As Concerns of Geopolitical Risk Endure, United States Viewed as Most Resilient Global Financial Center, According to the 11th Edition of BNY Mellon's Investor Relations Survey

This is the 11^th edition of the Investor Relations survey, first published annually starting in 2004, and biennially starting in 2013. This year's results, compared to the previous survey, published in 2015, illustrates an overall drop in focus on the top five traditional global financial centers, as leading sources for new or increased investment in the next five years. While the U.S. continues to be perceived by most respondents as a source for investment opportunities, cited by 80% in 2017, this decreased from 91% in 2015. Over the same period, the number two-ranked United Kingdom declined to 58% from 76%, followed by China at 26%, which declined from 50% in 2015, Singapore at 26%, down from 44%, and Hong Kong at 24%, down from 37% in 2015, respectively.

"IR professionals are responding to critical market developments such as the growth of passive investment and the headwinds affecting the global brokerage community by taking on more responsibility for market engagement themselves," said Christopher Kearns, CEO of BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts business. "These developments stem from, among other things, regulatory reforms resulting from MiFID II, new global stewardship codes and the realities of the current market environment, which are in turn placing considerable new demands on investor relations teams globally."

The role of an IR professional continues to evolve and increase in strategic importance, and this year's research also highlights major trends and issues in IR to help the issuer community best prepare for the future. This includes insights into gender equality in the IR profession based on the gender profile of survey respondents and how IR professionals are reacting to critical market developments, including the growth of passive and environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) investing. Companies also noted that changing shareholder structure, for example, passive versus active investment, will be the number one influence on the function of investor relations over the next 10 years. Additional key findings from the "2017 Global Trends in Investor Relations" report include:

Gender Equality (based on the gender profile of survey respondents):

• The gender profile of survey respondents: 29% of Investment Relations Officers (IROs) surveyed were female and 71% male
• Female IROs globally earn nearly one third (31%) less than their male counterparts (total mean salary and bonus)
• The salary gap was much greater in emerging markets, where male IROs earn almost two-thirds or 65% more compared to female IROs
• The largest concentration of female IRO professionals was in the Financials, Consumer Staples and Healthcare sectors
• The largest concentration of male IRO professionals was in the Technology, Basic Materials, and Telecommunications sectors

Passive and ESG Investing (based on survey respondent feedback):

• As the significance of passive investing grows, almost one-third or 32% of IROs reported communicating with this type of investor, with the focus being on governance issues
• Issuers reported the highest engagement with passive investors in North America at 35%, followed by Asia-Pacific 29%, Latin America 21%, Africa and Middle East 9% and Europe 7%
• In North America, nearly two-thirds or 62% of respondents believe growth of passive investments will have greatest impact on investor relations functions in the next 10 years
• As companies become more socially responsible, IROs are increasing outreach to ESG investors as potential new sources of investment, up 34% this year compared to 26% in 2013
• Asia-Pacific companies communicated and engaged with ESG investors the most at 48%, followed by North America 16%, Latin America and Europe 15%, Africa and the Middle East 6%

"BNY Mellon dedicates considerable resources for research not only to ensure that the issuer community can consider how to best prepare for the future, but also to identify areas where we can actively partner with our clients to help them navigate these developments," said Guy Gresham, Head of the Global IR Advisory team in BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts group. "We look forward to discussing the findings of this report with clients to identify areas where they can enhance their current—and future—market engagement strategy."

BNY Mellon's survey, "Global Trends in Investor Relations," is the longest running and most comprehensive global survey of the investor relations industry and explores how publicly traded companies are managing their IR practices and the issues that affect them. Now in its eleventh edition, the 2017 report is based on results from 537 respondents in 51 countries that span the range of market cap and industry sectors including: Basic Materials, Consumer Staples, Financials, Energy, Healthcare, Industrials, Technology, Telecommunications, and Utilities.   

To learn more about BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts and its global Depositary Receipts team, please visit our website or submit a request by clicking here and a member of BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts team will contact you.

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of September 30, 2017, BNY Mellon had $32.2 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.8 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.

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SOURCE BNY Mellon

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