When disclosure is complex, clarity becomes a competitive advantage.
OBATA partners with public companies to transform annual reports, proxy statements, and integrated reports into clear investor communications.
We develop thematic messaging that distills your investment proposition, write executive narrative content, and craft award-winning design that brings clarity and impact to complex SEC disclosures.
Trusted since 1956 • 200+ reports delivered • Award-winning design excellence
WHY IT MATTERS
Investor confidence is built on clarity
Annual reports and proxy statements must meet SEC requirements while helping investors understand performance, priorities, and long-term value creation.
Financial and governance disclosures are dense by necessity, and sustainability information is often reported separately. This makes it harder for investors to see the full picture.
The challenge is familiar:
- Dense text and boilerplate language
- Weak visual hierarchy that hides what matters most
- Financial, governance, and sustainability information presented in silos
When this happens, investors skim for red flags instead of engaging with your story. Analysts turn to presentations for clarity. Reporting becomes a compliance exercise rather than a communication tool.
OBATA helps close this gap.
Proven Experience by the Numbers
REPORTING TRUSTED BY GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS
OUR APPROACH
Clarity Drives Impact Across the Reporting Lifecycle
The annual report is often the most comprehensive articulation of a company’s investor proposition, bringing together strategy, performance, governance, and risk to support long-term value creation.
Our annual report work helps companies translate results into a clear, compelling investment story. We work with leadership teams to distill key messages, then use brand-integrated design to make complex information easier for investors to navigate and understand.
OBATA applies a disciplined, lifecycle-based approach to investor reporting that prioritizes clarity, accuracy, and consistency. Planning, content, design, and production are managed as a single, coordinated process to support alignment across annual reports, proxy statements, and related investor communications.
We are accustomed to working within legal, audit, and governance review processes. Clients engage us for full-cycle leadership or targeted expertise.
“Annual reporting partnerships are built on trust that deepens over time. OBATA develops thematic messaging and brand-integrated design that align annual reports, proxy statements, and investor communications around a clear narrative. That consistency reduces the risk of misinterpretation, reinforces leadership alignment, and builds investor confidence year after year.”
– Adam Franke, President & Creative Director, OBATA
OUR SERVICES
Full Lifecycle or Modular Support
Strategic Messaging. Disciplined Execution.
OBATA supports public companies across the full annual reporting lifecycle — from investment narrative foundation through disclosure to investor communication activation. Our Foundation → Disclosure → Activation model helps reporting teams bring clarity and consistency to annual reports, proxy statements, and related investor communications year after year. Clients engage us end to end or at specific points in the reporting lifecycle, depending on internal resources and needs.
FOUNDATION:
Set the Investment Narrative
Strong reporting starts with alignment. We help teams clarify the investor story before production begins, reducing downstream risk and rework.
Capabilities include:
- Early production planning to align formats, schedules, and delivery requirements
- Annual and proxy reporting cycle planning
- Sector benchmarking and peer gap analysis
- Clarifying the investor proposition and annual report themes
- Executive interviews to align on performance, strategy, governance, and risk
- Coordinating narrative and themes across annual, proxy, and sustainability reporting when supporting multiple disclosures
Our experience supporting both annual and sustainability reporting for the same clients informs this phase, ensuring non-financial performance is integrated only when it is material to investor understanding.
DISCLOSURE:
Craft the Report
Once direction is set, we help translate complex information into clear, investor-ready communications that balance compliance with comprehension.
Capabilities include:
- Executive and subject-matter expert interviews
- Investor-focused narrative development and editorial refinement
- Structuring proxy statements and governance sections for comprehension
- Data visualization and infographic design
- Brand-integrated report design for print, PDF, and digital formats
- Interactive PDFs and web-based report formats
- Production planning, print oversight, and delivery coordination to meet regulatory and mailing deadlines
Core Outputs
- Annual reports
- Proxy statements
- Integrated reports
ACTIVATION:
Extend the Story
Approved disclosures don’t stop at publication. We help teams extend clarity across investor communications throughout the year.
Capabilities include:
- Investor presentations
- Investor Day and road show branding
- Reporting-aligned microsites and presentation hubs
For long-term clients, this includes extending approved reporting narratives into live environments. OBATA has supported Investor Day communications for Emerson Electric and Fortune Brands over multiple years and designs investor presentation materials for ESCO Technologies that align with annual and proxy disclosures.
NEXT STEPS
Ready to streamline your next reporting cycle or understand how our approach works from planning through launch?
INTEGRATED REPORTING
Clarity Improves When Reporting Is Coordinated
Fragmented reporting creates friction.
As reporting expectations expand, annual reports, sustainability disclosures, proxy statements, and investor communications often develop in parallel rather than in sync. Information may be accurate, but fragmentation makes it harder for investors to understand how performance, strategy, and long-term value creation connect.
Coordination improves clarity.
OBATA helps align narrative, design, and messaging across reporting formats. Informed by our sustainability reporting and advisory experience, we support teams in connecting financial performance with governance and ESG priorities without duplicating effort or overstating claims.
Consistency reduces risk.
When reporting is coordinated, timelines align more easily, messaging stays consistent, governance themes reinforce one another, and brand integrity is maintained across print and digital experiences. As reporting complexity grows, internal coordination becomes more manageable.
Integration strengthens over time.
Companies such as ESCO Technologies, Peabody Energy, and Fortune Brands have expanded their work with OBATA across annual, sustainability, and proxy reporting through partnerships spanning more than a decade.
Integrated Reporting for ESCO Technologies
The example shown illustrates how coordinated reporting comes to life across multiple investor touchpoints, including the annual report, proxy statement, sustainability report, investor presentation, and supporting digital experiences.
WHAT SETS OBATA APART
Long-Term Reporting Partnerships Built on Trust and Consistency
Coordination across reporting touchpoints.
While many firms focus on a single deliverable, OBATA supports clients across annual reports, sustainability reporting, proxy statements, and investor-facing communications over time. That continuity helps teams maintain clarity, consistency, and brand alignment across overlapping reporting cycles.
Relationships that deepen over decades.
Our work is built on long-term partnerships that evolve as reporting needs change. Active relationships include more than 20 years supporting Peabody Energy, over 13 years with Fortune Brands, and two decades working with ESCO Technologies across annual, sustainability, proxy, and digital reporting initiatives.
Recognized excellence in corporate reporting design.
OBATA’s work has earned repeated recognition from the League of American Communications Professionals, including multiple Platinum Vision Awards for Top 50 Worldwide honors. These awards reflect reporting that balances strong design with clarity, readability, and investor understanding.
PROVEN IMPACT
Reporting Excellence Since 1956
OBATA’s first annual report was created for Emerson Electric in 1956, beginning a 65-year partnership that helped shape our approach to investor reporting.
Since then, we have supported more than 250 annual reports, proxy statements, and integrated reports for public companies operating in complex, highly scrutinized environments.
Our experience spans industries including financial services, industrial and manufacturing, technology and semiconductors, health care, utilities and energy, mining and materials, packaging and consumer products, and select philanthropic organizations.
Select long-term reporting partnerships include:
-
Emerson Electric
65-year partnership supporting annual reporting and select corporate communications initiatives.
-
ESCO Technologies
More than 20 years supporting annual reporting, with sustainability reporting support extending more than 8 years and proxy reporting over multiple recent cycles, alongside corporate website initiatives.
-
Peabody Energy
More than 20 years supporting annual reporting, with sustainability reporting support spanning more than 15 years as disclosure expectations evolved, alongside corporate website initiatives and select corporate, employee, and brand initiatives.
-
Fortune Brands
Over 13 years of annual reporting collaboration, with sustainability reporting engagement extending more than 8 years, including select corporate, investor, and brand initiatives.
-
MasterBrand
A multi-year partnership supporting annual and sustainability reporting, with scope evolving alongside the company’s reporting priorities.
-
Renesas Technologies
3+ years supporting integrated reporting, aligning financial performance with sustainability and governance priorities.
Recognized for Reporting Clarity and Design Excellence
OBATA’s work has earned national recognition for corporate reporting that improves clarity, scannability, and investor understanding. Our reports have been recognized by respected industry organizations, including:
- League of American Communications Professionals (LACP)
- APEX Awards for Publication Excellence
- MarCom Awards
- Hermes Creative Awards
- Graphic Design USA (GDUSA)
We are particularly proud of our multiple Platinum Vision Awards for Top 50 Worldwide honors from LACP, along with numerous Gold and Honors distinctions. These recognitions reflect consistent excellence in reporting that balances strong design with clear, investor-focused communication.
See how leading companies turned reporting into brand advantage
First State Bancshares
2021 Annual Report
This annual report shows how OBATA brought clarity and structure to complex financial disclosure, making the story easier to navigate, understand, and trust. View Case Study
Fortune Brands
Annual Report Series
This multi-year annual report series reveals how disciplined thematic messaging and design continuity helped Fortune Brands reinforce its long-term value story across changing market conditions. View Case Study
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Get Answers to Your Annual and Proxy Reporting Questions
Still have questions?
Schedule a Conversation with our Financial Communications Experts →
GET STARTED
Ready to bring clarity to your Financial Reporting?
Partner with OBATA for impactful reporting that meets the strategic, communication, and compliance needs of your entire organization. We transform your ESG and sustainability data into a powerful asset that builds trust, attracts investment, and differentiates your brand.