Though addressed to Canadian companies, the practices suggested by Kingsdale Advisors' "Director-Shareholder Engagement While Maintaining Social Distancing" apply equally to US companies. The firm suggests companies consider - among other things:
- Posting (and maintaining on a current basis) on their corporate IR webpages a series of FAQs that include the most recent shareholder questions about COVID-19 and its impact on the company going forward
- Devoting an area on the IR pages to the company's COVID-19 response. Companies are encouraged to consider including a brief CEO video (which reportedly is much more likely to be viewed than text) highlighting the business' resiliency and steps the company has taken to ensure safety of its employees, customers, and other key stakeholders, and to mitigate risks
- Using social media to steer traffic to and promote your website updates, CEO video, etc.
- A proactive media relations strategy to reach the mainstream media and industry publications
In addition to keeping existing shareholders engaged, the firm suggests companies consider reaching out to prospective investors who have expressed interest in the past but avoided the stock for valuation issues, as they may be willing to buy in now based on COVID-19-depressed valuations.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!