Financial communication

Communication is crucial in finance mostly because it enables the diffusion of information that financial players, first of all investors, need to construct their evaluations and decisions. Listed companies depend on effective communications to communicate their value to stockholders, to other investors and to a variety of stakeholders. Public communications from listed companies to the markets, often referred to as “disclosures”, impact stock price and are highly regulated. Central banks use communication, e.g. in the form of press conferences, as one of the key instruments of monetary policy. Financial analysts function as information intermediaries between listed companies and investors by taking part both to public and private interactions, from “conference calls” to “roadshows”. Business and financial media, from newspapers to the social media, also function as “information intermediaries” disseminate financial communications from a variety of sources to a variety of publics involved in the financial markets, including individual retail investors. Financial intermediaries, such as banks and asset managers communicate both publicly and privately with their client-investors, in particular private investors