Capital Deployment Roundtable: Measuring and Managing Intangible Investment

Abstract

The JACF capital deployment roundtable will highlight perspectives from a mix of investors, corporate practitioners, and academics on the role of intangible investment across capital allocation choices, including organic investment, acquisitions, and shareholder distributions. Research finds that the composition of business investment has slowly shifted over the last several decades with annual intangible investments now close to double annual tangible investments. Accounting and financial reporting frameworks have not kept pace with these economic shifts, doing a poor job of recognizing the role of intangibles. This creates challenges for companies allocating corporate resources and measuring performance, as well as challenges for investors seeking to understand and value material drivers of long-term value creation and investment appreciation. This roundtable will explore current thinking from those at the front lines of researching, allocating corporate resources to, and creating value from, intangible investment.

Keywords: accounting, brand, brand building, brand equity, capital allocation, capital deployment, differentiation, digital investment, GAAP shortcomings, governance, human capital, innovation, intangible assets, intangible investment, investment, marketing investment, P&L investment, R&D investment, Research