News and analysis
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IWG and Iberdrola lead the shortlists ahead of the IR Impact Awards – Europe 2026
Spanish energy company Iberdrola and Swiss-based office operator International Workplace Group (IWG) are the frontrunners at this year’s IR Impact Awards – Europe, with both firms appearing across five shortlists.
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Shareholder advocacy group challenges SpaceX governance ahead of blockbuster $1.75 trn IPO
Alliance to Protect Shareholder Value, a coalition formed in response to the SEC’s new forced shareholder arbitration policy, has emerged as one of the earliest and most vocal critics of SpaceX’s governance model ahead of the company’s planned IPO.
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People moves: New IR lead at Lincoln International as firm goes public on the NYSE
Alexandra Deignan has revealed her new role as chief marketing officer and head of investor relations at Lincoln International – a little over a week after the firm rang the bell at the NYSE to signal its market debut. ‘If you know me, you know I like taking on a new challenge,’ she writes on LinkedIn. ‘Last week I began a new chapter as chief marketing officer and head of investor relations at Lincoln International. Just before the NYSE bell ringing for Lincoln’s IPO was an exciting time to join! ‘This transition comes after nearly nine wonderful years at Lazard.…
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When adjusted becomes fictional: The impact of ‘customized EBITDA’ on corporate reputation
Over the past decade, the use of adjusted EBITDA metrics has spread exponentially among listed companies and in the private equity world. What began as a tool for normalizing and comparing results by removing clearly non-recurring effects has become a tool for valuation engineering and leverage. Adjustments have moved from removing one-off expenses and distortions to anticipating future improvements and treating projections as if they were historical data, diluting economic rigor.
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Beyond the slides: building an effective IPO presentation deck
The first thing investors look at when a company comes to market is not just the financials, but the story. An IPO presentation deck is where that story lives, framing how management communicates its long-term strategy to Wall Street.
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Standard Chartered taps IR for new group CFO role
Standard Chartered has named Manus Costello as its new group CFO, having joined the Hong Kong-headquartered, global banking group in 2024. Based in London, Costello had joined the bank as global head of investor relations, bringing with him more than two decades of experience in equity research. He now joins the management team and the board as an executive director, subject to regulatory approval. ‘I am delighted that Manus has agreed to take on the role of group chief financial officer,’ says Bill Winters, group chief executive, announcing Costello’s new role at the firm. ‘Since joining Standard Chartered two years…
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Long live the investor day! How dedicated websites are turning one day into a year-round engagement opportunity
When you have an event that might happen once every few years, that event must shine. For IR, investor days offer a rare opportunity to reset the narrative, deepen investor understanding and showcase long-term strategy beyond quarterly earnings cycles. And with all the effort that goes into an investor day, companies are realizing they can do more to make that day live longer. This was the topic of a recent IR Impact Briefing, sponsored by Equisolve, and titled Making your investor day work beyond the event. You can listen back online now to hear from Brad Burke, head of investor…
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The language of the Street and the lab: What the CFO of Roche looks for from his head of IR
IR alumni from Roche – the 130-year-old Swiss pharmaceutical – include Dr Karl Mahler, Thomas Kudsk Larsen, Nina Goworek and Dr Gerard Tobin. Dr Bruno Eschli, the company’s IR lead for more than four years, delivers an impressive mix of capital markets and science – including an immunology PhD in the lab of Nobel laureate Rolf Zinkernagel and Hans Hengartner. Given this impressive list – and the many more high-IR achievers to come out of the Basel-headquartered firm, what does CFO Dr Alan Hippe look for from his head of IR? As Hippe explains in his profile for The CFO…
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Companies can’t compete without a shareholder strategy: IROs are the ones to lead it
Rising shareholder activism has placed investor relations officers in the middle of a role expansion. IROs are now expected to influence strategy, not merely communicate it. Yet most discussions for this elevation focus on skills such as strategic fluency and stakeholder communication, tools such as targeting platforms and sentiment analytics, or the degree of C-suite access the IRO enjoys. The more consequential enabler remains underutilized: shareholder strategy. Shareholder strategy asks three questions that most boards and management teams answer only reactively, if at all: who owns us, why do they own us and how do we actively shape that composition…
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Disastrous interview with GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen makes a good case for media training your C-suite
What’s the cost of a bad interview? If you ask video game retailer GameStop – whose CEO Ryan Cohen had a torrid time appearing on CNBC last week – it can come out to about 10 percent of your share price.
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People moves: Shelly Hubbard joins Lowe’s as ANI Pharmaceuticals brings in Irina Koffler
US hardware chain Lowe’s has brought in experienced IRO Shelly Hubbard as its new vice president, head of investor relations.
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Berkshire Hathaway AGM vote signals rising support for human capital proposals
Support for human capital proposals in corporate governance is rising, even when those proposals fall short. At Berkshire Hathaway, such a shareholder proposal backed by As You Sow recently won 27.7 percent support at board level.
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‘The markets are like a yo-yo: yesterday a huge rally, today it’s quiet’: State Street Investment Management’s Esther Baroudy on volatility
State Street Investment Management (formerly State Street Global Advisors) has $5.66 trn in AUM (of which $3.59 trn is in equities), making it the fourth largest asset manager globally. It runs active to index strategies across all asset classes and employs over 500 portfolio managers, researchers and strategists, working in 10 investment centers and offices in 30 cities worldwide.
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People moves: Maria Ricciardone moves into pole position at Ford as Lynn Antipas Tyson takes CFO advisory role
Lynn Antipas Tyson, the long-serving head of IR at Ford Motor Company and multiple IR Impact Award-winner, has shifted into a new advisory role to the motor company’s CFO, as Maria Ricciardone takes over steering its IR team.
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How are you thinking about succession planning? Research shows that CEOs aren’t getting any younger
I’m sure many of our readers are very tied up in preparing for, conducting or dealing with the endless follow-up to their earnings announcements this week – but, for those that aren’t, I can recommend some weighty academic reading.
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Seismic commentary: Why Swedish mining firm Boliden should have practiced the art of staying quiet
To act signals decisiveness. But in both business and politics, the best decision can be to refrain. Recently, Swedish mining firm Boliden has offered up an example of where less would have definitely been better. Having experienced a rockfall at one of its sites – at a depth of 1,100 meters and caused by unexpected seismic activity – the firm’s CEO Mikael Staffas decided to add color to the dry, factual press release already issued by the firm. He gave an interview with EFN Ekonomikanalen, a prominent Swedish business publication, attempting to put a positive on the story and talking…
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‘Good disclosure does not replace good strategy’: Author and IR Impact Awards judge Nana Li on navigating ESG in Asia
From investor expectations to how companies should be talking ESG, Nana Li is all about sustainability. The author recently released her book titled Navigating sustainability in Asia: A practical guide for leaders and investors and has joined the judging panel for the IR Impact Awards – Greater China. In her day job, Li is head of sustainability and stewardship for Asia Pacific at London-headquartered Impax Asset Management, where she plays a key role in engagement, strategy and policy conversations between investee companies at the $29.5 bn manager. We talk to Li – while wearing her writing hat, speaking independently from…
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People moves: Jonida Zaganjori swaps lithium for uranium as she joins NexGen Energy
Jonida Zaganjori has swapped informing investors about lithium extraction in favour of new uranium projects after joining Canadian exploration and development company NexGen Energy.
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The CFO: ‘The pipeline drives value; I rarely get questions on cash flow,’ says Roche finance chief Dr Alan Hippe
The pharmaceutical company’s CFO on an unconventional path to the C-suite, what it means when investors trust you can generate enough cash and why corporate purpose is part of the fabric of Roche When you’re the CFO of a 261.6bn Swiss franc ($333.5 bn) market cap pharmaceutical giant like Roche, you don’t necessarily have to be ‘the roadshow guy’. Instead, Dr Alan Hippe tells IR Impact that what he loves about the IR work he does are conferences – which are ‘super efficient’ – and investor one-on-ones, which allow you to make a real difference in investor opinion. In…
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People moves: Anil Gupta leaves IR team at Coinbase
After five years at crypto exchange Coinbase, Anil Gupta has announced that he is stepping back from his vice president, investor relations role. ‘As many of you know, after five-plus years with Coinbase, I’ve decided it’s time for a new adventure – I’ll be taking some time off before taking my next step,’ he writes on LinkedIn. ‘From the direct listing, to 20+ earnings calls, to getting the first crypto company into the S&P 500, it has been an incredible ride. I’ve had the good fortune of building and working with an incredibly talented team and know that I’m leaving…
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How IR teams should report on AI to impress investors
Investors have allocated trillions of dollars to companies driven by AI fantasy. Technology and AI companies such as Nvidia and Microsoft have seen 30 to 100 percent valuation premiums for AI, while the broad market is benefiting by 10 to 30 percent in value.
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‘We turned our château into a shelter for refugees as the share price fell 48 percent:’ Eugeniu Baltag on the highs and lows of wine IR
If you follow Eugeniu Baltag, the engaging IR and M&A director at Purcari Wineries, on LinkedIn, you’ll know he’s been on a bit of a retrospective. From sticky-note IR to the latest M&A or a post on the double-whammy crisis of the pandemic and the Ukraine war, his musings are interesting, informative, funny and told with warmth. We caught up with Baltag to hear some of his tales from the front line of IR firsthand. While some are dramatic and some incredible, others might make other IROs green with envy (wine tasting château site visit, anyone?)
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People moves: Kontoor Brands sews up Erinn Murphy as head of IR as Michael Travers is promoted at Xylem
Plus promotions for michael travers at XYLEM and Vlad Konstantinov at Celestica Clothing maker Kontoor Brands has appointed Erinn Murphy as vice president, global head of finance and operations for Helly Hansen and corporate investor relations. Moving to Oslo, Norway as part of the new role, Murphy will take on responsibilities for the Scandinavian outdoor brand as well as for investor relations across the group. She joins Kontoor after serving as senior vice president, investor relations and strategy for footwear brand Crocs. Prior to that, she has nearly 20 years of experience in the capital markets, most recently as managing…
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‘We see a change in how IROs are delivering real value to the C-suite’: Four key takeaways from the IR Impact Forum – Canada 2026
The forum saw investors, senior IR leaders and C-suite executives explore new opportunities for the IR role to evolve The Canadian capital markets have undergone a significant degree of change in the past 12 months. As IROs gathered for the IR Impact Forum – Canada 2026, held at the Lumi Experience on April 2, many factors loomed large for the profession: volatile markets, the expanding influence of AI on investment decisions and the advent of 24-hour trading and tokenized securities all promised to change the day-to-day work of IROs. For the 100-or-so IROs in attendance, the event provided an opportunity for professionals to discuss…
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Surviving the ‘agent AI vs agent AI’ paradigm in shareholder targeting
If you remember the 1999 sci-fi classic The Matrix, humanity eventually realizes that to survive in a world governed by sentient machines, they must deploy their own autonomous programs to fight back. If you have been in investor relations long enough, you might feel as though we are waking up to a similarly stark reality in 2026. We have officially entered the ‘agent AI vs agent AI’ paradigm.
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Working in the corporate world is ‘joyless’? Maybe you should come to an IR Impact Awards party
‘How working in America became so joyless’ was the proposition of a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, which posited that the loss of perks, the rise of AI and a crushing focus on productivity is killing corporate enthusiasm in the US.
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People moves: Jack Yauch joins award-winning Pfizer team, plus FedEx hiring investor relations principal
The award-winning Pfizer IR team has added Jack Yauch to its ranks, taking on the role of director, investor relations.
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TD Bank and Skeena Gold & Silver the cream of the crop at the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2026
TD Bank emerged at the head of the pack of Toronto-listed companies at the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2026, scooping five awards at the gala evening that recognized the country’s leading investor relations teams.
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People moves: Brendan Throop joins Blossom Gold as VENU appoints Sarah Rothschild
Live entertainment venue operator Venu Holding Corporation (VENU) has brought Sarah Rothschild as its new senior vice president of strategic finance and investor relations.
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