The Singapore event brought together 100 senior IR experts to examine how the IR function is evolving
The IR Impact Forum – South East Asia 2025 brought around 100 IR professionals to the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) on December 2 to discuss how the IR function is evolving in the region. A series of panel discussions, led by award-winning IROs, covered real-life case studies and expert advice to propel IR teams into the future.
Speakers highlighted how IR teams are tasked with producing more information while battling increased governance scrutiny, operational pressure and digitalization, providing practical guidance for IR teams to stay resilient and well equipped in this period of volatility.
Below are four key takeaways to inform your own IR planning for 2026.
Investors have zero tolerance for inconsistency
Speakers emphasized throughout the sessions that, as investor scrutiny becomes ever more focused, consistency is no longer a best practice but an expectation for all stakeholders. As Christine Lau, GM, head of IR, corporate finance and research at Malaysian property developer UEM Sunrise put it: ‘The tolerance for inconsistency is zero. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your annual report, your investor presentation, your website or what’s said on a call – it all needs to line up.’ She added that investors will focus on the minor details and ‘will pick up on even small inconsistencies very quickly.’
As a result, consistency and credibility are key factors of an IRO’s discipline. As Yin Yee, investor relations advisor, added: IR teams which ‘don’t have discipline internally, will feel it externally.’
More reporting pressure
The annual report, always a demanding exercise for IROs, has become a more complex procedure as governance and wider regulatory frameworks evolve. What once was a largely finance-led document is now a multi-disciplinary process that places significant operational pressure on IR teams.
Lau provided candid clarity into the realities of the situation: ‘If I am being honest, the annual report process involves a lot of crying, a lot of tears, a lot of struggles. Every year there are more requirements, more expectations and more scrutiny.’
The growing complexity of producing annual reports is only exacerbated by the number of stakeholders involved in the process, Aileen Zhou, head of sales, APAC at CtrlPrint, noted. ‘Five years ago, it is a finance document or it’s finance-led, as you’re solely reporting on numbers.’ Today, she added, ‘everyone within the company is involved within this 100-page report that we’ve seen globally.’
Without preparation, structure, and resilience, this pressure will continue to rise. As Lau observed, ‘the only way to survive it is to have a strong governance structure and very clear data ownership’ before the reporting pressure becomes operationally unsustainable.
AI is reshaping IR as well as the buy side
One key theme that stuck out from the panel discussions was the growing impact of AI on how information is analyzed, produced, distributed and consumed. As the buy side accelerates their adoption of AI tools, our panelists emphasized that the technology is a valuable resource for consolidation and analysis, but it is not a replacement of human effort.
‘The IR job will never disappear,’ said Yee. ‘What AI will do is evolve the role. It will make us more efficient, but the trust, the judgment and the relationships will always be human.’
Nicole Chen, listed funds investor relations for Singapore-based CapitaLand Investment, added the ‘datafication of the IR role’ is as a ‘result of AI.’ Meanwhile, Hiren Krishnani, senior director, IR and IPO, ASEAN at Nasdaq highlighted that the ‘buy side is ready to use AI into research and engagement’ which means IR teams must embrace this change and ‘be prepared, structured and produce information that is machine digestible and consistent.’
As investors look towards AI-driven analysis, disclosing dependable and well-structured data should be a long-term priority for IROs.
Harnessing investor feedback
The final two-person panel, led by Malaysian finance chiefs Hafizuddin Sulaiman, CFO for UEM Sunrise, and Dennis Chia, CFO for CelcomDigi, examined investor engagement and how it is no longer limited to messaging and sentiment tracking; instead, it increasingly informs the strategic decisions made at the executive and board level.
‘The feedback we get from investors is not just for IR,’ said Chia. ‘We consolidate it, we analyze it and then we share it with management and with the board.’ He added that ‘the board really want to understand what investors are thinking, what they’re worried about and where expectations are shifting.’
That insight is a key focus of capital allocation conversations, said Sulaiman. ‘When we asked investors what they care about most, 68 percent said they want more granular disclosure, 69 percent said they want better forward-looking guidance, but 70 percent said they are razor-focused on capital allocation and how management is thinking about value creation,’ he explained. This reinforced IR’s role as a growing bridge between investors, executives and capital allocation decisions.
