News
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People moves: Simon Gleadhill joins Reckitt as Johnson Controls appoints Eric Swanson
Johnson Controls has appointed former Sherwin-Williams IR chief Eric Swanson as its new vice president of investor relations.
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UK government’s proposals to tackle ‘Hobbit-length’ annual reports will benefit investors, say IROs
Annual report preparers rejoice: the UK government wants to save you time and money by ditching ‘Hobbit-length’ documents in favour of shorter, digital-first disclosures.
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People moves: Nathalie Megann to retire as president and CEO of Canadian IR association at end of year
CIRI has announced that Nathalie Megann is set to retire from her role as president and CEO of the IR association at the end of the year after 10 years of serving in the organization’s leadership.
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The shareholder you cannot win but cannot ignore: why IR should take a new look at the idea of passive ownership
The rise of index investing has created a strange problem for investor relations. Some of the largest shareholders on a company’s register may be investors that IR cannot persuade to buy another share. You can improve disclosure, sharpen the equity story, hold a brilliant capital markets day and convince the market that the company is materially undervalued. An active fund manager can respond by increasing their position. An index tracker generally cannot. Its mandate, rather than its conviction, largely determines how much it owns. And yet that same shareholder may have a meaningful say on remuneration, board appointments, capital allocation,…
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People moves: What’s that shiny thing? A new IR director at Umicore
Materials technology and recycling firm Umicore has named Maxime Lopes as its new director of investor relations. Announcing his move on LinkedIn, Lopes posted a picture of a mystery, shiny nugget of…something. ‘What’s this shiny thing?’ he asked his network on the site. ‘It’s one of several critical raw materials refined as part of Umicore’s closed-loop activities and something you might be hearing more about soon. Brownie points to anyone who guesses. ‘In fact – it’s just one of the many fascinating topics I’ve been diving into since joining Umicore as director of investor relations in July. A big thank…
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Executive pay metrics in S&P 500 shift away from broad ESG criteria
Non-financial metrics now account for around 25 percent of short-term incentive pay at a typical Russell 3000 company, with financial measures making up the remaining 75 percent, according to new research. A report titled What Companies Reward: The Changing Mix of Metrics in Executive Incentive Pay, written by The Conference Board alongside ESGAUGE, FW Cook and Ropes & Gray, also found that in the S&P 500, the split is closer to 70 percent financial and 30 percent non-financial. A Harvard Law School article on the report, which examines 2023 through 2025 proxy filings, says boards are not abandoning non-financial measures…
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Your investors are asking AI about you. Is it telling the right story?
Increasingly, investors are using generative AI to conduct preliminary due diligence, compare companies, summarize earnings calls and understand unfamiliar industries. While large language models (LLMs) do not replace fundamental research, they are rapidly becoming the first stop for many investment questions. Reflecting this shift, 30 percent of US retail investors now use AI tools to help make investment decisions, up 75 percent from a year earlier. Unlike traditional search engines, LLMs synthesize information from a network of public sources – including SEC filings, company websites, earnings call transcripts, news coverage, executive interviews and investor presentations. The more consistently your company’s…
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People moves: Cummins powers up IR team with appointment of James Hopkins
Power solutions firm Cummins has amped up its IR team with the appointment of James Hopkins, formerly of its engine business finance and strategy team, into the role of vice president – financial planning, capital management and investor relations.
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How Prologis and The Williams Companies are turning proxy clutter into shareholder clarity
What does it take to turn a proxy statement from a regulatory requirement into a document that investors want to read? For Prologis, the answer has been to listen closely to shareholders, then use that feedback to reshape the document around the issues they care about.
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Is ‘quiet dissent’ growing in your shareholder base?
At the IR Impact Think Tank – Europe 2026, Maria Siano, general manager, corporate governance data and insights at Broadridge Financial Solutions, described a current challenge to IROs as activism becoming ‘broader, more sophisticated’ and ‘less visible at the onset’. She also warned that ‘shareholder pressure begins much more quietly’ than many companies may expect.
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People moves: IR Impact Hall of Fame honoree Paul Surdez joins Ionetix as former head of IR becomes Sallie Mae’s deputy CFO
Medical technology company Ionetix has brought in an IR Impact Hall of Fame honoree to lead its investor relations function ahead of a planned public float.
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SEC steps back as proxy referee as regulator ends involvement in Rule 14a-8 no-action process
The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance has ended its involvement in the Rule 14a-8 no-action process, announcing late last week that it will no longer respond to no-action requests of any kind, effective immediately.
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People moves: Emily Chieng joins Barrick Mining as IR Impact award-winner Dennis Walsh leaves Udemy
Dennis Walsh has announced that he is stepping down from his role as vice president of investor relations at Udemy, following its acquisition by fellow online learning platform Coursera.
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‘It’s a great way for your CFO to bring AI into the storyline’: how NSI’s AI avatars represent the future of earnings calls
You’d be forgiven for thinking earnings calls tended to be a bit predictable. Management runs through the numbers, analysts lob in their questions and the format barely shifts whether you’re dialing in from London, New York or Sydney.
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CLARITY Act vote pushed to September as expectations build for SEC’s crypto and blockchain rules overhaul
Senate majority leader John Thune has filed cloture – which forces a final vote on a bill – on the proposed CLARITY Act for September 15, setting up a key procedural vote when lawmakers return. The bill needs 60 votes to pass, meaning Republicans will need to secure support from Democrats who, according to Reuters, remain opposed to parts of the legislation.
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People moves: Smart ring maker Oura brings in ex-DraftKings IRO Michael DeLalio as former CIRI chair Brian Ector retires
Brian Ector, former chair of CIRI and long-serving head of IR at Baytex Energy, has retired after a 32-year career in the Canadian capital markets.
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If AI cannot understand your equity story, then neither can the market
For decades, investor relations focused on one overarching objective: shaping market perception. Companies invested in perception studies to understand how investors, analysts and the financial media viewed their strategy, competitive positioning, and long-term value creation.
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Why your company’s brand is an undervalued asset on your balance sheet
All listed companies’ communications exist under the same constraint: say enough to be understood but not so much that you over-claim. RNS rules, disclosure obligations, prospectus rules, nominated advisors (NOMADs), all of them act as guardrails against saying more than is true, which is vital.
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People moves: Quest Diagnostics tests positive for Damini Chokshi as its new head of IR
Fortune 500 laboratory testing company Quest Diagnostics has brought in experienced hire Damini Chokshi as its new vice president, investor relations.
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Your hardworking legal colleagues deserve recognition – why not enter the Corporate Governance Awards?
We spend a lot of time championing the IR profession here at IR Impact: between interviews with top executives, open discussions with practitioners and our annual awards recognizing the top performers, we think it’s crucial to highlight the hard work done by IR folk around the world.
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‘Know your movers and shakers’: How IR teams are anticipating sentiment, tackling engagement and driving support in their shareholder bases
Between the emergence of passive investment strategies, the uptake of pass-through voting and the dwindling influence of proxy advisors, investor engagement is an increasingly complex undertaking.
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People moves: Macy’s snaps up Caitlin Howe as its new vice president, investor relations
Department store chain Macy’s has announced the appointment of Caitlin Howe as its new vice president, investor relations. In a move effective from July 20, Howe will report to Tom Edwards, Macy’s chief operating officer and CFO, and lead the company’s IR efforts as it continues to executive its ‘Bold New Chapter’ strategy.
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SEC chief signals fresh scrutiny of reporting regime
Chair Paul Atkins says the SEC will push to return public company reporting to a materiality-based disclosure regime, warning that expanding obligations risk burying investors in less useful information Set against a backdrop of balmy heat, cowboy boots and country music in Nashville, SEC chairman Paul Atkins used his keynote address at the Society for Corporate Governance’s 2026 National Conference to deliver a clear message to governance professionals: responsibility ultimately rests with corporate leaders. Atkins opened by outlining his broader philosophy for government and regulation. ‘Government must be limited; its purpose is to set the conditions for prosperity, not engineer…
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People moves: Stefany Flegal uploaded into Box’s IR team as Christian Audi pulls up at Enerpac
Cloud-based content management company Box has brought in Stefany Flegal to serve as its new director of investor relations. Prior to joining the San Francisco firm, she ran her own consultancy – Flegal Consultancy Services – launched in April 2025. Before that, Flegal held various IR roles at Smartsheet and Fastly, as well as serving in treasury and FP&A positions at fellow cloud data storage firm Dropbox.
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Governance proposals surge as SEC overhaul and anti-ESG pivot reshape 2026 proxy season, research shows
What does a surge in governance proposals mean for shareholder engagement? A sharp rise in governance-focused shareholder proposals, a big shift in the SEC’s proposal exclusion process and growing support for corporate moves out of Delaware are becoming the defining trends of the 2026 proxy season, according to Georgeson Advisory. While overall shareholder proposal activity continues to decline across Russell 3000 companies, early data suggest the season is being shaped less by the number of proposals and more by structural changes that could have long term implications for issuers, investors and corporate governance practices. According to Georgeson’s 2026 Early Proxy Season…
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People moves: Mikaela Krama swaps Kinnevik for Mentimeter as NXP Semiconductors’ Jeff Palmer retires
Mikaela Kramer, who served as head of investor relations at Swedish investment manager Kinnevik for a decade, has joined presentation software company Mentimeter ahead of its expected IPO.
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Distracted by the football? Research shows investors have taken their eye off the ball to watch the World Cup
You may have noticed I’ve mentioned the World Cup – currently taking place in the US, Canada and Mexico – a few times in recent weeks. But it’s not my fault: academic research has shown that it’s not just me distracted by the football tournament, as the market has become demonstrably less attentive while games are on.
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Reputation in AI responses: What language models reveal and what they don’t
In October 2025, a merchant sent a screenshot to his account manager. He had searched Google for Is Unzer trustworthy?, a seemingly harmless question that is likely asked about companies thousands of times every day. The answer he received was a Google AI Overview stating: ‘Whether Unzer is trustworthy cannot be answered definitively, as there are conflicting experiences.’
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IROs as the company ‘point guard’ and the power of a ‘punchy’ cold approach: Four things we heard at the IR Impact Think Tank – Europe 2026
As Europe’s finest football teams gather in North America and Mexico for the World Cup, the continent’s finest IR teams gathered instead in London at the IR Impact Think Tank – Europe 2026 to discuss the burning issues facing the profession today and share best practices.
