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Wall Street analysts as investor relations officers

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  • Hope, Ole-Kristian
  • Huang, Zhongwei
  • Moldovan, Rucsandra

Abstract

This paper examines the practice of hiring financial analysts as investor relations officers (IRO). We posit that analysts-turned-IROs (AIROs) have a competitive advantage in communicating with investors, thereby lowering the effort expended by the investment community to process corporate disclosures. Using a unique manually-collected dataset on the employment history of IROs compiled from LinkedIn, Capital IQ, RelationshipScience.com, and appointment press releases, we show that disclosure readability in 8-K and 10-K filings improves and that companies are more likely to host analyst/investor days after hiring former analysts as IROs. Most importantly, we find increases in analyst following, institutional investors, and stock liquidity after hiring a former analyst as IRO. We conclude that both a disclosure and a network channel are at play in the relation between AIROs and increased interest from the investment community. Overall, our findings suggest that firms benefit from hiring Wall Street analysts as IROs.

Suggested Citation

  • Hope, Ole-Kristian & Huang, Zhongwei & Moldovan, Rucsandra, 2021. "Wall Street analysts as investor relations officers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:67:y:2021:i:c:s0929119921000134
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.101893
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    2. Neukirchen, Daniel & Engelhardt, Nils & Krause, Miguel & Posch, Peter N., 2023. "The value of (private) investor relations during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Shilei Yu & Ning Hu & Wanyi Chen, 2023. "The value of communication: Evidence from in‐depth investor relations management data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 3873-3909, December.
    4. Hope, Ole-Kristian & Su, Xijiang, 2021. "Peer-level analyst transitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    5. Wu, Di & Gao, Shenghao & Chan, Kam C. & Cheng, Xiaoke, 2022. "Do firms strategically respond to retail investors on the online interactive information disclosure platform?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PA).
    6. Liu, Qingfu & Shi, Chen & Tse, Yiuman & Wang, Chuanjie, 2023. "The value of communication during pandemics," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Zhang, Rachel Xi, 2023. "Do Managers learn from institutional investors through direct interactions?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2).
    8. Galanti, Sébastien & Leroy, Aurélien & Vaubourg, Anne-Gaël, 2022. "Investment and access to external finance in Europe: Does analyst coverage matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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