Our annual run-down of IR Impact’s most-read articles over the past 12 months
As 2025 draws to a close, it feels like we are wrapping up a particularly momentous year in the capital markets. In the past 12 months, we’ve seen the global markets grapple with seismic macroeconomic shifts – including Donald Trump’s return to the White House, ongoing instability in Europe and the Middle East, plus the ever-evolving role of AI – as well as more localized changes to the day-to-day of IROs.
What has been consistent is our reader’s attention to the issues that matter most to them, whether that’s the shifting role of proxy advisors, what AI can do for IROs or just the latest best practice data.
As always in December, we’ve taken a look at the pieces that resonated most with our audience to see where IROs will be focusing their time as we head into 2026.
As a pleasant surprise, the piece that kept thousands of you engaged was one that promised to reveal how one leading head of IR could spend a good chunk of their working day on virtual adventures in a fantasy or sci-fi world rather than speaking to investors: this is how Karolina Gnas, head of IR at the Polish video game developer CD Projekt, spends her time enjoying the studio’s greatest hits alongside her investment community.
That was our most-read piece of the year, and for good reason. Our readers always say they love to hear how other IR teams – often in different geographies or industries – handle the unique challenges of their role.
‘One of the great perks of being in IR in the gaming industry is that I often get to – or even sometimes need to – play our games during your work day, so I’ve played both The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 during office hours,’ said Gnas.
Another top-10 piece was a conversation with Scott Parsons, head of IR at Canadian mining company Alamos Gold, about doing more with less and why he’s still a big fan of virtual meetings.
Our second most-read piece of the year was a guest column from David Grunfeld, the founder and CEO of aiiro, who explored how AI would be helping set new standards for investor engagement as its use in the capital markets matured. It was a topic he explored in further detail on a panel at the AI & Technology Forum – Europelater in the year.
Another guest column took the number-three spot: Andrew Kakabadse, a professor of governance and leadership at Henley Business School, and Dr Reeves Knyght, chair of Minerva Lending and a governance advisor, wrote about how traditional models of corporate governance were being eroded by the consolidation of power among the Big Three financial institutions, namely BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street Global Advisors.
A consistent theme for IR Impact’s deep dives in 2025 was the nature of IR’s relationship with the sell side, something our deputy editor Garnet Roach explored on many occasions. The year’s fourth most-read article was her piece which spoke to several former sell-siders – including analysts, researchers and a corporate access specialist – who had made the transition into in-house IR roles.
‘I under-appreciated the work that went into preparing for the quarter, the management discussion and analysis or the conference call. The preparation that goes into anticipating all the potential questions that might be asked,’ said Bonita To, director of IR at First Quantum Minerals, who spent more than two decades across sales and research roles.
Roach also explored exclusive IR Impact data, based on a survey of 100s of in-house professionals, about their evolving relationship with the sell-side. Part one, which looked into the value of research, was among the year’s most-read pieces and is well worth a deeper read as part of your 2026 preparations, as are the follow-ups looking at coverage numbers, when and how analysts want to be engaged, and forecasts and negative ratings, respectively.
As previously mentioned, the return of Trump to the White House and the reinvigoration of his trade-tariff policies was something that IROs had to consider throughout the year. In April, André Vasconcellos, a member of IR Impact’s editorial board and chief strategy and investor relations officer at Fictor Alimentos, discussed what it would mean for companies outside of the US, particularly his native Brazil, in the year’s fifth-ranked piece.
Other pieces that ranked in the year’s top 10 included my quick analysis of how a pared-back CSRD might sound good, but ESG-minded investors would not be happy; a guide from Petter Hedborg, CEO and founder of Modular Finance, about how data quality was crucial to IROs using AI effectively; and a run-down of the latest meme-stock mania in the summer, which propelled share prices for Krispy Kreme and American Eagle.
All of which illustrates that the challenges you faced last year were multi-faceted. Next year’s are likely to be similar, of course…
Did you have a favourite article we didn’t mention here? Let us know, either via LinkedIn, or email us on [email protected].
