With spring finally here, the UK Investor Relations Society is opening its doors for its annual conference. The fresh air will be welcome, especially since the events of September 11 made the winter longer and darker than usual. Indeed, 9-11 emphasized an economic downturn that had started months before, and IROs have been facing a tough time. So the theme of this year’s conference is reflecting on the future: what are the challenges that IROs have to face in testing times and how can they support shareholder value even in the face of adversity?
The one-day event will take place at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on Thursday, April 18, gathering corporate IROs, corporate communications directors, advisors, consultants, service providers, fund managers and analysts from around the country. ‘In the past, around 300 delegates have attended the conference, and we expect to have a similar number this year,’ says Alexandra Hockenhull, chairman of the IRS conference committee. Richard Bowler, chairman of the IRS, will open the show.
Andrew Hawkins, director general of the IRS, says the conference is more than just an opportunity for people in the industry to hobnob with their peers: ‘IROs’ careers can sometimes be lonely ones, but at this event they can learn from their colleagues as well as other professionals. The aim is to provide IR practitioners with better equipment to do their jobs, helping them react to such difficult economic conditions as those we have had in the last twelve months.’
So bear market IR is in the limelight, with a general session entitled IR through adversity moderated by Robin Key, executive director of UBS Warburg’s market advisory group. An afternoon breakout session moderated by Diane Faulks, VP of investor relations counsel at Citibank Depositary Receipt Services, will discuss shorter-term crises, such as operational hits.
Of course, all this advice would be for nought if IROs don’t have the support of their CEOs. And just how do the people who run companies view the investor relations role? That question will be answered in a keynote address by Sir Dominic Cadbury, chairman of the Wellcome Trust. He is also chairman of the Economist Group and an outside director at both the EMI Group and Misys. ‘He actively runs several companies and has a vital perspective on what his peers think of IR in the UK,’ according to Hawkins. And he adds: ‘CEOs are the people we have to influence to get better recognition of our job within companies.’
The little guys
Hawkins is particularly concerned about the IR challenges facing smaller companies. Luke Ahern, senior analyst at Seymour Pierce, and Neil Crawford, partner at RMS Robson Rhodes, will talk about what mid-sized companies can do to get investor attention. The session will be moderated by John Pierce, CEO of the Quoted Companies Alliance. Pierce explains that the QCA has conducted a survey showing institutional investors are less and less interested in smaller companies. In this sense, he agrees with Hawkins that ‘it’s down to management to articulate success for the company.’
Of course, the conference program also leaves room for IR’s regulatory framework. A panel chaired by Lance Moir, senior lecturer at Cranfield University School of Management, will look at whether the current regulatory climate, with its new code of market conduct, is a hindrance or a help to IROs.
This year’s conference should cover a lot of ground in one short day. ‘We want to cover the different perspectives of current investor relations topics, and we would like attendees to take away ideas and thoughts they didn’t have before attending the conference,’ concludes Hockenhull.
