QSE and Iridium officials at the launch of investor relations excellence programme.


The Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) has become the Gulf region’s first bourse to launch a programme that rewards excellence in investor relations (IR) by its listed companies.
Moreover, the QSE has mandated Iridium, an independent IR advisory firm, to design a fair, transparent and credible framework for the IR excellence programme, a move that will also encourage non-listed firms to improve upon their IR practices.
“The companies listed on our exchange are the corporate ambassadors that represent Qatar’s economic, business and financial progress around the world. Their performance is in the public spotlight every day, shaping our country’s image as a financial centre,” QSE chief executive Rashid bin Ali al-Mansoori said.
The programme elicits the expert opinion of the domestic and international investment community to identify companies and individuals who display best practice as well as features a detailed ranking of corporate investor relations websites. The QSE will host a special event in December to announce the results.
Members of investment community will cast their votes via an online survey tool. Votes are anonymous and gathered by an independent third party, a bourse spokesman said, adding a public voting system will start from September and a detailed website ranking will commence in August this year.
The website criteria are divided into three main categories: technology, content and service. These categories each have five criteria with over 100 sub-criteria.
“It is the responsibility of every publicly listed company to keep its stakeholders informed with any information that may influence an investment decision. It is, therefore, critical that Qatar’s listed companies embrace open and transparent communication and take advantage of modern technologies to fulfil fast-growing information needs,” al-Mansoori said.
The mandate is to support Qatar’s national economy by providing an exchange platform where investors can trade fairly and efficiently, he said, adding “we will also use this initiative to encourage other companies to enhance their disclosure practices and level of activity going forward.”
“Strong IRs is the hallmark of successful capital markets,” Iridium chief executive Oliver Schutzmann said.
The excellence programme has been benchmarked globally against best practices to ensure a transparent methodology.
Abdul Aziz al-Emadi, listing director, QSE, said 82% of investors were willing to pay a 10% to 25% premium on companies with strong IR.
“Whilst the IR excellence programme itself is a new initiative for the QSE, a focus on improving investor relations for our listed companies is not,” he said.
The QSE has been encouraging its listed companies over a number of years to adopt best practice, including the establishment of specific expertise in dedicated departments, he said.
“We see the IR excellence programme as another part of that ongoing development,” al-Emadi added.