Investor Management

Traditionally, the focus of investor relations has been on reducing information asymmetries between corporate managers and the financial community through timely and accurate disclosure of all share-price-relevant information. The research presented in this book suggests corporate managers can do more to reduce valuation gaps and excess stock return volatility. These enhanced investor relations activities are subsumed under the term ‘investor management’, which, besides corporate disclosure, comprises active management of the ownership structure and investors’ preferences.
The focus of this book is investor identification and segmentation. Knowing and understanding the ownership base is a necessary prerequisite for investor management. The research presented provides the theoretical basis for investor management and assesses the feasibility of its use by large Swiss companies. The book discusses the following questions: Does it make sense for companies to manage the investor base? To what extent are large Swiss companies proactively managing their investor base? Is it possible for Swiss companies to systematically identify the most critical investors?