DISQUS

IR Web Report: Beware of IR Vendors Trading on Your Good Name

  • George · 3 years ago
    Nice follow up on Davis Freeberg story. As an investor, I think I will also check into using NIRI to determine the credibility of the investor relations information that I read. Is there a specific link to the NIRI member's list? I didn't spot it on their site.

    By the way, I also found your comment on anonymous bloggers credibility of interest since I am one. I stay anonymous primarily to protect my family from corporate legal department attacks and to keep my professional life in a non financial career separate from my interest in investing. I don't think my boss would want customers asking me about my blog. Any suggestions on helping an anonymous blogger like myself gain credibility?
  • Dominic Jones · 3 years ago
    George, You have to be a member of NIRI to access their who's who list. So this will work only for IR departments that employ NIRI members.

    I did find the Davis Freeberg story credible even without knowing his/her identity. But instead of judging the credibility of the author, I was left to judge the credibility of the post by itself. It was well written, included links to substantiating sources and, most important, there was a lot of links in to the blog from other blogs I trust.

    Still, I hope that Davis Freeberg will come out of the shadows one day.
  • michael webster · 3 years ago
    Dominic, why does NIRI keep its membership hidden from the public? Surely this frustrates due diligence.
  • IR Daily · 3 years ago
    Michael,

    Excellent post on your website. Amazing what a bit of digging can turn up!

    NIRI is a professional association of investor relations professionals and personnel of service providers to public companies. It has no policing powers beyond its code of conduct and the good management practices of its executive. It has no responsibility to the public beyond encouraging honesty and professionalism amongst its members.

    The member list contains personal contact information for IR professionals and therefore is private. There are other pages that are public, but I'm not sure I can vouch for them because I don't know the process NIRI uses to include vendors in these public lists. They pay a fee to be listed, but I don't know if these are checked in any way.

    My advice to check NIRI was directed to investor relations professionals at public companies. They should be careful who they do business with and who they grant interviews to. Choosing whether to grant interviews to investment websites or firms like WallSt.net is tricky for IR professionals at public companies. As a representative of their company with a duty to represent the company to the public, where do they draw the line on who is credible or not?

    The suggestion of checking to see if the service provider's staff are NIRI members was the simplest advice I could provide to investor relations professionals. I don't think it will catch every shady operator, but it's a simple and hopefully effective practice.

    My advice to the public: "Be suspicious."