News and analysis
-
Enhancing decision quality through advanced investor intelligence: the hidden engine of competitive advantage
In today’s volatile and hyper-competitive markets, the difference between a market leader and an also-ran often comes down to one crucial factor: decision quality. While product innovation, brand recognition and capital access are still important, it is the consistency and accuracy of decisions — particularly strategic, operational, and financial ones — that sets enduring winners apart in terms of valuation. For public companies, this is especially true at the management team and IR level, where every choice can ripple across long-term growth trajectories, investor perception and ultimately valuation.
-
Small (and a mid) caps hit big: Aecon, Calian and TransAlta take three apiece at the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2025
In an event packed with the highest achieving IR teams in Canada, it was two small-cap companies and a mid-cap firm that punched hardest, with Aecon Group, Calian Group and TransAlta Corporation each taking home three IR Impact Awards at the black-tie ceremony in Toronto last night. TransAlta took the trophy for best overall investor relations and best investor relations officer for Tamara Cook – both in the mid-cap category – as well as winning its sector award in utilities. The two small-cap companies also won some of the most prestigious awards of the night, with Aecon claiming best overall…
-
People moves: Eric Hill to pilot IR at Boeing
Other people changes come at Karman Space & Defense and Gold Road Resources Boeing, the NYSE-listed global aerospace company, has appointed Eric Hill as its new vice president of IR. Most recently, he was vice president of finance for a Boeing division focused on mobility, surveillance and bombers. Hill has been with Boeing for nearly […]
-
‘We’re thinking about what AI is going to destroy as much as what it’s going to create’: Jonathan Knowles of Compound Equity Group
Compound Equity Group (CEG) was founded in 2024 and seeks high-conviction, long-term ideas in global equities. The founder and portfolio manager in charge, Jonathan Knowles, spent more than 30 years managing money at Capital Group. At his time of retirement in December 2024, he was in charge of some $50 bn in assets and was the chief investment officer of the firm’s $70 bn small-cap fund – the largest such fund in the world. CEG has recently raised $500 mn in capital and is deploying a very long-term, highly concentrated approach: to have 20 to 25 investments with some positions…
-
What does Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ mean for IR?
After weeks of warnings, Donald Trump finally revealed his full suite of new industry tariffs from the White House Lawn on Wednesday. Announcing the slew of trade measures as ‘Liberation Day’, the US president said that the economic policies would mark the day American industry was ‘reborn’ and the day the country was ‘made wealthy again’. For many IROs, it will herald a period of volatility and uncertainty as they scramble to find out what the implications of those moves will be on their companies.
-
Building from a baseline: how IR teams are using new data sources to unlock smarter decision-making
As any IR professional knows all too well, the market is awash with a wealth of data from myriad sources. Everything from earnings calls to websites to press releases – both from your company and from your peers – can help inform strategic IR work. But where do you start without becoming completely overwhelmed? This was what panelists Erik Carlson, chief operating officer at Notified, Glenn Schulman, founder and head of IR at Z3 BioCommunications, and Amanda Tang, head of IR at TMX Group, tackled in a recent IR Impact Webinar, held alongside Notified.
-
‘Err on the side of transparency’: Dave Bezanson on how to execute a successful earnings
Ahead of our upcoming IR Impact Forum – Canada, set to be held in Toronto on April 3, we have caught up with some of the event’s leading speakers to understand their outlook for investor communications in Canada.
-
Fluent in the language of IR: Duolingo wins big at IR Impact Awards – US
Language-learning giant Duolingo was the big winner among a room full of IR excellence at the IR Impact Awards – US in New York on March 26. The firm took home two of the most coveted gongs of the night: best overall investor relations (mid-cap) and best investor relations officer (mid cap) for Debbie Belevan. Duolingo also topped its sector category, winning the best in technology trophy against fierce competition.
-
SEC releases decisions on DEI proposals under new 14a-8 guidance
The SEC’s initial decisions on whether companies may exclude shareholder proposals under new guidance continue to suggest no blanket indicators of how the agency’s staff will land on certain topics – including in the high-profile diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) space. That’s according to another provisional analysis by IR Impact sister site Governance Intelligence of 14a-8 decisions published by the division of corporation finance since it released Staff Legal Bulletin (SLB) No 14M on February 12
-
People moves: Debbie Hancock joins Lamb Weston and Caroline Dawson moves to Reckitt
Debbie Hancock, the former senior vice president of investor relations at toy maker Hasbro, has taken up a new IR role at French fry producer Lamb Weston. Hancock, who left her position at Hasbro in February 2024 after 15 years at the company, has a career in investor relations that spans 30 years, including a 15-year stint as director of IR at APC by Schneider Electric. She has been a member of NIRI since the mid-90s.
-
Amid such a complex environment, IR’s job is to keep things simple
It’s certainly a wild time to be an IRO. While uncertainty is always present in the market, companies are dealing with major surprises far more frequently at the moment. On any day, corporate strategies and financial guidance could be thrown into doubt by a policy announcement, geopolitical shift or another factor.
-
‘Driving sustainability means changing organizational culture’: Aecon’s Prabh Banga on the challenges of ESG
Ahead of our upcoming IR Impact Forum – Canada, set to be held in Toronto on April 3, we have caught up with some of the event’s leading speakers to understand their outlook for investor communications in Canada.
-
The CFO: ‘You need to have a stomach of iron during times of volatility,’ says Block’s Amrita Ahuja
Many IROs hope that their time in the profession might set them up well for a C-suite position well one day. But for Amrita Ahuja, CFO and COO for payments company Block, the transition happened directly during her time as head of IR for interactive entertainment firm Activision Blizzard, where she was called upon to become finance chief of its video-game publishing wing Blizzard Entertainment in 2018. Fast forward a few years and she now holds the dual posts of CFO and – for the past two years – COO at Block, the financial technology company founded by Jack Dorsey,…
-
How long do you have to be ‘short’? Recent debate puts spotlight on the movements of short sellers
Short seller reports can have a huge impact on the stocks they target. Everyone from regulators to law firms and even Netflix are looking to the impact of shorting stocks – with one law firm arguing free speech is being put at risk In the stock market, the traditional way to make money is to buy shares in a company and wait for the share price to rise. Another way is to short a company and wait for the share price to go down and buy back the cheaper shares. If the share price goes up, those shares must quickly…
-
Taking management on tour: What’s the sweet spot for investor meeting attendance?
‘We’re spending more time with investors without our management team,’ Naji Baydoun, director of IR at Innergex, told IR Impact editor Laurie Havelock in the Global Roadshow Report 2025. ‘Maybe at the beginning of the [2024] we were spending 10 percent of our investor engagements without management and now we’re up to about 25 percent with just the IR team,’ explained Baydoun. ‘That’s because we’ve built relationships and trust with those investors, so I’m happy about that.’ According to IR Impact’s 15th annual research report into the who, where, how and why of corporate roadshow activity, there has been a…
-
Why anxiety is your biggest enemy in communications
How much time and thought have we spent building scenarios and thinking about the reception of a report, a press release or a statement on a current issue where our company or client is expected to have – or even required to have – an opinion? Knowing your subject too well is often the big risk when it comes to communications: it presents the risk that your story will be far too detailed and ultimately incomprehensible. The point of your story will disappear in a cadre of details that do not contribute to the overall picture, much less to the…
-
People moves: FactSet names Kevin Toomey as head of IR
Financial data provider FactSet has named Kevin Toomey as its new head of IR. He takes over from Yet He, the current interim head of investor relations, who will continue in his role as treasurer and head of financial planning and analysis. Most recently, Toomey was vice president of IR at Secureworks. Before that, he ran IR at Latch, which focuses on keyless security systems. Overall, he has more than 20 years of experience across IR, equity research and finance.
-
Why finding your ‘Steve Jobs’ might be the key to successfully using AI for IR
Many IROs say they are still curious about how they can effectively implement AI into their IR programs. But where do you start? And how do you overcome the security concerns that are still rife around the technology? Earlier this month in London, IR Impact’s AI & Technology Forum – Europe aimed to answer some of those concerns and give attendees a place to start their experiments with the technology, with one eye on saving them time in the long run.
-
CIBC and Calian Group lead the pack ahead of the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2025
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Calian Group will be the favorites ahead of the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2025, with both companies featuring on the short lists for seven awards apiece. The gala event, which will take place in Toronto this April, aims to recognize Canada’s leading publicly listed companies and IR practitioners across a wide range of categories.
-
The valuation engine: thriving in the age of infinite momentum
We have entered the ‘Age of Infinite Momentum’, where disruption unfolds faster than understanding. Strategic adaptability is the indispensable skill of the elevated IRO as they find themselves on fluid terrain, as market forces, technological disruption, geopolitical shocks, regulatory changes and shifting investor expectations converge at an exponential pace.
-
How to talk tariffs: IR in the new era of uncertainty
The US economy is in ‘a period of transition,’ US President Donald Trump told Fox News on Sunday. By close of trading on Monday, the US S&P 500 had dropped almost 3 percent, with tech stocks taking a particularly heavy hit. Weeks of back and forth as Trump threatened tariffs, paused tariffs, reintroduced tariffs – and saw retaliatory levies by affected markets – finally came to a head.
-
People moves: Jörg Friedemann to step down from IR at Brazil’s Nubank
Jörg Friedemann, the head of IR and global head of ESG and market intelligence at Brazilian financial services firm Nubank, is set to step down from his role by the end of April 2025.
-
Investor relations in the AI era: a new standard for engagement
AI is revolutionizing industries, redefining company operations and reshaping job functions at an unprecedented and previously unimaginable pace.
-
People moves: Darren Snellgrove to head Johnson & Johnson’s IR team as Jessica Moore takes CFO role
Plus new IROs at Essential Utilities and Liberty Latin America
-
‘Without my Bloomberg screen, I have to be creative’: Five things we learned from IROs who switched from the sell side
It’s news to no one that investor relations is increasingly appealing to former sell siders. Events from the financial crisis to the introduction of Mifid II in Europe have combined with trends around the increase of passive investing and a squeeze on the sell side to drive some to look elsewhere – with many landing on IR
-
Why UK and European corporates are building investor relations capabilities in the US
In an increasingly interconnected global economy, many UK and mainland European corporates are strategically expanding their investor relations capabilities beyond their home market
-
Concise content, capturing imagination and e-snowmobiles: How to engage the next generation of investors
Recent IR Impact and Totem webinar explored how to capture the interest of a younger investor audience
-
‘I under-appreciated the work that went into IR’: What it’s really like to move from the sell side to investor relations
When asked for an example of a time she really leaned into her skills honed on the sell side, Bonita To, director of investor relations at First Quantum Minerals, points to a unique situation: the shutting down of one of the firm’s mines by the Panamanian government in November 2023. ‘The balance sheet became quite distressed and it was very apparent that we would need to take some action in terms of addressing our liquidity constraints – including going to the capital markets,’ she recalls.
-
People moves: Kestra Medical Technologies brings in Neil Bhalodkar as vice president of IR
Other personnel changes come at Lectra and G2 Goldfields US digital healthcare company Kestra Medical Technologies has appointed Neil Bhalodkar as vice president of IR, with the position effective March 3, 2025. Most recently, he ran the IR function at Inari Medical until its takeover by Stryker. Previously, he built and ran the IR program […]
Spotlight Content
Off-season engagement highlights shifting views on ESG
Companies ponder how to keep talking about sustainability We’re coming to the end of ‘off season’ – when many companies go out on the road to engage with key institutional investors ahead of their annual shareholder meeting. According to a recent IR Magazine survey, around two thirds of IR teams say they have a program…
quick Guides to key ir issues
New to IR?
Looking for career advice?
Don’t know where to start with AI or ESG?
Get a curated briefing in these key areas and more with our starter guides!