Dateline Orlando, sometime in the near future. Citizens here are still reeling after swarms of investor relations officers cut a swathe through sweltering central Florida. The annual event, a conference which purports to educate and instruct on critical issues, has made spring break in Fort Lauderdale look like a tea party. Hospitality workers reminisce fondly of comparatively placid rock star guests as they fish sodden televisions from the pool. ‘They work hard, they play hard,’ squeaks the spokesperson of a large nearby theme park before turning his ears to new damage reports.
And these days, IROs have to work very hard indeed. Is it just my imagination, or is investor relations getting a whole lot tougher? Selective disclosure, Fasb rule changes, shareholder activism, executive compensation – these are headline-making hotspots that put investor relations firmly in the hotseat. After a sweaty tour of investor meetings, analyst calls, media stops, web sites, chatrooms and staff meetings (not to mention conferences to hear about the changes in IR and learn new skills), who could blame you for finishing up your big karaoke number by throwing a TV in the pool?
After all, this is a high stress job with a wide range of people taking shots: senior management and the board demand constant feedback from the Street; analysts thirst for details in the gray area of disclosure; big investors demand face-time; small investors plague you on the internet; and the media – so many outlets, such a fire hose of financial information – surges on every spark of news.
The range of skills needed for IR is similarly varied – communications, marketing, finance and corporate governance. The only possible candidate is a natural born communicator with a BA, CFA, MBA and PhD in a relevant field. Previous jobs as a securities analyst, portfolio manager, marketing executive, journalist and operations manager in your company, are all assets if not musts.
No wonder IROs are thronging to learn new skills and improve old ones. From NYU classrooms to Canadian colleges, from small seminars at every Niri chapter to the organization’s massive annual conference, ongoing education is another new prerequisite for the investor relations position at a public company. And no wonder the main focus of Niri’s new chairperson, State Street Corp’s Karen Wharton, is distance learning – a natural combination of education and technology.
Belting out karaoke, rocking to the blues, lounging by the pool and scouring exhibitors for freebies are all essential parts of any Niri conference, but a lot of knowledge is being absorbed. There is serious education going on, vital to coping with a fast-changing world of IR. In light of this, IROs visiting Florida should perhaps consider behaving less like rock stars and more like college students.
