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.

On 30 March, Susan G. Komen for the Cure founder Nancy Brinker sent a letter on Friday to members of Congress, apologizing for the organization’s “mistakes” during the recent controversy over Planned Parenthood grants — and asking representatives to support funding for an early breast cancer detection program. The letter appears to have been in lieu of the organization’s annual “Lobby Day” in Washington, D.C., held last year on 14 April. At the annual lobbying day, activists push for government programs, not for Komen programs. These government programs focus on cancer research and early detection and treatment for underserved women.

A week earlier, the Washington Post reported ongoing turmoil with several executives at headquarters and affiliates departing, questions arising about fundraising ability, and structural changes underway to give affiliates more influence. On 27 March, Harris Interactive reported Komen’s 2012 brand equity score. “Susan G. Komen has consistently rated as either the first or second most equitable non-profit organization in its category. This year, SGK fell 54 spots to 56th place out of 79 non-profit brands surveyed. …Komen’s current brand equity score of 55.1 represents a 21% drop in brand equity over the prior year ─ a historic drop in the study's 23-year history, surpassed only by Fannie Mae in 2009.”

The reputation crisis continues at SGK. There is a road to reputation restoration, but Komen has yet to take the third step and most important step – establishing processes that will prevent a repeat of that which triggered the prior crisis. Unlike Penn State, another not-for-profit institution to be rocked by a reputational crisis recently that has taken mitigation steps, there is no evidence that SGK has figured out what that means.

SGK positioned itself as a non-partisan religiously agnostic organization focused on women's health issues related to cancer. It has acknowledged that it erred in cutting off Planned Parenthood and alienating a constituency that interpreted the action as a partisan expression. In doing so, it alienated a second constituency that viewed the reversal as a partisan expression.

Here is what it can do to restore its reputation.

1. Komen needs to apologize for making sweeping operational decisions that might be interpreted as partisan.
2. Komen needs to review its decision making processes and ensure that going forward they are appreciated for being (authentically) non-partisan
3. Komen needs to make it clear to its broad constitiuency that it will share knowledge gained in #1 and #2 to help other organizations with non-partisan missions walk the fine line and avoid a similar crisis.

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

While the equity markets held on to gains, RepuStars gave back ground this week - a negative correlation that has been observed when the CBOE S&P500 Futures Index (VIX) rises. The RepuStars Variety price index slipped below the 2500 line. Nonetheless, it was a good end to a great quarter. The greatest gains in the 2012 RepuStars portfolio continue to be Veolia Environment Ve SA (VE) at 55.61% and Whirlpool Corporation (WHR) at 41.83%. Still holding in third place for the second week is American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO) at 24.48%. 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 30-Mar-12, REPUVART and REPUVAR stood at 2867.14 and 2488.61 respectively. Over the past four weeks, the former has changed by 0.72%, while the latter has changed by 0.55%. The benchmark S&P500 Composite Index stood at 1226.80 (31 Dec 2001=1000) and has changed over the past four weeks by 2.84%.

Over the trailing twelve months, REPUVART and REPUVAR have, respectively, changed by 7.52% and 6.17% respectively; the S&P500 Composite Index has changed by 5.71%. Since January 2009, the REPUVART and REPUVAR have changed by 129.13% and 116.69% respectively; the S&P 500 Composite Index has changed by 51.16%. 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 actual 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 Index™, which tracks 5500 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. 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).

On 26 March, Yahoo Inc. (NASD:YHOO) named three new independent directors to its board. Investors were demanding a shakeup since Carol Bartz was dismissed in amid a wave of colorful invectives last September.

At least one investor is still unhappy. Third Point LLC run by Daniel Loeb wanted to seat three of his own nominees, or absent that, himself. The owner of just under 6% of the firm promised a proxy battle.

Chairman Roy Bostock, whose reputation was tarnished by that encounter, and who announced in February that he will be stepping down, offered the usual platitudes about the benefits of the changes that were made. Stakeholders remain cautiously optimistic. The reputational metrics indicate that major operational changes are not expected in the new environment; rather, they suggest incremental improvements.


 
The Steel City Re brand of reputational benchmarks indicate that Yahoo's financial performance is at the median level for its peer group comprising 131 firms in the Internet Software and Services sector. Notwithstanding a relatively high reputational ranking of 94th percentile within this group, the firm is not expected to have major reputational changes. All reputational volatility measures are low and going forward stability measures are high. Nevertheless, the indicators show a slow positive change in reputational standing that may reflect optimism over the new CEO and pessimism over the new board and the upcoming proxy fight.

The company, which is a constituent member of the 2012 RepuStars Variety Corporate Reputation Index, is one of only 5 of 38 that have lost value since entering the index.