The Taiwan Monthly

May 2020

ESG

The online IR core strategy conference has been well-received!

The TWSE co-organized the “IR Core Strategy Conference” with the Taiwan Investor Relations Institute and the Alliance Advisors on April 21 with the goal of helping listed companies strengthen their investor relations performance, understand issues of concern to institutional investors, and matters relating to voting policies. Moreover, the conference was live-streamed in order to reduce the risk of cluster infections of COVID-19. Participants of listed companies could interact with other attendees through instant messaging, and the conference was well-received by all in attendance.

 

The TWSE's Senior Vice President Pony Huang stated in her speech that investor relations (IR) is a critical strategy for listed companies as the influence of institutional investors on listed companies has been growing. There are currently 151 professional institutional investors who have signed the “Stewardship Principles for Institutional Investors” released in 2016 in Taiwan. It shows that in the future companies' decision-making process and business directions could be influenced in various ways by institutional investors, who may pay closer attention to shareholders’ meetings and actively interact with listed companies, so it becomes quite necessary to address more challenging tasks of investor relations in the future.

 

The first half of the conference began by the discussion on Investor Relations Practice between the TIRI Secretary-General Jonathan Chiou and the Senior Manager Tom Huang of BizLink Holding Inc. Mr. Huang suggested that during the pandemic, listed companies should pay more attention to clients, maintain high operational transparency, focus on long-term strategies, and be more aware of shareholders’ needs. Companies must take a proactive approach to identify investors, keep them informed of the latest operational status, and stay positive if short-term goals have not been achieved due to the pandemic. Moreover, companies should not hide uncertainties from investors. This period offers a good opportunity for companies to build a healthy relationship with long-term investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies.

 

The second half of the conference was the speech entitled "From equity to ownership, IR core strategy" delivered by the Vice President Celine Feng of the Alliance Advisors. She covered issues ranging from updated policies by corporate governance research institutes, provided guidance on how to contact foreign institutional investors, operate shareholders’ meetings, and the voting practice and operation of foreign institutional investors. Ms. Feng reminded listed companies that it is necessary to interact with institutional investors during the low season of shareholders’ meetings. In terms of voting policies, institutional investors particularly focus on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance; therefore, listed companies may disclose their ESG performance and items on the companies’ official websites. Moreover, listed companies must actively communicate with institutional investors to attain their long-term support.

 

Participants of the conference had fruitful discussions. If any of the live conference streaming was missed, it can be seen by video until May 8 on the TWSE's WebPro website ( https://webpro.twse.com.tw/webportal/vod/115/372BAC774364-5F49FFB3-83AC-11EA-8790/?categoryId=150 ). For conference materials, please visit the website of the Corporate Governance Center at ( https://cgc.twse.com.tw/promoteEvent/promoteEventArticleCh/648 ).

 

For further inquiries, please contact Mr. Yu at 1248@twse.com.tw .