but the underlying technology called “blockchain” and the explosion of “Initial Coin Offerings” or more recently ‘Initial Token Offerings” and Ethereum, which utilize the concept of “smart contracts” programmed into the blockchain. These smart contracts have the ability to function like a share certificate with a built in shareholders agreement and have the potential to be highly disruptive to the capital markets as we know them today. The impact of this is still a few years out, but for those in IR, it’s important to understand the tectonic shifts that are upon us.

Conor White is currently hustling in the Marketing team at Q4, and a passionate contributor to the Q4 Blog.

The post What do IR industry experts predict for 2018? appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Earlier today, Q4 introduced iris: a new AI engine for investor relations that integrates machine learning, big data analytics and NLP to analyze and process high volumes of fragmented market data. The result: improved investor engagement and shareholder quality, leading to lower volatility and higher multiples.

Phase one of this revolutionary product, available today in the U.S., is applied to Q4’s stock surveillance business, where it has been achieving accuracy levels of real-time ownership that, until now, have been unheard of in the market. And because of iris’ accuracy levels, Q4 has also announced its commitment to proactively report accuracy results to clients, along with a money back guarantee on maintaining accuracy above 80 percent.

We caught up with Adam Frederick, SVP, Intelligence to understand how iris originated, its future role in IR and how AI is changing the capital market landscape.

Lorena Reyes (LR): This is a very exciting day at Q4 with the release of iris into the marketplace. Tell me about iris. 

Adam Frederick (AF): iris is the culmination of three years’ worth of development by Q4’s quant team, our experienced analysts, market experts, and former floor traders. It initially began as a way for Q4 to better monitor real-time trading flows in both the options and equity markets. But over the past 12 months, iris has transformed into a fully-functioning AI-engine that drives the entire Q4 intelligence platform.

(LR):  iris’ accuracy is unheard of in the market and changing the game. Perhaps the biggest impact to the market is Q4’s accuracy guarantee. I’ve got to ask: how and why?

(AF):  Within the first several weeks of putting iris to the test, and then backtesting her results, we were witnessing a level of accuracy never seen before in the industry. We found that our average accuracy in predicting shareholder activity was north of 80 percent for all US stocks, regardless of business cycle, macro-environment, sector or market cap. The intelligence produced by iris is accurate, there is no denying it.  So why not stand behind our data, and be accountable?  

Q4 is the only surveillance provider to officially guarantee its accuracy by self-reporting on it to clients each quarter, and, on the off chance we fall below our guaranteed target, we offer a rebate. This ultimately makes Q4 accountable and gives our clients the piece of mind to know they are getting a quality product that their provider stands behind. It allows IROs to feel confident in our data, and pass the intelligence upstream to their management.

(LR): Why has nobody historically been able to stand behind this data?

(AF): The reason no other surveillance firm has been able to make this kind of claim  is that the model hasn’t lent itself to it. Traditional stock surveillance is only as good as the analyst and limited to the amount of data he/she can digest. With humans there is room for error and subjectivity. But an analyst armed with iris – now that changes the game. 

(LR): AI technologies are changing many industries, and the way people work. How is AI impacting the IR landscape?

(AF): Q4 has been the leader in bringing AI and other innovative technologies to the IR space. That said, leveraging AI within the IR Workflow is still a very new concept, and I believe we’re still only touching the surface of what we can do with it. To date, we’re seeing the most significant advancements in shareholder monitoring (stock surveillance) and market structure analysis (deciphering order flow characteristics & drivers in real-time). With the traditional surveillance model an analyst is typically able to look at a few hundred lines of data, for 8-10 companies, in an average work week. Conversely, AI-driven intelligence, such as iris, sifts through millions of lines of data, and billions of individual data points, for thousands of stocks, in a matter of minutes. And as an added bonus to that, AI takes out the human bias and subjectivity. Therefore, our results are not only deeper and more informed in their basis, but decidedly more accurate as well.

(LR): We talked about how AI is changing the IR landscape. Can you talk to how it’s changing the way IROs work?

(AF): With better accuracy comes intelligence that an IRO can truly trust and act upon. Additionally, and this is important to note, iris is not only driving Q4’s surveillance efforts, but in utilizing machine learning and big data analytics, we’re able to empower our clients with deeper insight into such areas as: trading dynamics, market structure analysis, short-selling, sector rotations and trends, predictive analytics around shareholder sentiment and market expectations, forward-looking trading assumptions, etc. The sheer volume of data ingested and analyzed by iris daily is unmatched, and her results speak for themselves. It’s accurate, actionable intelligence that arms IROs with a real-time feedback loop, which leads to better stakeholder communications and messaging, lower turnover and dampened volatilities, and ultimately, higher multiples. In short, AI is improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRO Workflow.

(LR): How does iris differ from what is out there?

(AF): Artificial Intelligence is a term that is too often thrown around. For instance, having an algorithm that can decipher if/then statements to produce “AI-targets,” is nothing revolutionary. Technology like that has been around for 20+ years. What’s different about iris is that she is an intelligent being; the brains behind Q4’s Intelligence Platform. The system learns, and gets smarter as time goes on. It infers and makes interpretive decisions. AI-platforms, like iris, anticipate and predict what’s to come next – both from the market’s standpoint, as well as in how the IRO is likely to react.

(LR): We’ve now released phase one of iris. What’s next?

(AF):  Without giving too much away… In the future, AI-driven platforms will empower IROs with easily digestible intelligence, proactive next-step workflow suggestions, and complete transparency around shareholder engagement success or opportunities. In a true AI-platform, the IRO no longer is at the center of the process, driving the steering wheel from module to module. Rather, the platform itself, this intelligent being, has the controls. The platform will make smart and intuitive suggestions, anticipating your every move, and allowing you to focus on what matters most – driving value, and expanding market multiples.

The post Meet iris™: the AI engine set to revolutionize the IR space appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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As global markets continue their momentum, competing for capital has become more challenging than ever. IR teams are facing more scrutiny and pressure as they battle against peers for institutional investors to allocate more assets directly in their company. In today’s fierce market, IROs need to be sure of both their investment proposition and that they are meeting with the right investors, at the right time.  

As IROs continue to adapt to a new market environment, they are turning to new technologies such as Q4 Desktop to attract new buyers to their equity, generate a broad and stable shareholder base, ensure management spends time with the ‘right’ people, and improve the overall quality of the institutional shareholders.   

With today’s release, Q4 Desktop’s CRM is more robust than ever, integrating new features and functionality, such as a calendar and itinerary builder to help with roadshow preparation. When utilized in collaboration with the platform’s ownership and targeting tool, IROs have all the tools and resources they need to raise capital and maximize the ROI on outreach efforts.

Here’s how Q4 Desktop’s fully-integrated platform prepares IR teams for future roadshows.

Understanding your shareholder base.

When preparing for a roadshow, understanding investor behaviour, history, and sentiment is crucial. Q4 Desktop’s ownership data provides a clear overview of investor trends in style, turnover, and quality over time, combined with historical interactions and contacts. Ownership activity charts make it easy to measure effectiveness of your corporate communications, highlighting the impact your news, events, and meetings have on your shareholder base. Peer analysis is simplified with modifiable peer matrices, while historical ownership provides the bigger picture with up to five years of data. By assembling your briefing books and tear sheets, Q4 arms you with everything you need to clearly understand your relationships with your investors.

Identifying the highest quality targets.

With Q4 Desktop’s screener tool, corporates can leverage a database of over 250,000 entities and utilize filters such as location, style, AUM, etc to identify compatible targets. Q4 Desktop also allows IROs to filter by Quality Rating (QR), a proprietary score that identifies whether a target is expected to be a long, mid or short-term holder; and Purchasing Power which goes a step further to quantify just how much investment the target could potentially make in the stock. Targeting by metro area is also possible, allowing you to broaden your search beyond a specific city.

Planning and executing a seamless roadshow.

Once your list of targets and investors is defined, the roadshow planning begins. With Q4 Desktop, IROs can easily group their contacts into distribution lists and initiate contact. Once meeting times and dates are established, the new itinerary builder helps capture every meeting detail in a simplified workflow, ensuring the user never loses track of where they are in the process of producing their event. Briefing books and printed itineraries are integrated with historical and customizable meeting notes, emailed directly to your account when ready for download, ensuring you have every detail to make the most of your meetings.

The new calendar makes it easy to see what your team is doing, who they’re meeting with, where they’re going, and when. Once on the road, take notes against each meeting and add tags to highlight particular topics of interest to the attendees. Every interaction can be grouped under your roadshow, updating your team’s itinerary while logging potentially significant events with your prospects and meeting guests.

Book a demo today to learn more about Q4 Desktop and how to integrate it into your IR workflow.

Conor White is currently hustling in the Marketing team at Q4, and a passionate contributor to the Q4 Blog.   

The post [Product] How Q4 Desktop prepares you for your next roadshow appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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Please return to your seats. The market has turned on the seatbelt sign: what happened last week, and what do we look for next?

Two weeks ago, my friend’s daughter, Leah, asked me to help her select stocks for her high school economics class. To be honest,  I was nervous to recommend anything as the markets had gone straight up for an extended period of time. I really felt we were well overdue for a pullback. As the markets sold off sharply last week, I was less concerned about my portfolio and more fearful that because of the state of the markets (and more so the stocks I picked), Leah would fail economics, and my buddy since kindergarten would never speak to me again.

Looking for a bad guy

I have been in capital markets intelligence for over 20 years. What I’ve learned in that time is that while people are far less interested in what’s going on with their stock when it’s moving higher, senior management really leans in when stocks don’t perform as expected. That’s when I’m asked: Mike, who is the bad guy?

The recent decline in the market started on February 2nd, as the January employment report sent interest rates higher. The Department of Labor reported that January’s hourly wage rose 2.9 percent. This marked the biggest year-over-year increase since the last recession ended in June 2009. The report sparked inflation fears and sent interest rates sharply higher, making some believe that the risk/reward between stocks and bonds had changed.

The selloff continued on February 5th, as the Dow gapped lower by over 800 points and then slipped to the largest intraday loss in history -1,600 in approximately 10 minutes. How does this happen? Who is the bad guy? Did the markets break?

While higher interest rates were the original bad guy, traders quickly turned to inverse volatility ETNs and ETFs to explain the velocity of the sell off.

Following market close on February 5th, the two largest anti VIX funds — the VelocityShares Daily Inverse VIX Futures Short Term exchange-traded note and the ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures exchange-traded fund — came into focus. Shorting volatility has been free money for investors in a market that has shown very little volatility. The market had seen a record 404 days without a 5 percent move lower. The VelocityShares ETN and the ProShares ETF each gained more than 180 percent last year. This performance obviously attracted fund inflows and the products swelled into the billions. This incredibly successful trade turned horribly wrong in a matter of hours as the 4 percent selloff in the S&P 500 sent the VIX higher by over 115 percent. The biggest anti-volatility funds lost over 90 percent of their value (roughly $3 billion) and forced Credit Suisse (the sponsor of the XIV ETN) to shutter the fund.

Barclays estimates that an additional $500 billion of assets are tied to funds that target a given level of volatility and as volatility rises, these funds decrease their leverage to equities. This type of strategy creates more of a mechanical type of selling vs. fundamental and certainly added to the velocity of the declines we saw last week.

The Herd Mentality

Passive funds have swelled over the last three years pushing Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street Global to the top of most public companies shareholder list. When investors pulled a record $23.9 billion from funds last week, many of these firms were forced to sell stock.

State Street Global S&P 500 Index (top 10 holdings)

Our proprietary relative performance score helped keep IROs ahead of the curve with  its real-time look into trading showing senior management exactly how much of the company’s move was tied to broad-based market selling.

Before the market turned positive on February 9th, I noticed that many of our clients had institutional buyers picking up shares into weakness. My team informed clients that if we saw an end to the program selling we expected shares to rebound off the lows. Fortunately this thesis proved true as stocks rallied off the lows later in the day.

With the bad guys identified–rising interest rates, inflation, volatility funds and index selling– how do things settle out from here?

Three percent mark on the 10-year note

Traders remain focused on the bond market and the 10-year note. The yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note closed at 2.83 percent, significantly higher than the 2.41 percent at year-end 2017. Traders look at the 3 percent mark as the line in the sand and a spike above that level could trigger another downdraft in the markets. All eyes will be on the January Consumer Price Index when it is released February 14 for our next piece of inflation data. Traders are expecting the core rate (less food & energy) to rise  0.2 percent with the year-over-year expected to fall 0.1to 1.7 percent.

S&P 500 200-day moving average

Buyers stepped in February 9th after the market fell briefly below the 200-day moving average. This mark will be a key line of support if the bull market is able to resume.

While the possibility of a bear market remains low and much of the decline last week was tied to mechanical and index selling, we are likely to see much more volatile trading in the near term. So buckle up and keep your trays in the upright and locked position, because things are likely to remain bumpy in the near-term.

Mike Coffey is head of Business Development, Intelligence at Q4 and has over 20 years experience in the capital markets. Mike is a regular contributor to Q4 blog.

The post U.S. market insight: What happened last week and where do we go from here? appeared first on Q4 Blog.

       

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