STUDY SHOWS COMPANIES FAIL TO PROVIDE INVESTORS WITH INFORMATION ABOUT ISSUES THAT HAVE GREATEST IMPACT ON  FUTURE PERFORMANCE

LONDON, 5 January 1999...Companies are failing to deliver information crucial to the institutional investment decision making process –  key operational information that provides insight into future performance, according to a new international study released today by Shelley Taylor & Associates.  The findings of Full Disclosure 1998, based on a 200-item proprietary disclosure index drawn from criteria established by the world's most influential money managers, indicates that investors are not receiving what they need. Surprising new entrants to the list of forward-looking indicators are intellectual capital and Y2K-readiness, still largely ignored or miscommunicated by companies.  For example, intellectual capital ranked in the top ten of investor information needs, yet only eight percent of companies surveyed discussed it in their annual reports, a primary disclosure document.

"Institutional investors have, more than ever before, recognized the role of such intangibles as  intellectual capital in determining future profit potential," says Shelley Taylor,  publisher of the study. "New product development, the research and development pipeline and competitive advantage are driven by the reservoir of knowledge contained and cultivated within a company. Companies that fail to communicate concrete strategies and tactics for the future seriously jeopardize investor confidence, future financial performance and ultimately share price."

Published every two years since 1992, Full Disclosure 1998, an international study of corporate disclosure practices and institutional investor information needs, examines the information requirements of 25 of the largest  fund managers in the US and Europe and contrasts them with the disclosure practices of 100 global 1000 companies.

 Shelley Taylor & Associates is a management consulting and business publishing firm focusing on management quality issues, with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. Other publications include The Missing Link, an international study of corporate web site performance, and The Care & Feeding of Institutional Investors, a guide to creating effective annual reports. An upcoming study on electronic commerce, Click-Here Commerce, will be released in January 1999.

For more information contact 1-650-473-6514 (US) or 44-171-243-3438(UK)

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