After losing one president and Ceo with 24 years in the role to retirement, then his replacement just seven months into her new job, the National Investor Relations Institute (Niri) has had a tough year on the leadership succession front.
It’s a good thing the yearly handover from one board chairman to the next has been more orderly. In March Matthew Stroud took over from outgoing chair Maureen Wolff-Reid, who says she used the year of flux to look inward at what Niri’s mission should be and what it could do better. ‘It’s been a year of transition for me, as it will still be for Matthew,’ says Wolff-Reid, president of IR consultancy Sharon Merrill Associates. ‘It was time to take a really good look at what Niri was doing and make an overall assessment.’
To this end, Niri launched an evaluation of its organizational and corporate governance structure in its effort to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. ‘The board got to look at what it was really responsible for,’ Wolff-Reid says.
Niri also carried out a survey asking Iros what they want from the organization. It showed that members want more professional development opportunities, particularly for mid-level and senior Iros.
‘Most of Niri’s members have more than six years in the profession,’ Wolff-Reid says. ‘Niri is a lifeline for people when they first start out in IR. Now we’re looking to see what we can provide for those who have all the basics.’
This issue formed the basis of Stroud’s pitch to fellow board members when he put himself forward as chairman. ‘Niri is fantastic at the beginning; you can really get up to speed,’ says Stroud, who is vice president of IR for Darden Restaurants. ‘But we’ve fallen short in catering to senior IR people. Some members don’t find it offers them much after they’re in it for 10-15 years.’
Wider appeal
Niri does have its senior roundtable, which involves 150 Iros, but dozens of the organization’s most experienced members aren’t involved. Two sector-specific roundtables recently started in biopharmaceuticals and banking, and the board and staff members are looking to expand to other specialties as a way to attract veterans. ‘It’s one of my hopes that we’ll work out that path for senior members,’ Stroud says.
Niri board members generally serve for four years and put themselves forward for chairman in their third or fourth year. There are four official board meetings per year, and the chair is in weekly if not daily contact with other board members or the Ceo. It’s a commitment that takes hours – and sometimes days – each week from a board member’s full-time job.
Stroud says he thought the position would be a challenge, but a worthwhile one. ‘We do have a paid staff, but primarily it’s a volunteer organization down through the chapters,’ he points out. ‘It takes a tremendous time commitment to put on programs and networking events, but it’s fantastic that so many people have a passion for IR, and are always eager to advance the profession.’
Niri has added about 200 members after a few years of declining participation, bringing its total membership to 4,400. ‘We’re on a turnaround, which is great,’ Wolff-Reid says. The organization is looking to expand its ranks further by targeting Cfos and corporate communications officers who specialize in financial PR.
The regional chapters are helping; the Orange County branch, for example, has raised Niri’s profile with its Cfo of the year award. Niri is also examining ways to package its research, such as its earnings guidance survey, ‘in a way that serves the C-suite,’ Wolff-Reid adds. The most immediate priority is the Ceo search. Neither Wolff-Reid nor Stroud will say much about what went wrong with Nancy Humphries, whose stint was so brief after Lou Thompson’s more than two-decade tenure.
Humphries, who had recently taken early retirement from BellSouth’s IR team, got off to an enthusiastic start, visiting a third of Niri’s 33 chapters and representing the organization at meetings with all the major exchanges. ‘Nancy resigned to pursue other interests,’ Wolff-Reid says. ‘We wish her all the best.’ The new search team is led by Lynn Tyson, vice president of IR for Dell. Stroud and Ashton Partners’ Beth Saunders are additional members. Three more should be in place by early summer.
‘Candidates may come from Niri, Wall Street or corporate America,’ Stroud says. ‘They won’t necessarily have been involved in IR, but they’ll have a strong familiarity with it.’ The process could take several months, he adds: ‘Clearly we’d like to get it done as soon as possible, but we’re not rushing to meet an arbitrary deadline.’
