News and analysis
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People moves: Chip Newcom takes the IR wheel at electric truck maker Rivian
Electric vehicle maker Rivian has announced the appointment of Chip Newcom, a multiple IR Impact Award-winner and former head of IR at Equinix, as its new investor relations lead.
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Where were the directors? Why investors want to know how boards act in a corporate scandal
When a corporate scandal breaks, the first question investors ask is Where were the directors? This phrase was coined by Peter Dey in 1994 when he led a report on how to improve corporate governance practices at Canadian listed companies. Corporate scandals have always existed and many stem from weak corporate governance, often caused by a lack of communication, insufficient internal controls or a very lax attitude towards potential problems. In 2024, the US administration criticized Boeing’s board for failing to adequately supervise the safety procedures of its aircraft, following several accidents involving its 737 Max model that resulted in…
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‘Nothing short of an investor relations telenovela’: How 2025 has treated IROs so far
If somebody could have plotted out the broad strokes of the past 12 months – ongoing international crises, political unrest, economic uncertainty to name but a few – I don’t think many of us would have believed what was in store. But, as it is, the capital markets have experienced quite the rough ride in 2025 so far. For IR professionals, that’s meant an even higher burden when it comes to keeping their investors, analysts and other stakeholders informed.
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‘If I wasn’t in IR, I’d love to teach students about finance’: Matthew Ross on leading Block’s IR team and working with Jack Dorsey
Payments companies are increasingly those which keep the world spinning. Just ask Block’s new head of IR, Matthew Ross, who joined the company in 2024 and took over running the IR team earlier this year. The NYSE-listed company – which operates point-of-sale system Square, digital wallet Cash App, buy now, pay later service Afterpay and music streaming business Tidal – has grown from strength to strength in recent years, leading to its ascension to the S&P 500 index in July 2025, replacing Hess Corporation.
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‘IR is fun in good times but more important in bad’: Inaugural winner of the Best IR Impact award on managing a crisis
This is a story that is perhaps best started at the end, after Irina Zhurba of Mister Spex had won the inaugural trophy for Best IR Impact at the IR Impact Awards – Europe 2025. She took that gong in recognition of everything that makes IR so hard to measure, from rebuilding trust with dissatisfied shareholders – even taking calls at 5.00 am before climbing Machu Pichu – to supporting C-suite through leadership transitions, to managing a difficult activist situation. When that activist announced via press release its intent to sell a 7.6 percent stake in the German eyewear company,…
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Despite any advantages, ditching quarterly reporting will ultimately place more burden on IR teams
After DE&I policies, sensible foreign trade policy and the SEC’s ability to enforce regulations, what’s the next thing in Donald Trump’s sights? Why, of course, it’s that scourge of the capital markets, quarterly reporting.
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People moves: Jeannie Ong joins Temasek and Tom Waldron moves to Springer Nature
Jeannie Ong, the multiple IR Impact Award winner and South East Asia Awards judging regular, has announced her new position at Temasek, which manages a Singaporean government fund with a portfolio worth S$434 bn ($339 bn). In her new role as operating partner, investor relations, Ong tells IR Impact that she ‘leads initiatives to build capabilities and drive alignment across Temasek’s portfolio companies in the area of investor relations.’ She adds: ‘Super excited to be doing what I love again to raise the bar for IR in Singapore!’ Ong brings more than 25 years of experience in the telecommunications, media…
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The sell side talks IR – part one: the value of research
Sell-side analysts occupy a pivotal position in financial markets. Through their in-depth research and recommendations, they exert influence on stock valuations, market liquidity and overall market dynamics. Their buy, hold or sell ratings can cause stock prices to rise or fall, impacting investor decisions. Upgrades often lead to price surges, while downgrades may result in declines.
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How small and large IR teams can manage investor meetings differently
In a new report on IR meetings in the first half of 2025, Modular Finance analyzed over 11,000 investor meetings and 330,000 transactions from more than 250 IR teams across Europe.
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Ten ways IROs can benefit from trend following
By now you’ll know that institutional investors and their decision-making processes have evolved to become more data-driven and systematic, using strict mathematical rules for portfolio construction. Discretionary stock and bond picking is increasingly an investment style of past, being rapidly replaced by quants, big-data sets and algorithms that can better select stocks and bonds compared to humans.
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People moves: Nathalie Richert joins The Platform Group as Aaron Bertinetti swaps JP Morgan for Computershare
JP Morgan Chase’s IR Magazine award-winning head of IR Aaron Bertinetti has left the bank to head up Computershare’s newly-launched investor engagement business.
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Executive pay: Say-on-pay support stays steady and other lessons from the 2025 proxy season
With the 2025 North American proxy season now officially closed, emerging trends in executive compensation are offering valuable insights and shaping important considerations for boards going forward. Here, we explore some of these issues and ways boards and management teams can start to incorporate these into planning for next year’s shareholder meeting.
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The long view: how to unlock strategic value with scenario planning
Next time you meet with a top-tier investor, how much would it improve your interaction if you could confidently present a long-term view of how supply chain disruptions, interest rate shifts or geopolitical tensions could shape your company’s future? Picture equipping your analysts with data-driven insights that help your board navigate uncertainty with clarity and control. This is the power of modern scenario planning: a dynamic framework that enables IR teams to model multiple strategic themes across five, 10 or even 15-year horizons – and pivot quickly when the landscape changes.
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The Texas takeover: Dallas rising the roadshow ranks as ‘Y’all Street’ grows its appeal
‘Texas is the new financial services capital of America,’ declared Governor Greg Abbott last week as he announced moves by yet another major bank into the state. Scotiabank is set to create a major regional office out of Dallas, in a move that will open up over 1,000 jobs and more than $60 mn in investment. It joins other financial services bigwigs from Goldman Sachs to Nasdaq and NYSE making moves to mark their Texas territory.
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Cutting red tape: Texas legislature passes pro-business reforms
Texas is positioning itself as a serious challenger to Delaware for corporate incorporations with two landmark corporate law reforms. Effective September 1, 2025, Senate Bills SB 29 and SB 1057 introduce sweeping changes aimed at enhancing legal predictability, reducing litigation risks, and curbing shareholder activism. These changes are set to make Texas a more attractive, management-friendly jurisdiction for companies.
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From intuition to impact: How ROI thinking can transform investor relations
Across boardrooms, investment decisions are increasingly driven by rigorous financial analysis and measurable outcomes. While marketing debates attribution models and sales scrutinizes conversion funnels, the IR function, though central to connecting companies and capital markets, often relies on intuition and anecdotal evidence when justifying budgets and strategic initiatives. IR now has the opportunity to adopt the ROI mindset that drives decision-making across the enterprise.
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The summer’s over, it’s back to school time – even for IROs
Welcome back, everybody, to the world of work! Yes, it’s that time of year – for our US readers, Labor Day is over and, for our European friends, the summer holidays are officially done. That can only mean one thing: the pitter-patter of tiny feet as they scamper energetically back to educational establishments heralding the ‘back to school’ season. It’s a good time of year to reflect on your own professional development – as well as making sure your workwear is up to scratch.
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People moves: NIRI New York’s Laura Kiernan takes up in-house role at Clear Channel Outdoor
Laura Kiernan, the former president of NIRI’s New York chapter, has taken up a new role as an in-house IRO at San Antonio, Texas-based advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor.
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‘I love when investors start a meeting by showing me their streak’: Duolingo’s Debbie Belevan on life after an IPO
At this year’s IR Impact Awards – US 2025, Duolingo’s head of IR Debbie Belevan swept the board, picking up trophies for best overall IR – mid cap, best IRO – mid cap and best in sector – technology. All of this came just a few years after Belevan joined the language learning app in 2021 as its VP, IR two weeks before the company’s IPO. Since then, Duolingo has seen exponential growth in both its share price and subscriber base. Debbie has become an active member of the IR community, serving as a board member for NIRI.
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The CFO: ‘You have to explain why your flavor of lollipop is the best’: Rainbow Rare Earth’s finance chief on making a complicated story simple
Most people probably don’t understand the full extent of the use of rare earth elements in their daily lives. For Pete Gardner, CFO at Rainbow Rare Earths, the London-listed mining company, explaining just how extensive their applications are is a daily conversation with shareholders and analysts.
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Innovation and capital raising: the engine for UK long-term sustainable growth
To develop an innovative idea and scale into a competitive business, entrepreneurs need capital; investors seek a vision, a way to market, credible execution, defined deliverables and risk-adjusted returns, all of which underpin long-term growth. When innovators succeed, they create growth and catalyse a broader market expansion, as seen in the US in recent years.
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Yes, Taylor Swift’s engagement is making ripples in the stock market – here’s what it means for you
In a decade already defined by wide-ranging macroeconomic shocks, IR teams may be forgiven for ignoring the news that pop princess Taylor Swift has announced her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. After all, this sort of thing usually doesn’t have much more impact than the celebrity sections of news sites and the social media ecosystem. However, this is Taylor Swift we’re talking about: arch-capitalist, savvy marketeer and industry-defining brand, whose net worth is estimated to be $1.6 bn (that’s enough to make her a small-cap company, in market terms). So naturally, when she makes such a…
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People moves: Centuri Holdings recruits former Equitrans Midstream IRO Nate Tetlow
US utility infrastructure services company Centuri Holdings has appointed Nate Tetlow as its new vice president of investor relations. Tetlow will take responsibility for the NYSE-listed firm’s IR program, ‘further strengthening relationships with analysts and institutional investors as the company’s primary liaison to the investment community,’ according to a press release announcing the move.
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Is it too late to relight the London listings fire? What IROs can learn from the LSE
Imagine an IPO timeline measured in weeks, not months, where your IR team crafts and delivers a compelling equity story from initial analyst briefing to the opening bell, before investor sentiment moves and the IPO window closes.
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AI for IR: How creating your own LLM could help you think and act like your investors
Recently Blackstone announced its plans to invest $500 bn in Europe over the next years. Did you see this coming and will some this capital flow into your company? Imagine if your IR department could predict with some certainty what your investors are going to think, say and do with respect to your company.
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People moves: Manuel Bösing makes IR comeback at Puma as Hippo brings in new head of IR
Manuel Bösing has returned to the IR team at Puma after several years working for fellow German companies tonies and Henkel. Formerly a portfolio manager for HSBC Global Asset Management in Germany, Bösing first worked in Puma’s IR team between November 2018 and December 2020.
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‘It’s a layup’: How agentic AI can power up your targeting process
Where can AI help IROs make better targeting decisions? It may be best served by adding an additional helping hand to your IR team. This was the focus of an IR Impact briefing, held this week in partnership with Q4, that examined the impact of agentic AI on investor targeting strategies.
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How AI and technology are modernizing the earnings call
For a long time, the quarterly earnings call has been a highly orchestrated affair. Production companies have been brought in to handle webcasts, teleconferencing and Q&A sessions, resulting in a presentation that serves its purpose, but that is expensive, time-consuming and inflexible.
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People moves: Former IRO steps up as CEO at MROH as Aimee Remey joins Inspired Entertainment
Caroll Lane, formerly vice president, investor relations at United Technologies, has been appointed as CEO of aircraft maintenance and modification provider MROH.
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…
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