Ask investor relations professionals about their career choice and you will usually receive an enthusiastic reaction. Often you will hear stories of how they entered the field, took on interesting challenges and have never looked back. At the same time, you will also get a sense of frustration: they feel the secret is not out about this fulfilling career, and many find their strategic function misunderstood by people outside of Wall Street.
Open up a discussion at a local university about career opportunities in IR and you’ll receive curious stares from both communications and finance majors who have either never heard of IR or cannot name the qualifications needed for such a profession.
Though the enthusiasm for IR tends to be nearly universal among practitioners, the understanding of the profession beyond the industry is varied. The well-beaten career path that exists in many industries does not exist in investor relations, making this a hard profession to neatly package.
A recent Niri survey concluded that on average, a corporate IR executive with 19 years of business experience has spent less than half of their career directly in IR. The majority of practitioners came from backgrounds in finance, operations or communications, and originally never anticipated having a career in IR. The survey also found that 69 percent of IR executives believe their job responsibilities are continuing to expand.
Professional development has been a cornerstone of Niri since its inception in 1969. With over 5,000 members and an average of 22 nationally sponsored seminars and conferences annually, Niri is a testament to the belief that professional development is the key to ensuring high standards of practice across the industry.
It is this concept, along with Niri’s increased focus on possible practice certification, that led former New York chapter president Bob Wysocki of the Cornell Group to accept the role as Niri New York’s first vice president of professional development in 1996. The creation of this position solidified the New York chapter’s commitment to reaching out to the academic community. ‘You can’t live in a vacuum or you run the risk of complacency. Professional development opportunities are what keeps one on the cutting edge of this profession,’ explains Wysocki.
In 1997, Ilene Angarola of New York Community Banc Corp became the new vice president of professional development. Realizing that to make the vision a reality more hands would be required, Angarola created a professional development committee. The energy generated at the very first meeting should have foreseen success, yet the enthusiasm led to debate over what type of educational programs to pursue and what audiences should be targeted.
Some members began to ask, ‘What do we still want to learn about our profession?’ Others questioned why they didn’t learn about the field earlier in their careers, while many admitted they understood the needs of their organization, but lacked knowledge of aspects of IR that they had not yet come face-to-face with. Angarola quickly realized that in order to tackle each of these avenues, the group would have to separate into teams. Today, the Niri New York professional development group is composed of two separate, but dedicated committees – the continuing education committee and the undergraduate committee.
Today’s operations
Though the student populations are different, both committees face similar challenges. Each group is motivated by a belief that education can help raise the visibility of the investor relations profession and improve standards while keeping practitioners (and future practitioners) at the forefront of SEC regulations, technology and communication methods.
The committees developed a list of prospective universities and faculty contacts and proposals outlining why a course would be appropriate for each particular school and how Niri could help make it happen. Course outlines and lesson plans were developed so groups were able to offer their respective target schools IR practitioners willing to take on the role of teacher or guest speaker.
The continuing education committee targeted IR professionals in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) making New York University (NYU) a logical place to focus their initial efforts. NYU, in the heart of Manhattan, has a fantastic reputation for its continuing education initiatives.
NYU was more than willing to listen to the committee and discuss possibilities for the future; after all, it had sponsored an introductory course in IR through its PR program for over ten years. This course, which was initially taught by Win Neilson and Demi Hetrick of Neilson/Hetrick Group, continues today as one of three IR courses offered at NYU.
In the early 1990s June Filingeri of Comm-Partners and Ed Nebb, executive VP of the Hawthorn Group, took over the introductory course in IR at NYU, teaching a class of nine to ten students once a year. Today, the introductory course is offered in both the spring and fall semesters and hosts well over 20 students, while an advanced course in capital markets and the investment process has also been added.
In addition to this advanced class, ‘Issues in corporate disclosure’, a course focused on materiality and disclosure, was developed in 1998 and is currently taught by Mary Beth Kissane, senior managing director of Abernathy & McGregor. New courses that are being planned for upcoming semesters include ‘Writing for IR’, ‘Finance & accounting for IR’ and ‘Financial media’.
Certified success
The success of the courses and the support of the Niri New York chapter became the driving forces behind NYU’s decision to develop an IR certificate program for 2002. The program will require students to complete approximately 100 hours of study (usually five to seven courses) in order to be eligible for a certificate.
‘This is the first time we’ve actively worked with an association to build a curriculum and we are very pleased with the results. [Developing a program together] makes for a good experience for us as well as for Niri – we have always been of the position that we want to teach practical base instruction and to do that we draw on respected people in the field,’ explains Renee Harris, associate director of marketing and management at New York University. ‘We are hoping to offer this professional credential in investor relations for individuals who are already in IR and want to enhance their skills.’
While committee members spend a great deal of time discussing what topics should be offered and how best they can be taught, a professional development survey is sent to all Niri New York chapter members in an effort to gain insight into their specific educational needs and interests.
The undergraduate committee developed directly from the passion of some of the original committee members, who strongly believed that reaching out to college students would allow for maximum impact. The desire to spread the IR word, combined with a belief that the earlier you introduce communications students to finance and vice versa the more likely they are to be comfortable with the subject matter, made the group committed to such a daunting undertaking.
‘We love what we do. We want to let students know there is an interesting, creative career alternative out there that combines the exciting aspects of marketing, communications and finance,’ explains Christine Scandia Stone, a professional development committee member of the New York chapter of Niri since 1997 and vice president at KCSA Public & Investor Relations.
In addition to full semester courses, the committee looked at other avenues. It developed a brochure that gives a quick overview of the IR profession and distributed it to college career guidance departments as well as faculty in communications and finance. They also provided introductory letters offering guest speakers for career days, class lectures and finance club meetings.
Last year the committee was able to establish the first fully accredited undergraduate course offered in the New York area, located at Long Island University’s CW Post campus. LIU has a strong public relations curriculum spearheaded by CW Post’s PR director, Abby Dress, who is also a partner at public relations firm Smith & Dress. She met with the committee, discussed the school’s requirements and reviewed the entire program. The 14-week course introduced communications majors to a variety of IR topics including: the history of Wall Street, the role of IROs, the audiences IROs communicate with, the ways in which IROs communicate, the IPO process and disclosure.
The success of the class secured its place in the LIU curriculum. Feedback from students has been positive, with many commenting that they had heard of IR, but previously understood little about the job.
On track
Success has not slowed the work of the Niri New York chapter’s professional development group. In fact, it has inspired the committees to expand their reach and look to develop additional continuing education courses and undergraduate classes.
The Hawthorn Group’s Ed Nebb has seen the perception of IR change over the years and he believes the future promises more educational opportunities. ‘Investor relations as a profession has grown and become more sophisticated so the need for education is there. Perhaps we will see a distance-learning program in the future’.
The committee experience has reaped major rewards, developing an interest in IR among college students and helping investor relations professionals gain the necessary skills. They hope this type of program can flourish throughout the US and abroad. Combined, the committee members have over 100 years of investor relations experience at companies ranging in size from micro-caps to mega-caps – and yet many of its members’ most thrilling challenges lie in opportunities to act as spokespeople not only for the public corporate entity they represent, but also for a rapidly growing profession.
Kelly Maude Leung is a Niri New York Board and Professional Development Committee member, and adjunct professor in investor relations at CW Post.
