Corporate reporting: Is it what investment professionals expect?

Last nedCorporate Reporting: Is it what investment professionals expect? (3 045 kb)

Analysen ”Survey of investors' and analysts' views on the information that companies provide” omfatter 262 investeringer og analytikere i 6 land. Temaet er ”Corporate reporting - Is it what investment professionals expect?”.This is an international survey of the views of investors and analysts from the UK, US, Canada, Germany, France and Australia on the information that companies provide. Its aim is to assess whether investors and analysts have the information that they need to assess corporate performance. The findings show a significant expectation gap between the importance investors attach to key information and the adequacy of the information they currently receive.

Benefits of using this survey

"Corporate reporting: Is it what investment professionals expect?" can be used with clients to offer important insights into the adequacy of their communication with the capital market, offering insights into areas where better reporting could increase investors’ confidence in management’s performance.This survey is also of interest to standard setters and regulators who are interested in understanding the investment professionals’ views on the gaps in GAAP.

Assurance/advisory practice benefits:

• helps create a distinctive client experience;
• demonstrates our continued investment in the corporate reporting agenda;
• improves engagement team credibility with client;
• provides a platform for a broader discussion around clients’ reporting, the breadth and depth of their internal management information, and whether this meets the needs of both key decision makers within the company and principal stakeholders externally.

Client benefits:

• generates awareness of the capital market’s informational needs;
• provides practical insights into areas where companies might improve communications with investors and other stakeholders;
• potential to act as a catalyst for challenging the quality and availability of internal management information.

Target audience

Preparers involved in strategic decisions about what to communicate externally (eg, CEOs, CFOs, non-executive directors) and those involved in its delivery (such as financial controllers and company secretaries). Policy makers, regulators and standard-setters will also find it useful to help them assess the usefulness of the current reporting model and to challenge whether more needs to be done to improve the quality of reporting.The media is also likely to be interested in these findings.

Key findings

Top level observations include:

• GAAP remains the bedrock for financial analysis. Participants expressed an overriding need to be able to understand the underlying operating performance of companies.
• A number of the areas in which investors and analysts commonly want better information, such as revenue recognition and segment reporting, can be remedied through better disclosure with little or no change to the existing accounting framework.
• Investment professionals do not feel fully engaged in the standard-setting process, but many express a willingness to get more actively involved.