Understanding investors: the changing corporate perspective

This report is the last in a four-part series examining what investors want from corporate reporting and how organisations are responding to their needs. It examines current trends in reporting and the audit relationship from the perspective of the CFO, with a particular emphasis on real-time and integrated reporting.

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ACCA has consistently argued that the role and interests of investors need to be better understood and placed more centrally in policymaking processes by legislators and standard setters. The investor’s voice is often not heard strongly enough, which is perhaps understandable given the range of organisations and interests that can fall under the heading of ‘investors’.

In order to address this need for greater understanding of the investor landscape, ACCA, in collaboration with Longitude Research, developed a four-stage project examining the changing investor universe since the global financial crisis, and what investors want from corporate reporting. The project examined how pressure to respond to the needs of investors may change the approach taken by companies in reporting their activities and engaging investor groups.

This report is the fourth stage of that process. Although it uses the UK and Ireland-based CFOs investor base for its analysis, the trends it identifies have a much wider resonance, internationally.