All Ahead Full: The Emerging Importance of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

By Carleen Lyden-Kluss

The only constant is change, but the way in which it has so completely envelops the maritime world is an ongoing phenomenon. The latest change has been brought about by record and sustained rates combined with the increasing proliferation of publicly traded shipping companies and has caused the sector to receive increased investor interest.

Shipping is no longer immediately associated with UPS’ brown trucks and uniforms Although a recent Wall Street Journal article may have disappointed when a headline reading “Shipping News” was about delivering coffins by air, Yahoo! Finance has at long last upgraded the industry from the more industrial “Water Transportation” to the more familiar “Shipping.” Nor do we read about the sector only in trade magazines and newspapers. Whether due to its record profitability, a record number of shipping offerings, or a flight from other investments, shipping is hitting the mainstream investing arena. Once overlooked by investors, the maritime industry is now on the radar screen of Wall Street.

This increased visibility of the sector, in combination with augmented regulatory demands (Reg G and Sarbanes-Oxley Act sections 302 and 404), has placed greater responsibilities on public companies for more understanding, planning and execution of corporate communications and investor relations strategies than ever before. It is transforming how public companies are treating these areas, and how they value investor opinion in corporate policy and decision-making activities.

This is only an excerpt of All Ahead Full: The Emerging Importance of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations

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