Garnet Roach
Garnet Roach, an Aviva Investors Sustainability Media Awards winner, joined IR Impact in 2012. A City University journalism graduate, she previously freelanced across technology, politics, and finance, including reporting in Sana’a, Yemen. She has written for GlobalPost.com, PC Advisor, and The Big Issue.
Authored articles
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‘I want us to have influence on the big issues IROs are facing,’ says Investor Relations Society’s new CEO
Having taken the society’s CEO reins from Laura Hayter in October last year, Matt Hall spent his first months in listening mode, keen to hear what the UK’s IR professionals need from the body that represents them, learning about the big issues that are changing investor relations and thinking about how he can shape a society that delivers ‘value and insight’ at every touchpoint. Prior to taking on his new role, Hall held senior roles at various other representative membership organizations within financial and professional services, including UK Finance, the Chartered Insurance Institute and TheCityUK. Here, he tells IR Impact…
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Looking back at a year of ‘The CFO’: How finance chiefs measure IR success
We’re rounding up another year of IR Impact’s flagship interview series The CFO, where we talk investor relations with finance chiefs from around the world. January 2026 will mark two years of speaking to finance leaders about all things IR. Kurt Barton from Tractor Supply Company was first in The CFO seat two years ago and Dominique Barker, CFO and head of sustainability at Canada’s Lithium Royalties Corp, closed 2025. We always ask CFOs a question about how they measure the success of their IR program, as the nature of the profession makes it notoriously difficult to assess. But proving…
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The CFO: ‘Too much material can be a detractor to investment,’ says Lithium Royalty Corp finance chief
When she took the top finance role at Toronto-headquartered Lithium Royalty Corp, Dominique Barker brought her experience on the buy side, the sell side and in ESG advisory – all of which feeds into her approach to investor relations and sustainability. In the closing interview of our 2025 series of The CFO, Barker talks to IR Impact about finding a host of women in charge at a high-altitude brine, bridging the gap between mining and the energy transition, and the supper club she’s part of with multi-award winning IR Impact Awards judge Janet Craig.
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As Trump signs executive order targeting ISS and Glass Lewis, experts say change is already happening
‘Unbeknownst to many Americans, two foreign-owned proxy advisors, ISS and Glass Lewis, play a significant role in shaping the policies and priorities of America’s largest companies through the shareholder voting process,’ wrote US President Donald Trump on Thursday as – after weeks of rumor – he signed an executive order targeting the two firms. In it, Trump advises everyone from the SEC to the Federal Trade Commission, the Attorney General, the Secretary of Labor to put a regulatory spotlight on the big two. The rhetoric leading up to the signing was fierce: SEC chairman Paul Atkins talked about the ‘weaponization…
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From the sell side to the buy side and into IR, William Houston starts a new role at Unilever
‘It’s a company I’ve long admired, having analyzed it on the sell-side at UBS and Rothschild & Co Redburn and invested on the buy side as a portfolio manager at Norges Bank Investment Management,’ writes William Houston on LinkedIn as he joins the Unilever IR team. As well as his time on both the buy and sell sides, Houston spent almost six years at BAT, most recently as head of investor sustainability, investor relations. He has also been a regular voice in IR Impact articles – talking about the evolution of ESG data, for example – as well as sharing…
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Do ISS and Glass Lewis have too much influence? Yes, say most – but that doesn’t mean it’s not political
I’ve spent much of the past week having conversations with governance people – and one very small proxy advisory firm – about their takes on the debate raging around the influence of the big two: ISS and Glass Lewis. Recent weeks have seen talk of the ‘weaponization of shareholder proposals’; Elon Musk has famously described them as ‘corporate terrorists’; the Wall Street Journal reported that US President Donald Trump is considering an executive order to curb the power of the proxy advisors, as well as the fact that these two behemoths are facing an anti-trust investigation for their roles in…
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‘We’re listed in the US but still haven’t had the chance to go to’: China’s ATRenew on engaging US investors when you can’t meet face-to-face
As a company that facilitates the buying, selling and recycling of pre-owned consumer electronics in China, ATRenew is counter-cyclical, with a model that stands to benefit when consumers look to save on that ‘new’ phone or tablet. Here, Xiaoyi (Jessie) Jin, financial communications and IR at ATRenew, talks to IR Impact about engaging local and international investors, ramping up analyst coverage and planning a trip to meet US-based shareholders – more than four years after listing on the NYSE. ATRenew is nominated in two categories at the IR Impact Awards – Greater China 2025: best buy-side management, best investor event…
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‘Show me the before-and-after, not just the highlight reel’: Jeannie Ong on what she looks for as an IR Impact Awards judge
Multi-award winner shares her thoughts on the Greater China and South East Asia judging Jeannie Ong, managing director, operating partner, investor relations at Temasek, is a seasoned IR Impact Award judge – this year taking on the mammoth task of both the Greater China and the South East Asia entries. She talks to IR Impact about how her own experience in investor relations helps her find the winners, the categories that are harder to judge and how IR across the region is evolving.
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Nuance over polish: Leveraging the conference calendar and other top tips for your 2026 meeting schedule
What do investors want when it comes to capital markets days (CMDs)? Or other Street-facing events for that matter? It was with that investor view in mind that Sylvie Harton, chief business strategy officer at Lumi Global – partner on the IR Impact Briefing: Making your 2026 investor meetings count – kicked off the conversation.
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Tesla: How do you get support for a $1 trn pay package? Give shareholders a slice of the pie
ISS is recommending against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s $1 tn compensation package. Glass Lewis too. CalPERS and NBIM, manager of the world’s most valuable sovereign wealth fund, have each come out publicly against. But with the Tesla AGM happening today online and at Tesla’s Gigafactory Texas, one small, family-run proxy advisory firm – whose ESG-skeptic voting guidelines are offered by ISS, and which boasted the $57 bn Texas Permanent School Fund as the first state fund to sign up – is backing Musk’s compensation. ‘We’re strongly focused on the alignment of incentives,’ says Jerry Bowyer, CEO of Bowyer Research, who…
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The sell side talks IR – part four: analyst forecasts and negative ratings
How accurate do you find analyst reports on your company? And what do you do if you think there’s a mistake? How does a negative rating affect your relationship? We put these questions and more to hundreds of IROs around the world in a bid to craft a picture of the IR view on forecasts and ratings. Then, as with each of the themes in this sell-side-IR-relationship series, we put those findings to the analysts themselves in a series of in-depth, honest and anonymous conversations.
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‘It’s not necessarily about coming up with a brand-new thing’: Janet Craig on what she looks for as an IR Impact Awards judge
As we gear up for the IR Impact Awards in both South East Asia and Greater China, our teams of expert judges have been sifting through the many entries from companies talking about everything from how they have implemented AI into their programs to the memorable investor events they’ve put on for analysts. IR Impact catches up with Janet Craig – herself a multiple IR Impact Award winner and now a judge for our events – to find out what marks an entry out as special.
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Philosophy and numbers: IR Impact briefing explores how AI is – and isn’t – changing earnings
‘Investors, analysts – everyone in financial markets – is consulting a vast amount of increasing data sources to inform their investment decisions,’ said Laurie Havelock, IR Impact editor, kicking off the recent briefing that brought together Jesse Rose, head of IR at Reddit, Dave Bezanson, vice president of IR and pensions at EMERA and Christopher Napolitano, account executive at AlphaSense, the event partner. While data opens up a world of insights, Havelock pointed to the added pressure it brings when IROs must distil everything that is out there into something they can deliver to the board. This, said Napolitano, is…
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The sell side talks IR – part three: when and how analysts want to be engaged
There is no denying the ways in which Covid-19 and the rapid shift to virtual changed investor relations – most notably engagement. Driving home just how dramatic that change has been, one of our anonymous analyst interviewees – anonymous in order to encourage openness – says this: ‘Before 2020, I think I’d done probably two video calls in 20 years. This call is the third one of the day. So that’s changed dramatically.’ In the third part of our series on the sell-side-IR-relationship, we look at how IR teams interact with their analysts, how often analysts want to hear from…
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‘I felt a mix of respect and fear’ going into IR, says Infineon’s multiple award-winning IR lead
German semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies has had a busy year. To start with, as revealed in the latest instalment of The CFO column, Dr Sven Schneider, the firm’s finance chief, told IR Impact about the 30 conferences and 20 roadshows the company has held this year. It has also been a year of huge success for the IR team, which took home some of the most prestigious IR Impact trophies at the Europe Awards in June, winning the best overall investor relations (large cap) category as well as the gong for best in sector, technology. The same night also saw…
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NIRI’s Megan Larson joins private energy firm and Meira taps S&P for new CEO
After a ‘relaxing yet productive summer’ – in which she gained her US Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Master License, among other things – Megan Larson has joined Efficient Markets, the unlisted holding company for EnergyNet and Indigo Energy Advisors.
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‘The word ‘Texas’ means friend, and all are welcome!’ Barrow Hanley on its long-term value focus
Patricia Barron and Mark Giambrone talk about Texas, when IR-only meetings work and how often the investment management firm likes to meet before it buys in As companies eye Texas – and Dallas in particular – as a roadshow destination, the Lone Star State has been pushing forward its business-friendly appeal with the new Texas Stock Exchange poised to begin trading next year, listings already in place on NYSE Texas and new legislation. Patricia Barron, executive director, chief operating officer and head of risk at Barrow Hanley, and Mark Giambrone, the investment management firm’s executive director, head of US equities…
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The sell side talks IR – part two: those crucial coverage numbers
In a series of anonymous conversations – with identifies protected in order to get frank responses – IR Impact talked to sell-side analysts about their relationships with IR professionals. In part one, we looked at the value of research – from both the IR viewpoint and from the sell side, including advice from analysts on how they felt IR could improve data sharing, face time, responsiveness and more – all the elements that go into a good IR-sell-side relationship.
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The CFO: ‘We’ve done 30 conferences and 20 roadshows this year,’ says Infineon’s Dr Sven Schneider
Semiconductors and chips might be synonymous with Taiwan. But Germany’s Infineon Technologies is not only growing its own market share in key industries but is helping to drive forward the EU’s goals on chip manufacturing – captured in the European Chips Act, which aims to double the bloc’s share of global chip production to 20 percent by 2030. Infineon also happens to excel at investor relations, taking home some of the most prestigious awards at this year’s IR Impact Awards – Europe. The firm won the gong for best overall investor relations (large cap); best investor relations officer (large cap)…
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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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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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The CFO: ‘When there’s profit, we’ll be ready’ – Norcod’s finance chief on being a pre-profit company in uncharted waters
Nordcod, listed on Euronext Growth and the Oslo Stock Exchange, is seeking to do with cod what the seafood industry has already done with salmon: turn it into a year-round, accessible food source. There are challenges, ranging from the biology of the Atlantic cod to the growing media scrutiny that surrounds seafood and fishing. Still, Stian Vollan-Hansen, the Norwegian firm’s CFO, believes that Norcod can make cod farming work – for the company and its investors, for the customer and, crucially, for the fish and their surrounding environment.
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From IR to finance chief: Sinclair Names Narinder Sahai as CFO
Media firm Sinclair – which owns, operates or provides services to 185 television stations in 85 markets – has announced former IR professional Narinder Sahai as its new executive vice president and CFO. Sahai joins from Arcis, a leading leisure and hospitality operator, where he led financial planning, accounting, tax, treasury and debt investor relations as the company’s CFO. He was also previously CFO at powersports platform RumbleOn, a role that saw him work on transformative acquisitions. Before working at RumbleOn, Sahai was at Amazon Web Services, where he serves as head of worldwide go-to-market finance for compute and AI/machine…
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Activist nominees, ESG Trojan horses and tangible investor days: five things we learned at the IR Impact Think Tank – Europe 2025
Europe’s top IR leaders gathered in London to debate, discuss and learn in a series of panels, sessions and roundtables ahead of the IR Impact Awards – Europe 2025 What did more than 170 IR professionals head to London to talk about at the IR Impact Think Tank – Europe 2025? Everything from volatility and uncertainty (of course) to what makes an award-winning IR team and how to untangle yourself from the spilled alphabet soup of ESG and making the most of AI for IR. Panels were mixed with live polls, roundtable discussions, collaborative sessions and networking. We’ve picked five…
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‘European investors are better prepared than US ones’: Inside the one-woman IR show at Central Garden & Pet
How did Friederike Edelmann end up where she is today? The West Coast-based IR lead for Central Garden & Pet has two decades of global IR experience under her belt – working on everything from IPO preparation to pandemic IR and micro-cap to mega-cap companies – but it all started back in Germany ‘way back when’. She speaks to IR Impact about juggling IR with other responsibilities (she manages ESG and external communications for Central), managing in-person engagements when your operations are remote and what she would have been doing if she hadn’t gone into corporate finance. You can also…
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‘She significantly shaped IR in Germany’: in memory of Magdalena Moll
Magdalena Moll, or Maggie as many called her, recently passed away. She remains at the top of the IR Impact Awards league tables, having dominated the most prestigious positions in the Europe Awards year after year as the lead for German chemicals giant BASF. Some years there were humorous groans as she stepped up to claim yet another trophy. Once, when this writer asked for her views (yet again), she said quite seriously that she had nothing left to say, having been tapped for her thoughts on IR best practice too many times. Laurie Havelock, IR Impact editor, recalls Moll…
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All wrapped up: how Deutsche EuroShop sparked conversation with AI action figures
What did it take to turn Patrick Kiss, IR Impact Award-winning investor relations lead at Deutsche EuroShop, into a fully boxed action figure? Well, it needs a spark of creativity, a ChatGPT Pro account plus a lot of patience. ‘To give you an idea of the work involved, the final optimized prompt for my own action figure had 304 words in 66 lines with more than 2,200 characters,’ says Kiss. This is something of a side step from the usual conversations around AI for IR, where the focus is on saving time for IROs paddling against the current of increasing…
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People moves: Standard Lithium charges up IR with new hire
US lithium producer Standard Lithium has announced two new names to its executive team, including a new investor relations lead. David Rosen joins the Arkansas and Texas-focused firm as its new vice president of strategy and investor relations, with the company also naming Tim Sobel as vice president of health, safety, social and environment (HSSE). Rosen joins Standard Lithium from a director of integration role at Rio Tinto, a position that saw him play a ‘key role in the post-acquisition integration of Arcadium Lithium’ into the mining company, according to a press statement. In that capacity, Rosen led ‘cross-functional initiatives…
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