The Q4 IR Success Newsletter: November Edition

Welcome to the November edition of the Q4 LinkedIn IR Success Newsletter! This month, we're bringing you a captivating thought leadership piece titled 'Navigating the Regulatory Landscape - Decoding the SEC's 13D-G Amendments,' co-authored by Samantha Senna, MSc, IRC , Q4 IR Director, and Jamie Stanton , Q4 Surveillance Director. We also bring you the latest Q4 news, internal product updates and a market intelligence.

Thought Leadership

Q4 IR Director Samantha Senna, co-authors with our Surveillance Director Jamie Stanton to provide a comprehensive guide to understanding the amendments to SEC Regulation 13D-G, highlighting key implications for IR professionals.

In October, the SEC amended a series of rules regarding the reporting requirements for owners of equities. These changes are being called the most significant changes to beneficial ownership filing rules in the last 50 years. We have broken down the changes to provide you with insight into the effects they will have and the implications for IROs.

Background: What is regulation 13D-G?

Regulation 13D-G is a reference to a section of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, specifically within the framework of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Regulation 13D-G pertains to the disclosure of beneficial ownership of securities by certain individuals or groups who have acquired more than 5 percent of a covered class of equity securities. The choice between filing a Schedule 13D or 13G depends on the investor's intentions. Schedule 13D is typically used by "activist" investors who may seek to influence or change the management or direction of the company. Schedule 13G is used by passive investors who have no such intentions.

What changed?

• 13D filing deadlines were shortened (from 10 to 5 days) and requirements for amendments to existing filings were updated
• 13G filing requirements were also shortened (from 45 days after the end of a calendar year to 45 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the investor beneficially owns more than 5 percent of the covered class), particularly for passive investors with increased requirements for amendments ?
• 13F-2 filing requirements for short sale reporting?
• ?More comprehensive requirements for filings to be made using “structured data” formats (which should make processing easier).

When will the changes go into effect?

• ?13G requirements must be met by September 30, 2024
• ?Use of structured data formats for filing must be adopted by December 18, 2024
• ?Aggregated short sale related information will begin being published in late-2024

What are the implications for IROs?

Activist visibility:?

• More rapid identification of activists establishing a 5% position?
• Specific 2-day requirement to file an amendment if a “material” change in position is made?
• With Engagement Analytics, ?Q4 helps clients monitor activist behavior almost real-time by alerting them of activist engagement with the company’s website. Being prepared is key to dealing with potential activist threats.? ?

Passive investor changes:?

• Better insight on passive investors with broader coverage required?
• Quarterly position confirmations (where many were annual previously)?
• Clarity on position changes (increase or decrease) ?

Short interest insight:

• IR teams will be able to see the gross short position on a monthly basis?
• Monthly, net activity in each security will be aggregated across all reporting managers
• The updated regulations provide Surveillance teams with more comprehensive and frequent data on beneficial ownership and short interest. This data will empower SV teams to identify and monitor significant ownership changes, track short interest on a monthly basis, and gain deeper insights into investor behavior.

These changes have been under consideration for years, so their adoption now marks a new environment for market information. As they are implemented, we expect the insights from market intelligence and stock surveillance will continue to improve.

Q4 News

Q4 Inc. Reports Continued Progress in Third Quarter 2023 Results.

We’re pleased to announce our continued progress in Q3 2023 with ARPA of $21,315, up 11.3%, gross margin of 68.7%, up 970 basis points, and revenue of $14.7 million, up 3.5% YoY.

Get more details from our official press release here .

Q4 Inc. Recognized for Best Tech-Driven Capital Markets Platform and Most Innovative IR Website.

We're honored to be recognized as the winner of two prestigious Global Brands Magazine Awards for Best Tech-Driven Capital Markets Platform and Most Innovative IR Website in Canada for 2023. Q4 received these awards in acknowledgment of its exceptional commitment to innovation, quality, branding, customer service, and performance.

Read the full news here .

Q4 Webinars

Last-minute earnings prep: Creating a successful results announcement

The webinar, originally aired on October 18th in partnership with IR Magazine , is designed to help you understand how to make your earnings call resonate with your investors and analyst audience. Learn effective ways to prepare management and explore the use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to modernize your earnings call processes.

Access the the full webinar on-demand replay here .

Generative AI in Investor Relations: Looking Back, and Planning Ahead

Join us on November 29th 2023 from 10:00 - 11:00 am ET, for Q4’s Generative AI in Investor Relations: Looking Back, and Planning Ahead. In this engaging session, the panel will explore the use of generative AI in Investor Relations for 2023. Tune in to hear their discussions on industry trends, supported by case studies and expert insights, and gain a preview of what lies ahead in 2024.

Register for this upcoming webinar here .

Product Highlight

Enhancing Engagement Analytics: Data Downloads and Timely Activist Alerts.

We're thrilled to announce two exciting additions to our Engagement Analytics toolkit:

Data downloads: This feature empowers you to download and export data from specific sections of Engagement Analytics, allowing you more control over how you analyze and report on engagement, content consumption, and ownership trends.

Timely activist alerts: With this feature, you'll receive push emails and in-product notifications highlighting any activist engagement with your website, content downloads, event attendance, or email interactions. These notifications summarize the previous day's engagement activities, giving you valuable insights into activist interest.

Why is this important to our clients?

The addition of the new features enhances your ability to report performance to management by illustrating how IR efforts contribute to increased investor awareness and attracting the right investors. You gain more control over analyzing and reporting engagement data in your preferred format.

You can also stay informed about activist engagement activities to identify early indications of their interest. This empowers you to be proactive and make the first move if needed.

What tiers of engagement analytics does this impact?

Data Downloads will be accessible for Engagement Analytics customers starting at the Base Tier. Timely Activist Alerts will also be available for Base Tier users.

Get access to Engagement Analytics and power up your IR efforts through comprehensive analytics. If you’re interested, speak to your Q4 rep, or learn more here.

Learn more here .

Market Intelligence

We connected with Paige Fox, Senior Surveillance Analyst at Q4, to get her thoughts on the current Market Environment.

Bearish sentiment prevailed throughout October as a sharp rise in yields put pressure on equities, sending both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq into correction territory after falling more than 10% from their July highs. The DJIA lost 1.4% for the month, while the S&P 500 retreated by 2.2%, and the Nasdaq lost 2.8%. Small-cap stocks bore the brunt of this pressure, with the Russell 2000 declining 6.9%, as investors generally tend to rotate out of small-cap names and into large-cap stocks during times of uncertainty and volatility.

Additionally, the month saw the emergence of heightened geopolitical risk with the Hamas attack on Israel. However, as has been true historically, markets generally overlooked these developments. The primary bearish factor for equities was the steepening yield curve, with the 10-year yield reaching 16-year highs and briefly trading above 5% during the month.

Earnings have been another key topic on the minds of investors as we're well into the Q3 earnings cycle, with over 55% of the S&P 500 having reported as of the end of October. Earnings have generally been a mixed bag, with the Street closely monitoring reports for themes such as deterioration within the credit market and consumer health/resilience. One theme we’ve noticed is that companies reporting earnings misses are facing more severe penalties than in recent quarters. However, the market also hasn't been favorable to companies reporting positive earnings surprises either, as these companies have seen an average price decrease of -1.0% from two days before the earnings release through two days after.

Question of the Month

Last month, we asked about how IR teams address quarterly quiet periods.

In this month’s article, we explored the SEC's amendments to Regulation 13D-G, the beneficial ownership filing rules. These changes are among the most significant in the last 50 years, impacting various aspects of Investor Relations.

Please share your perspective on how the SEC’s 13D-G regulatory changes may affect your organization (select one to submit your answer):

A. We are actively reevaluating our Investor Relations strategy to adapt to the new 13D-G regulations.

B. We are aware of the changes but have not yet made specific adjustments to our Investor Relations approach.

C. We need more information to understand how these changes will impact our Investor Relations efforts.

D. The regulatory updates do not significantly affect our Investor Relations strategy.

E . We were unaware of these regulatory changes; this is new information for us.

We'll share survey results on this question in our next monthly edition. Here are the results from the question we posed in the previous newsletter.

Your Q4 Roundup

How social media can expand the reach of IR efforts.

Leveraging the power of social media in Investor Relations can broaden your audience, offer real-time communication, enhance crisis management, ensure cost-effective engagement, facilitate brand building, and enable competitor monitoring, driving the evolution of IR in the digital age.

Read More.

Investor Sector Insights: Q2’23 earnings Q&A analysis and trends.

Anticipating analyst questions and preparing for the Q&A session in earnings calls can enhance communication, build credibility, and foster investor trust, with Q4's innovative analysis approach offering valuable insights and helping companies align their communication strategies with sector trends.

Read More.

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Thank you for reading the November edition of the LinkedIn IR Success Newsletter! We'll see you next month.

- Q4 IR Success Newsletter Team