Focus Group:Investment Professionals, Analysts, Financial Executives, Corporate CFO's, etc
Track Chair: Ralf Frank, EFFAS
Track Description: Corporate data is the lifeblood of stock markets and the fuel of investment decisions. Why are we still in the Stone Age with paper-based corporate reporting? XBRL has the potential to revolutionize corporate reporting. It gives users the ability to access data "as reported" directly and electronically without deviation through intermediaries in the format and at the granularity they want. XBRL has the ability to speed up investment analysis provided users step up and decide what applications are key for them to revolutionize corporate reporting.
The sessions in this track will be your chance to join the discussion on what corporate reporting in the 21st century should look like. Discuss with other senior financial executives what you want XBRL to do for you and why corporations should deliver XBRL data.
Track Schedule: (see Program Schedule for full schedule)
Monday, May 5, 2008 |
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| 1:00pm - 3:00pm |
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| 3:30pm - 5:00pm |
Publishing financials in XBRL - case studies rom October 2007, Banks and Financial Institutions operating in France Based on examples and case studies, we will present you how easy it is to produce your XBRL reports with FinRisk. |
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Tuesday, May 6, 2008 |
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| 9:00am - 12:30pm | Performance Analysis with XBRL
While the benefits of XBRL for investment analysis and decision-making are indisputable it is of utmost importance to gain in-depth understanding in which way investors and financial analysts consume corporate data. Against common assumptions that investment professionals will gain enormous advantages of interactive data, this session will seek to work out how XBRL can be integrated into workplaces of investment professionals who already utilize plenty of applications from infomediaries. The key to unlocking XBRL benefits to investors and financial analysts is understanding underlying investment and analysis processes. In this session we will examine in detail in how far the investment cycle can be changed Christian Dreyer, Tertium AG Switzerland and Representative of the CFA-Institute will speak about how financial reporting has changed dramatically over the past decade or so. Due to the global convergence of accounting standards, this is not likely to stop anytime soon. But to date, the focus of this change has been on the substance of financial reporting rather than on its processes and deliverables. This presentation posits that the widespread introduction of XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) has a similar effect on financial reporting and its usages as the spread of the Internet has on the economy. Financial analysis will reap the benefits of cheaper, smarter and faster financial information. Andrew Ling, UBS and Representative of the RIXML consortium will give the audience insights into application of interactive data in the core of the investment cycle i.e. the communication between equity sell-side analysts and their clients, investment managers. Key issues to be covered are; level of detail available to analysts and investors in a standard form, relative importance of global coverage and historical data, and the impact of industry-specific taxonomies |
| 1:30pm - 3:00pm | Extra-Financials and XBRL
While much focus has been placed on financial data under XBRL, commonly neglected sources of information for investment professionals are so-called Extra-Financials. Classic examples of Extra-Financials include corporate data on topics that are only indirectly included in the financials e.g. share-of-market, customer satisfaction, R&D Most recently, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance issues) have gained substantial attention by investment professionals. ESG is in demand by many fund managers and financial analysts; however, integrating predominantly prose from corporate sustainability reports is simply impossible for financial analysts. There are examples of reporting initiatives that have been set up to quantify ESG data and make them available in XBRL formats. E.g. GRI, the Global Reporting Initiative for Sustainability Reporting has launched G3, a global standard for ESG reporting for a large bandwidth of stakeholders. EFFAS, the European Federation of Financial Analysts In this session, David vun Kannon, PwC, and Mike Krzus, Grant Thornton will speak about the dos and don’ts of converting Extra-Financials such as ESG and Intellectual Capital into XBRL. Claudia Volk, West LB, Financial Analyst specialised on Extra-Financials will give the audience insight into the challenges |
| 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Enabling Stock Selection and Increasing Institutional Reach: How SME can be use XBRL for increased Capital Markets Awareness This session will look at the way SMEs can use XBRL to increase their institutional reach. The majority of listed companies have small market capitalizations as well as small floats. When brokers don’t see a chance to generate orders with a stock they will not cover it. Not being covered is equivalent to lacking institutional reach, which results in low liquidity – a vicious circle. Fewer than five financial analysts cover the majority of companies in our capital markets. This is true worldwide. Investors are always on the lookout for an undervalued company with a solid growth story, and they like it even better if they are first to discover the stock. What can small caps do to increase their capital market visibility? They should provide capital markets with an XBRL “profile sheet” that contains a sufficient number of financials including some GAAP items but mostly non-GAAP performance data to allow for a sufficiently granular profile of the company. A sufficient number would be some 20 to 25 items, including past-performance and forward-looking information. An XBRL profile sheet would in colloquial terms serve as an entrée or a business card. Ralf Frank will report on a project, which has been launched by DVFA, the German Society of Investment Professionals. Philip Moyer, CEO and President of EDGAR Online Inc. will discuss the hidden financial data contained in XBRL. he will describe how investors and analysts can use this information and XBRL to gain a better prespective on companies they cover. He will also explain how XBRL provides an opportunity for reporting companies to better communicate their message and differentiate their business. |
Wednesday, May 7, 2008 |
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| 2:00pm - 3:30pm |
Financial Executives/Investment Professionals Panel The theme and presentations at the XII 17th International Conference “XBRL in Action” is an indication that XBRL has matured both as a technology and as an implemented solution to business reporting needs around the globe. This panel session, consisting of representatives from the US SEC, the US GAAP and IASB taxonomy projects, financial executives from both SME and large cap corporations and investment professionals will discuss the future of XBRL with respect to regulated business reporting and investor/analyst consumption of XBRL data. The challenges and opportunity for the large scale availability of XBRL enabled business data will be discussed through panel statements and audience generated questions to the panel. |
| 4:00pm - 5:30pm |
How to Create XBRL-formatted financials for the SEC EDGAR system This free workshop is designed to help European-based public companies file financial statements to the SEC EDGAR System. Senior officials from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be present to answer questions from public company executives about integrating XBRL into their business reporting process. You will see demonstrations how to create XBRL-enabled financial documents and learn how to participate in the public review of the XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies. The workshop will also feature case studies from foreign companies that are participating in the SEC Voluntary Filing Program. Topics covered include: * XBRL and What It Means to You |
