Weekly Reputation Index Metrics

The RepuStars® Variety Corporate Reputation Index calculated by Dow Jones Indexes is the first-ever composite equity index based on a quantitative value strategy informed by the Steel City Re corporate reputation ranking metrics. The metrics comprise non-financial indicators of reputational value. The RepuStars Variety Index has two versions: a total returns index and a price index, whose ticker symbols are, respectively, REPUVART and REPUVAR.  Click here for real time quotes.

Analysis

It’s not clear why equity investors are boosting up prices nor why the CBOE S&P500 Futures Index, the VIX or “Fear Index,” continues to drop. As Ian Williams, a London-based strategist at Peel Hunt wrote in a note to clients, as reported by Bloomberg (April 28, Jones), “The euro-zone’s economic weaknesses are prompting a political backlash, the US recovery is losing pace, and the UK is back in recession.” The simplest explanation is that things are not as bad as initially feared, which is what RepuStars tries to anticipate through the reputation metrics.

Turning to companies who appear to have been undervalued at the start of this calendar year, the greatest gains in the 2012 RepuStars portfolio continue to be Veolia Environment Ve SA (VE) up 38.55% for the year, up from last week; and holding to second place, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) at 33.45%, followed for a second week in third place by eBay Inc. (EBAY) at 29.13%. These are three of the 38 firms identified by the RepuStars Variety algorithm at the start of the year as value opportunities.

Side Note: A description of the 2012 portfolio constituents can be obtained here: click here.

Weekly Update

At the close of trading April 27, 2012, REPUVART and REPUVAR stood at 2861.32 and 2483.45 respectively. Over the past four weeks, the former has changed by -0.20%, while the latter has changed by -0.21%. The benchmark S&P500 Composite Index stood at 1222.35 (31 Dec 2001=1000) and has changed over the past four weeks by -0.36%.

Over the trailing twelve months, REPUVART and REPUVAR have, respectively, changed by 1.12% and -0.10% respectively; the S&P500 Composite Index has changed by 2.92%. Since January 2009, the REPUVART and REPUVAR have changed by 128.66% and 116.24% respectively; the S&P 500 Composite Index has changed by 50.61%. Other interval changes in the magnitude of the indices are shown below.

Background

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index is the first index based on a quantitative model for analysts, investors, and company managers to help demonstrate the impact of reputation on corporate equity prices. The companies selected for the RepuStars Variety Index are chosen algorithmically to capture the disparity between value at which a company is currently trading and its value as calculated by Steel City Re’s reputational metrics.

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index tracks up to 57 company stocks that appear to be underpriced relative to their metrics as measured by Steel City Re’s proprietary Corporate Reputation Rank™, which tracks 7000 companies weekly. In using the RepuStars Index as an investment strategy, investors can take advantage of this price disparity. The principles behind Steel City Re's reputation metrics are discussed in the book, Mission:Intangible (see below).

The RepuStars indices are reconstituted annually in the first week of January and posted by Dow Jones Indexes in the third week. The Indices were last reconstituted 20 Jan 2012.  Click here for additional information on the index.

Reputation, Risk and Finance

Reputation management through superior control of a company's intangible assets may be one of the best paths to value creation today. If it is not on your agenda, perhaps it should be. Here are several things you can do right now to start creating value for your organization:

1. Become better informed. Participate in our regular Mission Intangible Monthly Briefings held on the first Friday of every month or read the book, Mission: Intangible. Managing risk and reputation to create enterprise value, available at the IAFS Store, specialty finance sector retailers, or other leading online book retailers. 
2. Become a member of the Intangible Asset Finance Society and engage.
3. Join our community on Linked-In and stay in the information flow.

Notices

STEEL CITY RE and REPUSTARS are registered trademarks of C. Huygens & Co. LLC and are used under license. Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC, or their respective affiliates and none of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in any of the indexes in this piece does not in any way reflect an opinion of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes. The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are calculated by Dow Jones Indexes, the marketing name and the licensed trademark of CME Index Services, LLC. (CME Indexes). Dow Jones Indexes is a service mark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. (Dow Jones). Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by CME Indexes, Dow Jones or their respective affiliates, and CME Indexes, Dow Jones and their respective affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s).

For several years, Huygens has compared and contrasted the reputational metrics for Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target (NYSE:TGT). After yesterday's posting on Walmart, several followers of the Mission Intangible blog asked for an update on the comparative metrics. Below, key reputational metrics in contrast reflecting different directions and prospects for these two firms over the near term.

With respect to Target, the firm's Steel City Re corporate reputation ranking has climbed over the  trailing twelve months from 77th to the 87th percentile within the 127 member peer group of retailers. Walmart's declined. Target's repulational value volatility has been higher historically and is higher currently than Walmart's but the direction of the change is slightly positive while Walmart's is negative. Target's reputation is expected to be more stable in the future; not so with Walmart. The bottom line: whatever is afflicting Walmart that is leading to its reputational decline has not infected Target.

For those who spent the past week off the grid, among the reputation-linked news stories was this one involving Walmart best summarized in the explosive Forbes magazine headline (26 April, Hartung) "WalMart's Mexican Bribery Scandal Will Sink It Like an Iceberg Sank the Titanic."

We've looked at Walmart (NYSE:WMT) quantitatively before, usually in the context of the age-old rivalry with Target (NYSE:TGT), and with less sophisticated metrics. We turn to the improved Steel City Re corporate reputation ranking metrics and benchmarking tools today in search of quantitative evidence of reputational damage.



The peer group comprises 127 companies in the retail trade, and they are sampled from the 7447 companies ranked according to their reputation metrics as of 26 April 2012. Relative to this peer group, Walmart's reputation ranking was at the 72nd percentile. Other vital signs indicate this is an unstable value as the current reputational value volatility is at the 48th percentile relative to a historic volatility in the 26th percentile, and the forecast stability of the firm's reputation is now just below the median at the 49th percentile. Looking at the time series of data, the most recent reputational ranking drop which occurred this past week moving Walmart from the 85th to the 72 percentile is the second this calendar year. The first major drop occurred the week of 16 February when Walmart's reputation slipped from the 92nd to the 82nd percentile relative to this peer group. Other time series metrics show a steady negative reputational ranking velocity, recently accelerated, a steadily negative reputational vector, and what appears to be a second spike in volatility.

Looking at a snapshot of Walmart relative to its peers as of Thursday, all four indicators show negative trends which tend to be leading indicators of losses in enterprise value. Walmart's current return on equity is in the 70th percentile relative to its peer group. We expect this metric to drop in the weeks to come as the inevitable pile on of regulators, litigators and mommy bloggers affirms the deterioration of reputational value.

We’ve discussed reputation in many forms, but all roads lead to value creation and protection against value destruction. It appears that the Chairman of UBS (NYSE:UBS) concurs and has taken steps to align management’s interests in this regard.

According to Bloomberg (Groendahl and Logutenkova, 23 April), UBS Chairman Kaspar Villiger said, “The idea behind this is that you try to evaluate the CEO according to what’s necessary for executing the company’s strategy in the long term. There are nine criteria in total, of which some shall be qualitative. Reputation is one of them. It will count more than one ninth.”

The Steel City Re reputation metrics suggest UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, who assumed the title in November 2011, is on the right course. Relative to the 262 companies in the Bank, Holding Company, and Security Brokerages sector, the company currently ranks in the 34th percentile, up from the 31st in November 2011. Its reputational volatility is down from historic levels and all reputational vectors indicate improvement and greater stability. Relative to its peers, the charts show UBS is within the pack at this point rather than being an outlier on all key indicators.



The firm’s return on equity is only in the 21st percentile relative to peers, but the reputational metrics in this instance appear to be leading indicators of a coming trend and we anticipate improving economic returns.

We wish Mr. Ermotti the best of luck. We’ll be watching. With reputation accounting for more than 11% of Mr. Ermotti's compensation, we are confident many others will be watching too.

Weekly Reputation Index Metrics

The RepuStars® Variety Corporate Reputation Index calculated by Dow Jones Indexes is the first-ever composite equity index based on a quantitative value strategy informed by the Steel City Re corporate reputation metrics. The metrics comprise non-financial indicators of reputational value. The RepuStars Variety Index has two versions: a total returns index and a price index, whose ticker symbols are, respectively, REPUVART and REPUVAR.  Click here for real time quotes.

Analysis

It has been a relatively quiet week, and the CBOE S&P500 Futures Index, the VIX or “Fear Index,” has begun to drop again. Turning to companies that appear to have been undervalued at the start of this calendar year, the greatest gains in the 2012 RepuStars portfolio continue to be Veolia Environment Ve SA (VE) up 33.36% for the year, up a touch from last week and now moving up to second place, American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) at 27.08%, followed by eBay Inc. (EBAY) at 26.18%. These are three of the 38 firms identified by the RepuStars Variety algorithm at the start of the year as value opportunities.

Side Note: A description of the 2012 portfolio constituents can be obtained here: click here.

Weekly Update

At the close of trading 20-Apr-12, REPUVART and REPUVAR stood at 2779.92 and 2412.80 respectively. Over the past four weeks, the former has changed by -3.62%, while the latter has changed by -3.63%. The benchmark S&P500 Composite Index stood at 1200.73 (31 Dec 2001=1000) and has changed over the past four weeks by -1.33%.

Over the trailing twelve months, REPUVART and REPUVAR have, respectively, changed by 0.37% and -0.86% respectively; the S&P500 Composite Index has changed by 3.08%. Since January 2009, the REPUVART and REPUVAR have changed by 122.16% and 110.09% respectively; the S&P 500 Composite Index has changed by 47.94%. Other interval changes in the magnitude of the indices are shown below.

Background

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index is the first index based on a quantitative model for analysts, investors, and company managers to help demonstrate the impact of reputation on corporate equity prices. The companies selected for the RepuStars Variety Index are chosen algorithmically to capture the disparity between value at which a company is currently trading and its value as calculated by Steel City Re’s reputational metrics.

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index tracks up to 57 company stocks that appear to be underpriced relative to their metrics as measured by Steel City Re’s proprietary Corporate Reputation Rank™, which tracks 7000 companies weekly. In using the RepuStars Index as an investment strategy, investors can take advantage of this price disparity. The principles behind Steel City Re's reputation metrics are discussed in the book, Mission:Intangible (see below).

The RepuStars indices are reconstituted annually in the first week of January and posted by Dow Jones Indexes in the third week. The Indices were last reconstituted 20 Jan 2012.  Click here for additional information on the index.

Reputation, Risk and Finance

Reputation management through superior control of a company's intangible assets may be one of the best paths to value creation today. If it is not on your agenda, perhaps it should be. Here are several things you can do right now to start creating value for your organization:

1. Become better informed. Participate in our regular Mission Intangible Monthly Briefings held on the first Friday of every month or read the book, Mission: Intangible. Managing risk and reputation to create enterprise value, available at the IAFS Store, specialty finance sector retailers, or other leading online book retailers. 
2. Become a member of the Intangible Asset Finance Society and engage.
3. Join our community on Linked-In and stay in the information flow.

Notices

STEEL CITY RE and REPUSTARS are registered trademarks of C. Huygens & Co. LLC and are used under license. Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC, or their respective affiliates and none of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in any of the indexes in this piece does not in any way reflect an opinion of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes. The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are calculated by Dow Jones Indexes, the marketing name and the licensed trademark of CME Index Services, LLC. (CME Indexes). Dow Jones Indexes is a service mark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. (Dow Jones). Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by CME Indexes, Dow Jones or their respective affiliates, and CME Indexes, Dow Jones and their respective affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s).

Google (NASD:GOOG), as everyone knows, is a company with unlimited resources, vision, and technological prowess. By establishing a relationship with every human being on the planet inclined to inquire through its Search engine, Google will eventually capture every last heart, mind and wallet.

If there are grounds to doubt the above, they may lie in the words of Ira Goldman, an executive formerly with Kodak since 1969. Writing to the editor of the Financial Times (13 April),  Mr. Goldman shares what he believes led to the downfall of one of the most innovative firms of the prior century. “…it was a history of being able to afford multiple investments in new technologies without fully understanding the market needs, and then failing to make careful choices about which investments the company could afford.”

Google invests lavishly, to be sure. And based on recent controversial governance-related changes in the way Google allows its shareholders to influence management, it appears Google wishes to shield itself from the outside and continue to do what most investors agree they do best. Not that everyone agrees.

Nevertheless, right now, the reputational metrics support management. Google's metrics could hardly be better. The firm ranks #1 among the 133 peers in the Internet Software Services sector. The Vital Signs report a historical reputational volatility that is below the median and dropping; a return on equity for the trailing twelve months that is 43% higher than the median return (88th percentile), and a near certain future of reputational stability.


So why worry? Because, to paraphrase Herbert (Pug) Winoker who spoke this past Friday 13 April at the Mission Intangible Monthly Briefing, a firm’s success breeds its next crisis. Investor expectations outgrow a company’s ability to meet them. The data show that expectations could not be much higher.

Back to Kodak, whose obituary Huygens scribed earlier this year. “If the current management team and board of directors had managed the investments to match the cash flow available under realistic business conditions, they would not have proceeded with three large investments simultaneously (in digital printing, only one of which turned profitable after 10 years) and then accepted high cost overruns and failure to meet schedule,” added Mr. Goldman. One can only hope that having isolated its decision-making bodies from outside opinions, Google will nevertheless heed this excellent advice.

Weekly Reputation Index Metrics

The RepuStars® Variety Corporate Reputation Index calculated by Dow Jones Indexes is the first-ever composite equity index based on a quantitative value strategy informed by the Steel City Re corporate reputation metrics. The metrics comprise non-financial indicators of reputational value. The RepuStars Variety Index has two versions: a total returns index and a price index, whose ticker symbols are, respectively, REPUVART and REPUVAR.  Click here for real time quotes.

Analysis

It has been another volatile week, and the CBOE S&P500 Futures Index, the VIX or “Fear Index,” has now risen 25%. That drives equity investors to seek quality (read: major indexes), and debt investors to seek greater security (read: US Treasuries).

The greatest gains in the 2012 RepuStars portfolio continue to be Veolia Environment Ve SA (VE) up 33.27% for year, down a touch from last week and Whirlpool Corporation (WHR) at 31.21% for year, also down from last week. Still holding in third place for the fourth week is American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) at 22.01%, just ahead of Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) at 21.21%. These are four of the 38 firms identified by the RepuStars Variety algorithm as companies whose reputations had not been fully valued by equity investors at the start of the year.

Side Note: A description of the 2012 portfolio constituents can be obtained here: click here.

Weekly Update

At the close of trading 13-Apr-12, REPUVART and REPUVAR stood at 2752.77 and 2389.23 respectively. Over the past four weeks, the former has changed by -4.54%, while the latter has changed by -4.67%. The benchmark S&P500 Composite Index stood at 1193.52 (31 Dec 2001=1000) and has changed over the past four weeks by -2.41%.

Over the trailing twelve months, REPUVART and REPUVAR have, respectively, changed by 2.45% and 1.16% respectively; the S&P500 Composite Index has changed by 3.83%. Since January 2009, the REPUVART and REPUVAR have changed by 119.99% and 108.04% respectively; the S&P 500 Composite Index has changed by 47.06%. Other interval changes in the magnitude of the indices are shown below.

Background

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index is the first index based on a quantitative model for analysts, investors, and company managers to help demonstrate the impact of reputation on corporate equity prices. The companies selected for the RepuStars Variety Index are chosen algorithmically to capture the disparity between value at which a company is currently trading and its value as calculated by Steel City Re’s reputational metrics.

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index tracks up to 57 company stocks that appear to be underpriced relative to their metrics as measured by Steel City Re’s proprietary Corporate Reputation Rank™, which tracks 7000 companies weekly. In using the RepuStars Index as an investment strategy, investors can take advantage of this price disparity. The principles behind Steel City Re's reputation metrics are discussed in the book, Mission:Intangible (see below).

The RepuStars indices are reconstituted annually in the first week of January and posted by Dow Jones Indexes in the third week. The Indices were last reconstituted 20 Jan 2012.  Click here for additional information on the index.

Reputation, Risk and Finance

Reputation management through superior control of a company's intangible assets may be one of the best paths to value creation today. If it is not on your agenda, perhaps it should be. Here are several things you can do right now to start creating value for your organization:

1. Become better informed. Participate in our regular Mission Intangible Monthly Briefings held on the first Friday of every month or read the book, Mission: Intangible. Managing risk and reputation to create enterprise value, available at the IAFS Store, specialty finance sector retailers, or other leading online book retailers. 
2. Become a member of the Intangible Asset Finance Society and engage.
3. Join our community on Linked-In and stay in the information flow.

Notices

STEEL CITY RE and REPUSTARS are registered trademarks of C. Huygens & Co. LLC and are used under license. Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC, or their respective affiliates and none of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in any of the indexes in this piece does not in any way reflect an opinion of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes. The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are calculated by Dow Jones Indexes, the marketing name and the licensed trademark of CME Index Services, LLC. (CME Indexes). Dow Jones Indexes is a service mark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. (Dow Jones). Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by CME Indexes, Dow Jones or their respective affiliates, and CME Indexes, Dow Jones and their respective affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s).

In "Why RIM Lost Its Crew, Its Groove" (6 April), Richard S. Levick explains that the failure over at Research in Motion was due, in part, to their failure to engage their customers and understand their needs. Richard, who will be participating Friday 13 April in the Society's Mission Intangible Monthly Briefing on protecting reputation, knows his stuff. He contrasts RIM with Apple and Google, who may be no better at technology than RIM, but who are very good at understanding how their customers want to experience technology. Social media get a nod as being powerful enablers of engagement. We concur.

There's more to the story. Nokia, the European contender, doesn't even get an honorable mention.  Huygens is not expert at social media, but Huygens can measure reputation, and reputation in the technology sector is very sensitive to how stakeholder's perceive a firm for its innovation prowess. Having a big tent and ample data, we thought we would revisit Nokia after 14 months and see how they have evolved from a quantitative perspective. The trend is not promising if you are an equity investor.



Notwithstanding a few spikes above the median over the past year, and cutting to the chase, the bottom color chart shows in blue that Nokia's reputation ranking has sunk to a new low - the 13th percentile - among the 76 firms in the Telecommunications Equipment peer group. Its return on equity has followed a similarly dismal curve, in yellow, under performing the median of its peer group by 20%.

The upper charts provide more detail. Relative to its peer group, as reported in the chart labeled Vital Signs, Nokia's reputation has been all year long  -- up to last week -- exceptionally volatile ranking in the high 90th percentiles. The parity of current vs. historical volatility, and how that looks relative to Nokia's peers, is shown at top right.

While the trending is negative, it is not a stable trend. The Vital Signs report that reputational stability is in the 11th percentile while the middle charts show that the return on equity at the 26th percentile. This is high for the reputation ranking, all other things being equal. This could be viewed as either very good news, or bad news, depending on whether Nokia's price is felt to be ahead or behind its reputational metrics. So either a surprise rise, or another disappointing fall are just around the corner.

Hint: The RepuStars Variety Composite Equity Index calculated by Dow Jones Indexes is based on the thesis that although reputational value is usually fairly embedded in stock price, there are are arbitrage opportunities that can be exposed with reputational metrics. If we had to bet based on the above, we'd short NOK and predict the prices will drop from the 26th percentile to one closer to the rank's 13th percentile.

Weekly Reputation Index Metrics

The RepuStars® Variety Corporate Reputation Index calculated by Dow Jones Indexes is the first-ever composite equity index based on a quantitative value strategy informed by the Steel City Re corporate reputation metrics. The RepuStars Variety Index has two versions: a total returns index and a price index, whose ticker symbols are, respectively, REPUVART and REPUVAR.  Click here for real time quotes.

Analysis

The ongoing discomfort with the state of the global economy, as evidenced by the renewed demand for US Treasuries, speaks to the return of fear and the market’s preference for highly liquid index-linked securities. RepuStars Variety comprises firms that are not necessarily highly liquid.

The greatest gains in the 2012 RepuStars portfolio continue to be Veolia Environment Ve SA (VE) that give up almost 20% the past week, and is still up 36.48% and Whirlpool Corporation (WHR) at 34.42%. Still holding in third place for the third week is American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) at 22.45%. These are three of the 38 firms identified by the RepuStars Variety algorithm as companies whose reputations had not been fully valued by equity investors at the start of the year.

Side Note: A description of the 2012 portfolio constituents can be obtained here: click here.

Weekly Update

At the close of trading 6-Apr-12, REPUVART and REPUVAR stood at 2808.51 and 2437.61 respectively. Over the past four weeks, the former has changed by -1.10%, while the latter has changed by -1.24%. The benchmark S&P500 Composite Index stood at 1217.75 (31 Dec 2001=1000) and has changed over the past four weeks by 1.98%.

Over the trailing twelve months, REPUVART and REPUVAR have, respectively, changed by 3.96% and 2.65% respectively; the S&P500 Composite Index has changed by 5.26%. Since January 2009, the REPUVART and REPUVAR have changed by 124.44% and 112.25% respectively; the S&P 500 Composite Index has changed by 50.04%. Other interval changes in the magnitude of the indices are shown below.

Background

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index is the first index based on a quantitative model for analysts, investors, and company managers to determine the impact of reputation on corporate equity prices. The companies selected for the RepuStars Variety Index are chosen algorithmically to capture the disparity between value at which a company is currently trading and its value as calculated by Steel City Re’s reputational metrics.

The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index tracks up to 57 company stocks that appear to be underpriced relative to their metrics as measured by Steel City Re’s proprietary Corporate Reputation Rank™, which tracks 7000 companies weekly. In using the RepuStars Index as an investment strategy, investors can take advantage of this price disparity. The principles behind Steel City Re's reputation metrics are discussed in the book, Mission:Intangible (see below).

The RepuStars indices are reconstituted annually in the first week of January and posted by Dow Jones Indexes in the third week. The Indices were last reconstituted 20 Jan 2012.  Click here for additional information on the index.

Reputation, Risk and Finance

Reputation management through superior control of a company's intangible assets may be one of the best paths to value creation today. If it is not on your agenda, perhaps it should be. Here are several things you can do right now to start creating value for your organization:

1. Become better informed. Participate in our regular Mission Intangible Monthly Briefings held on the first Friday of every month or read the book, Mission: Intangible. Managing risk and reputation to create enterprise value, available at the IAFS Store, specialty finance sector retailers, or other leading online book retailers. 
2. Become a member of the Intangible Asset Finance Society and engage.
3. Join our community on Linked-In and stay in the information flow.

Notices

STEEL CITY RE and REPUSTARS are registered trademarks of C. Huygens & Co. LLC and are used under license. Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC, or their respective affiliates and none of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC and their respective affiliates make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. Inclusion of a company in any of the indexes in this piece does not in any way reflect an opinion of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates on the investment merits of such company. None of Technology Option Capital, LLC, C. Huygens & Co, LLC, Steel City Re, LLC or any of their respective affiliates is providing investment advice in connection with these indexes. The RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are calculated by Dow Jones Indexes, the marketing name and the licensed trademark of CME Index Services, LLC. (CME Indexes). Dow Jones Indexes is a service mark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. (Dow Jones). Investment products based on the RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Indexes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by CME Indexes, Dow Jones or their respective affiliates, and CME Indexes, Dow Jones and their respective affiliates make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such product(s).

CFO magazine (Johnson, 29 March) reports that fraud tips have hit an all-time high as employees are increasingly coming forward with suspicions. According to a new study by The Network Inc. and BDO Consulting, employees may be spurred to use hotlines when they see other businesses’ reputations harmed by fraud — a more frequent occurrence with regulators increasing their enforcement activity under such laws as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.