On The Performance And Response Paths Of Listed Companies' Investor Relations In Public Crise

With the new Securities Law in 2021 setting up a special chapter on investor protection and making institutional arrangements for investor protection,Investor Relations Management(IRM)for A-share listed companies in China is on the rise and is going through a nascent to growth phase.Maintaining good investor relations is the intangible capital of listed companies and an important pillar to maximize the overall interests of the company.In the context of the all-media era,various types of companies are in crisis,and the impact of crisis on companies is becoming more and more destructive.When a listed company encounters negative news caused by crisis,sensitive investors will "vote with their feet",causing the company’s share price to fluctuate and market value to shrink significantly.The Covid-19 pandemic has become the most significant factor influencing changes in financial markets in 2020,with a sharp decline in the number of meetings between listed companies and investors worldwide.The Covid-19 pandemic brings huge challenges to investor relations management of Chinese A-share listed companies.Data from publicly available listed companies show that listed companies’ investor relations practitioners have low crisis communication skills and during the crisis,listed companies do not pay attention to comprehensive communication with investors,but some companies with high level of investor relations management will have less negative impact of the crisis on the company’s market value.From the specific analysis of the 5S principles of crisis public relations handling,when faced with a crisis,the investor relations department of the listed company responds slowly,entrusts the full responsibility of crisis handling to the public relations department,and lacks the concerted action of all departments of the enterprise;the response mechanism lacks strategy,and there is the phenomenon of perfunctory response,as well as the inconsistent response to regulation and media caliber.The main reasons are: the concept of investor relations management was introduced late in China,the relevant guidance documents are not yet mature,and there is a lack of methodology adapted to the characteristics of the local market;there is a shortage of professional talents in investor relations management,and practitioners are not familiar with the company’s strategic planning,various businesses and corporate governance;the crisis prevention mechanism is not sound,and the staff of the investor relations department respond to crises alone,limiting the role of linkage with other departments.The crisis prevention mechanism is not sound,and the staff of investor relations department responds to crisis alone,which limits the linkage with other departments and cannot maximize the effect of crisis public relations;the investor relations management method is single,and listed companies generally rely excessively on cold media such as telephone and online interactive platform,and lack active communication with investors and field research,which cannot meet the information needs of investors.In summary,in the crisis situation,what measures listed companies take to do a good job in investor relations management,to regain investors’ trust,reduce the negative impact of the capital market and losses caused by the crisis,and promote the orderly operation of enterprises,has become an urgent issue for listed companies.Firstly,to improve the management mechanism of practitioners.Second,improve investor relations management system.Thirdly,improve the information management level.Thus,guiding listed companies to effectively carry out investor relations management activities in the face of crisis situations,promoting companies to smoothly carry out business plans and development strategies,and guaranteeing the realization of company values;it also helps to promote comprehensive external communication of listed companies in the face of crisis,alleviate information asymmetry between enterprises and investors,strengthen listed companies’ protection of investors’ rights and interests,and promote the healthy development of the capital market.This paper puts forward some suggestions from three aspects of deepening crisis defense concept,linkage system construction and improving digital level,and proposes several optimized countermeasures for investor relations management of listed companies: improving crisis prevention awareness through warning education,organizing regular training to strengthen professional ability cultivation;constructing linkage mechanism of investor relations management for crisis response,improving investor stratification management strategy and establishing post-event summary evaluation system;at the same time,listed companies should also focus on improving information management level,building public opinion monitoring platform,accurately finding crisis sources and establishing digital investor relations management system.