Investor Relations - There's an App for That

Companies are bound by law and necessity to keep their investors informed. They do so by issuing annual reports, maintaining IR sections on their websites and filing various forms with regulators. It's an area where there is room for creativity (the right kind as well as the wrong) and innovation. There are competitions where they compete for prizes, such as the annual Corporate Reporting Contest sponsored by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

Technology has played a growing role in IR over recent years, mostly on the world wide web. The has included not only websites, but the use of social media. Twitter is big in the IR area, because it is a way to send out quick notices on important events along with links for those who are interested in the details. But they use Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Instagram and several others as well.

More recently, there has been a global trend to the use of smartphones and tablets for all kinds of uses. This has manifested in the use of apps for many of those purposes. IR is no exception.

Several companies have introduced IR apps, two good examples being Tim Hortons and General Electric.

The Tim Hortons app loads for the iPhone and iPad and presents a full range of information normally provided by a company to its investors. On the main page when it is opened, that includes current stock prices on both the TSX and the NYSE. Further there is late breaking news, a complete copy of the annual report, financial statements, other financial information and so on. The range and amount of information is considerable. Of course reading a 228 page annual report on a phone screen is challenging, but possible by enlarging the pages with finger swipes, and may be a good pastime when you are waiting in a doctors office for an appointment or waiting for a flight.

There has been some controversy as to whether these apps are useful or worth doing. They have been adopted by the most innovative companies but not by the average company out there. They are not mainstream as yet, but are growing in numbers.

Intuitively, it seems a logical development in a world inundated with new mobile devices where many users have ceased to use laptops with any regularity. Since it's important to reach these users, especially when they are investors or other stakeholders, then an IR app is a relatively easy and effective way to do it.

Check them out. You can find them on the usual app stores where available and also can often track them down through the corporate IR website of the company in which you have an interest.