Dear Shareholder ...

'I am pleased to report that my inability to write a decent letter to shareholders in the annual report should have little bearing upon my ability to run your business successfully.' It is an unlikely opening paragraph from a chairman or CEO but at least it exhibits a bit of honesty. And that is something which is sadly missing in most missives. There is also a lack of well-crafted text which might just persuade the shareholder to venture further than the first few lines, or even further into