Who will listen?

(From Financial Director)

Byline: Andrew Sawers.

Institutional investors spend a great deal of time analysing the shares of companies they want to buy or sell. Now FDs can use sophisticated analysis to identify the shareholders whose portfolio and investment programme is most likely to match the type of company they run. So, for example, an emerging markets fund probably won't be interested in a UK turnaround business, but a fund that is moving out of highly rated high-growth technology stocks might be.

On the basis of conversations we have with quoted company FDs, we estimate that they spend a good 20-25% of their time on investor relations. This is perhaps as it should be, if only because communicating with investors is core to accountability.

But it's a lot of resource to devote to the process of making a lot of noise about the company's position and strategy - so FDs are certain to be interested in anything that generates more bucks for the bang.

Recently, Thomson Financial - the information provider that over the years has acquired and integrated such big names as Datastream, Extel and IBES - launched a new range of 'fact-based' services that help companies analyse who's buying and selling their shares and analyse how the financial profile of the company fits in with the rest of an investment fund's portfolio.

Albert Lojko, European MD of the Corporate Group at Thomson Financial, says the aim of its Analytical Services and Capital Markets Intelligence is, "To help firms target new institutional ...