Forward‐looking information in integrated reports: Insights from “best in class”

Are integrated reports actually forward looking or do they disclose mainly the past? Stakeholders, particularly investors, increasingly call for more information on strategies, risks, and opportunities that companies face. Integrated Reporting, through its future‐oriented approach, represents a response to these corporate reporting challenges, by making companies disclose more about their future outlook, enabling investors and other stakeholders to take a much longer term view. In such a context, this study explore the extent and characteristics of forward‐looking information in reports that are recognized as best practices by a reputable awards process or through benchmarking in the International Integrated Reporting Council's database and proposes different dimensions of analysis. Overall, the results show that even among the best in class integrated reports, there are differences in the disclosure of forward‐looking information and that the information needs of stakeholders regarding future‐oriented disclosure do not seem to be fully met.