Laurie Havelock
Laurie has been with IR Impact for over a decade, becoming editor in 2023 after roles as a reporter and research editor. He moderates events and serves as MC for global awards. Previously, he was acting business editor at the i newspaper and deputy business editor at The Daily Telegraph.
Authored articles
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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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‘Our goal is to automate as much of the surrounding work as possible, so we can spend more time talking with investors’: how Block’s IR team made an AI bot
How much time do IR teams spend answering very similar questions from investors? Probably more than they’d like to publicly disclose. But for the team at US payments company Block, freeing up that time was the focus of developing a first-of-its-kind AI tool.
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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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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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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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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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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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‘It strengthens your credibility, reinforces you as a trusted source and makes you a go-to person internally’: Technip Energies’ Phillip Lindsay on winning two IR Impact awards
Vice president of investor relations at engineering and technology firm says that the key is to focus less on reporting activity and more on explaining the impact to investors For many IR teams, reaching the top of their profession can be a long process. For Phillip Lindsay, vice president of investor relations, Technip Energies. But for those who follow IR Impact, the ascent of Technip Energies – a French, Euronext Paris-listed engineering and technology company that services the energy industry and chemicals sector – to IR excellence has been a little swifter. Appearing on three shortlists at the IR Impact…
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People moves: British Land brings in former Numis equity research chief Max Nimmo as head of IR
UK-listed property development and investment company British Land has appointed Max Nimmo as its new head of investor relations and strategy.
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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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The CFO: ‘Tokenization is becoming an important part of how people invest,’ says Streamex’s finance chief Christine Plummer
Few forces on the markets threaten to change the day-to-day working of IROs as much as the tokenization of securities. With some exchanges already experimenting with tracking share trades on blockchain, the technology has the potential to transform ownership practices and how shareholder engagement takes place at a fundamental level.
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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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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.
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People moves: Anthropic brings in Kenneth Dorell as head of IR ahead of hotly-anticipated IPO
AI giant Anthropic has appointed a head of investor relations just ahead of confidentially filing for a US IPO, hot on the heels of SpaceX’s record-breaking debut and an anticipated listing for rival OpenAI.
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Infineon Technologies, Technip Energies and eDreams ODIGEO take top prizes at the IR Impact Awards – Europe 2026
A trio of companies – Infineon Technologies, Technip Energies and eDreams ODIGEO – won awards for best overall IR and best individual IROs in their respective cap sizes at this year’s IR Impact Awards – Europe.
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People moves: Victoria Hyde-Dunn to bridge Wall Street and Adelaide Street as she joins Kinaxis
TSX-listed supply chain software company Kinaxis has brought in Victoria Hyde-Dunn as its new vice president of investor relations.
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People moves: Margo Pilic takes over as head of strategy, M&A and IR at Citi to replace Jenn Landis
Citi has named its former chief of staff to CEO Jane Fraser as its new head of strategy, M&A and investor relations.
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People moves: ASTA Group appoints Christoph Rainer while Bob Calver takes up COO role at Alliance Laundry Holdings
Bob Calver, formerly vice president, investor relations at Alliance Laundry Holdings, has taken up the company’s COO post after a wide-ranging reshuffle.
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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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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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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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