INVESTOR NEEDS

摘要

Paul Lee, director of Hermes Equity Ownership Services agreed that it was a challenge to know what investors wanted, they were a 'menagerie of different beasts'. However, he believed preparers should focus on the needs of current shareholders, and on telling them how effectively the board had delivered on the assets under their control. He cited surveys from the CFA Institute and the Corporate Reporting Users' Forum (CRUF), which conculded that there is too much disclosure, but material is also missing. 'We are simply getting it wrong' he said. 'There was a failure of focus. The data was sometimes very useful but it was very difficult to get at. Materiality did not work.'