Take control of SRI/ESG investor communications

Introduction

To maximise the efficiency & effectiveness of their communications with SRI investors and analysts on sustainability issues, companies need three (or four) things:

• The will to do it
• A plan
• Practical tools
• (Possibly) external support

The will to do it

Our opening article sets out nine reasons why companies should communicate pro-actively with SRI investors, including SRI market size & growth, relevance to corporate strategy, mainstream interest etc.

A plan – the ‘10 Steps’

The 10 Steps plan outlined in this document should enable companies to:

• halve the amount of time they spend on SRI and,
• double their reach and effectiveness.

We offer this for free to:

• companies to use directly and,
• consultancies to use with their corporate clients.

Practical tools

SRI-CONNECT has online tools to support most aspects of this process.

• Some of these are supplied ‘free-to-air’
• Most are available within the registered user area (registration is free but only open to those with a professional exposure to SRI (CSR Heads / IR managers etc.)
• Some (including a step-by-step spreadsheet for the ‘10 Steps’) are available to subscribed members only (Subscription costs company users and consultants £375 + VAT)

External support

Some companies will manage all of their own SRI communications in-house; others will involve external specialists.  For the latter group, we provide:

• A list of CSR consultants with SRI advisory capabilities
• A list of 'sell-side brokers' that organise roadshows for companies to meet ‘buy-side’ analysts and portfolio managers
• A list of specialist SRI consultants that organise meetings with 'sell-side' and SRI agency analysts

This paper should be read in conjunction with:

• our SRI Primer report which contains a comprehensive overview of the SRI industry
• our Ecology of SRI report which lists all significant players.