Business Forum • 22 July, 2024 at 8:05 PM
ARIR (the Romanian Investor Relations Association), the promoter of the Investor Relations (IR) concept, publishes the final methodology for evaluating the communication of bond issuers with investors, based on which the VEKTOR by ARIR Bonds indicator will be calculated for the Main Market starting 2025. The methodology includes 8 relevant criteria, identified after multiple consultations with the stakeholders from the capital market.
Daniela Maior (Șerban), President and Co-Founder, ARIR: "Following the excellent results reported by the market after 5 years of publishing the VEKTOR by ARIR indicator for shares issuers, we have launched this new project to boost transparency among bond issuers, whether listed or unlisted. This new evaluation methodology addresses the growing information demands of local and international investors, in the context of the development of the local bond market and an increasingly volatile business environment. We appreciate the involvement of all stakeholders in developing the new methodology, which will apply to all bond issuers starting in 2025."
The 8 criteria based on which bond issuers on the Main Market will be evaluated in order to obtain a score between 0 and 10:
- Page or section dedicated to the issuance on the issuer's website:
- IR contact details;
- History of audited annual financial reports and financial calendar;
- Semi-annual and quarterly financial reports;
- General Meeting of Shareholders resolutions and shareholder structure;
- Conferences/Teleconferences with investors;
- Page or section dedicated to corporate governance;
- Credit rating.
In drafting the VEKTOR by ARIR Bonds methodology, we initiated a dialogue with market representatives, including: Adrian Tănase, CEO Bucharest Stock Exchange, Alexandra Caraman, Principal Banker, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ioan Șumandea, ARIR Vice-President, Head of Corporate Governance and Capital Markets Bureau at Banca Transilvania, Dan Dascăl, CEO BT Asset Management, Florin Dolea, CEO Amundi Asset Management, Magdalena Caramilea, Sustainability Director Autonom, Andrei Voicu, Public Affairs & ESG Specialist BRD, Remus Dănilă, Head of IR & Business Development BVB, Carmen Bobu, Individual Investor, and Răzvan Mihăescu, Individual Investor.
This year, ARIR will conduct several informational activities regarding the new methodology, as well as a voluntary evaluations, upon request, for bond issuers. The evaluation of all issuers on the Main Market will be conducted for the first time for the year 2025, for bonds in the market, with results published in January 2026.
Afterwards, annually, the evaluation will be conducted in December for the year in progress., with results announced in January. The VEKTOR by ARIR Bonds indicator will be available on the page of each bond issue on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) website, and aggregated data for all companies will be available in the dedicated VEKTOR indicator section of the ARIR website.
The evaluation of listed companies' communication with investors using the VEKTOR by ARIR indicator has taken place annually since 2019 and includes criteria requested by institutional and individual investors regarding transparency in communication and corporate governance. Since 2022, the indicator has also been extended to companies in the BETAeRO index, and starting this year, to bond issuers as well. The evaluation results, audited by Forvis Mazars Romania, are published annually in January for the previous year.
The VEKTOR evaluation methodology is revised annually and is developed each time by ARIR in collaboration with an extended group of local and international specialists (financial analysts, IR professionals, consultants, and professors).
ARIR members are among the largest companies in Romania, sharing the objective of implementing best practices in transparency, investor communication, and corporate governance.