Almost half of companies worldwide would outsource their investor relations apps, according to an IR Magazine research report.
Looking at how common it is for companies to use an external provider in 13 areas of activities related to IR practice, Outsourcing IR 2018 reveals that 47 percent of the companies polled would consider outside help for their IR apps.
This trend is more pronounced among Asian companies, according to the report, with 61 percent eyeing this route. This is followed by North America and Europe with 42 percent and 47 percent, respectively, hinting that this could be an option for them.
Perception studies are another area of interest for outsourcing. Again, Asia takes the lead (59 percent), with 41 percent of North American firms and 30 percent of European companies also leaning toward outsourcing these studies.
The report highlights targeting as an area where there are regional differences. More than a third (34 percent) of North American companies say they get outside help for their targeting activities, compared with just 16 percent and 24 percent of Asian and European companies, respectively.
The report goes on to reveal the activities companies prefer to keep in-house, with 92 percent of companies globally saying they would never outsource IR strategy.
Breaking it down by region, just 9 percent of Asian companies would outsource their IR strategy to a third party. The figure is even lower for European and North American companies with only 2 percent and 3 percent, respectively, willing to contract out this activity. In addition, more than 80 percent of companies would not outsource corporate communications while more than 70 percent reject the option of hiring a financial PR firm. The report notes that the low outsourcing of IR strategy, corporate communications and financial PR is a ‘matter of will, not a lack of resources or opportunity’.
Social media monitoring is also not commonly outsourced, with 76 percent of companies overall indicating that they prefer to keep it in-house.
Click here to find out more about the IR Magazine Outsourcing IR report.
