Talking It Over, and Over, and...

In tough times, finance executives might expect — or hope — that shareholders would understand that the executives need to concentrate on running the business. But in fact most institutional investors want more one-on-one meetings with management than ever, according to a new study by Brunswick, a global investor-relations and communications firm. "Investors are expecting to see smaller companies as much as three times a year," says Steven Milunovich, a partner at Brunswick. Here's what they hope to get out of all that time with the CFO.