Capital Markets
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‘We’re experienced in market drawdowns’: Setanta’s Fergal Sarsfield talks value, opportunity and luck
Fergal Sarsfield joined Dublin-headquartered Setanta in 2007 and it today responsible for co-managing the EAFE (European, Australasian and Far East) Equity Fund. Previously, he divided his time with sector responsibility for the technology sector within the Setanta Global Equity Fund, while co-managing EAFE. Setanta was established in 1998 and today manages around $15 bn with $8.9 bn in equities across three strategies: global, EAFE and dividend (with roughly $3-$4 bn in US equities). Setanta is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada Life, which is in turn owned by Canada’s Great-West Lifeco. There is an investment team of 30 based mainly…
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IR lessons from Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway’s ‘Oracle of Omaha’ retires
Berkshire Hathaway’s charismatic chief executive Warren Buffett, the much-vaunted ‘Oracle of Omaha’, enjoyed two significant career milestones this week. The first was helming his 60th annual meeting for the fund, which shed light on where the trillion-dollar-investment manager will be focusing its attentions in the near future. Almost 20,000 people attended the event, which sees attendees spend hundreds of thousands at concession stands alone.
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Struggling for survival amid the noise: biotech webinar offers wider lessons for the IR community
While not everyone in the IR profession will be working in the environment that biotech IROs find themselves in today, everyone seemingly everywhere is battling the noise and uncertainty generated by tariff talks, geopolitical tensions and other macro headwinds. IR Impact recently sat down with Angela Bitting, senior vice president, corporate affairs at Twist Bioscience, Aron Feingold, vice president IR and corporate communications at Geron Corporation and Lynn Pieper Lewis, founder and CEO of webinar sponsor Gilmartin Group, to talk about the challenges the sector is facing. The fascinating discussion that followed is as useful to those in the broader…
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Tariff Impact Tracker: How companies are quantifying, mitigating, and navigating 2025 tariff challenges
Tariffs are reshaping global trade dynamics — and businesses across every sector are feeling the pressure. The Tariff Impact Tracker from AlphaSense captures a comprehensive, data-driven view of how leading companies are quantifying business and financial impacts, adjusting supply chains and implementing mitigation strategies in response to evolving trade policies. Download this exclusive resource to access recent insights from earnings calls, quantify company-specific impacts and uncover how organizations are planning for uncertainty in 2025. Whether you’re an investor, strategist or business leader, this tracker will give you the critical intelligence needed to stay ahead of the disruption.
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IR Impact Awards – Canada 2025 Interview with Jenny Holland on the top issues facing Canadian IROs in 2025
Holland speaks to IR Impact editor Laurie Havelock about tariffs, AI and Irwin’s new partnership with FactSet At the IR Impact Awards – Canada 2025, we caught up with Jenny Holland from Irwin, a Factset Company. At the time of recording, US President Donald Trump was announcing a series of trade tariffs prompting Havelock and Holland to discuss the implications for IROs in Canada, while also touching on the changes regarding Canadian investor relations teams on their adoption of artificial intelligence into working practices.
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Wall Street caught between a rock and a hard place as tensions between US and China rise
The trade war between China and the US has spiraled into unchartered territory. On April 10, Donald Trump’s administration imposed a tariff of 125 percent on all Chinese imports. China called the actions unfair and responded with similar measures. Within the broader debate around unravelling economic ties between the US and China, where economic interdependence has increasingly been viewed as a threat to US national security, this escalation raises questions about whether global finance is also reducing its presence in China.
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The role of investor relations during a spin-off
Number of IPO spin-offs doubled in US between 2023 and 2024 Stepping back from the constant stream of tariff news, this week I wanted to talk about a broader capital markets trend that has involved a good number of you in IR over the last few years: the growing number of corporate spin-offs. In recent times, companies have increasingly looked to simplify their structures to unlock shareholder value. Many of the largest conglomerates have already broken up, such as GE, which last year completed its division into three separate entities covering aerospace, energy and healthcare. Honeywell, meanwhile, recently announced its…
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From policy ambiguity to price volatility: the hidden cost of indecision
Inconsistent debt policies can lead to higher investor ambiguity, suggests research In August 2022, Olympic Steel shifted from an inconsistently moderate working capital financing policy (WCFP) to a clear conservative policy. Within months, its stock price rose 22 percent, outperforming many of its competitors during a broader market decline, and its volatility of volatility (VOV) – a forward-looking measure of investor uncertainty – dropped by nearly half. Our research shows that this wasn’t a one-off, but part of a broader pattern. How a company structures its debt, particularly its short-term financing, can profoundly shape investor perceptions of future . .…
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Exports, exchange rates and trade: Brazil under the ‘cascading effect’ of US tariffs
What happens in Washington has significant repercussions in Brasilia The volatility of the Brazilian capital market is a natural consequence of its dependence on external factors. Global dynamics directly influence investments, making it essential for companies and investors to understand these impacts and adopt strategies to mitigate risks and seize opportunities in an environment of increasing economic complexity. One of the main factors contributing to this sensitivity is the significant presence of foreign investors in the country. Foreign investors have increased their share of the financial volume traded on Brazil’s main stock exchange (Brasil Bolsa Balcão, or B3) in 2024,…
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‘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…
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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.
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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…
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Top market trends for 2025
In this new report from AlphaSense, discover the dominant trends and themes for the upcoming year, the macroeconomic factors posing sector-relevant implications, and complementing insights from within the AlphaSense platform. Download it for free below for insights on what experts are expecting regarding recession risks, IPO and deal activity and much more.
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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…
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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.
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Maximizing your relationship with the buy side, plus where to take your investor roadshow – IR Voice
Making the most of your relationships with the buy side can often be the key to a successful relationship between your company and its investors. But how can you ensure that you’re getting the most out of that arrangement? In IR Impact’s first Masterclass video, we spoke to Stephen Yiu, fund manager and co-founder of the Blue Whale Growth Fund, about what he sees as the hallmarks of best-in-class IR and how he prefers to interact with companies. Listen to this episode of IR Voice for an exclusive sneak peek of the full interview.
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IR Impact Masterclass: how to maximize your relationships with the buy side
Stephen Yiu, fund manager and co-founder of the Blue Whale Growth Fund, reveals how IR teams can make the most of their buy-side connections. Welcome to IR Impact’s Masterclass video series, where leaders and experts from across the capital markets share their insights, strategies and experiences to provide you with in-depth knowledge and practical skills to excel in your IR journey. Each IR Impact Masterclass will delve into critical topics, offering valuable perspectives and actionable advice. Whether you are looking to enhance your expertise, stay ahead of industry trends or gain a competitive edge, these long-form videos are your gateway…
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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
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‘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.
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AI under Trump: Potential shifts in policy, innovation and global impact
AI is transforming industries, workflows and governance. Moreover, the Trump administration has signalled that their current focus will be on deregulation, innovation and economic growth for this technology. Download AlphaSense’s report which explores AI’s increasing role:
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‘What we don’t need is more masculine energy’: Where ESG fits in the corporate scandal warning system
What links Wells Fargo, the largest retail bank in the US with Boeing or failed blood-analysis startup Theranos? They all offer up examples of corporate scandal that feature in Guido Palazzo’s book The Dark Pattern: The hidden dynamics of corporate scandal, co-authored with Ulrich Hoffrage. In it, Palazzo, a professor of business ethics and TEDx Talk speaker, and Hoffrage, a professor of decision theory, seek to uncover what lands huge multinational firms with multi-million-dollar fines for fraud, their senior executives at best fired or at worst jailed.
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Investors remain bullish amid a shifting economic and political landscape
2025 still has many surprises in store for the markets We all knew 2025 was going to be a year of significant change, driven by Donald Trump’s return to the White House, but I don’t think many people predicted how much would be changing this quickly. In just a week, the geopolitical order has been rewritten with the US and Russia starting talks over ending the Ukraine war, with Ukraine itself and other European nations not invited to the discussions. While the excluded leaders have reacted with dismay, stock prices have surged on the prospect of the war ending and…
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Clear Street’s commitment to corporate access and the ‘power of prime’
Corporate access is an integral factor in success for public company management teams today
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Trump’s tariff talk dominates earnings season, but won’t rattle markets
Companies take the opportunity to lay out mitigating factors and scenario planning On the campaign trail prior to his election victory, Donald Trump said ‘tariff’ is the most beautiful word in the dictionary. In that case, he must be swooning over the corporate world’s transcripts this earnings season, given that tariff talk is taking place in just about every discussion. Companies had already started factoring the topic into messaging last year, with data from AlphaSense showing a big rise in mentions of ‘tariffs’ between second and third-quarter results. That trend is kicking on in 2025, fueled by Trump . .…
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Global Roadshow Report 2025 available now
Investor roadshows have become a pivotal element in IR programs, serving as a crucial platform for companies to connect with potential investors and ensure their stock remains actively traded.In a rapidly evolving post-pandemic market, the format of these roadshows has diversified, incorporating both in-person and virtual elements to cater to a broader audience. The 2025 edition of the Global Roadshow Report, compiled by IR Impact, delves into the intricacies of corporate roadshow activities over the past year. This comprehensive report, drawn from surveys conducted among IROs, offers valuable insights into how IR teams are managing their roadshow schedules, the formats…
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Global Roadshow Report 2025
IR Impact’s 15th annual research report into the who, where, how and why of corporate roadshow activity.
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Clear Street launches healthcare equity research, to debut at JP Morgan Healthcare conference
Financial technology and capital markets firm launched its healthcare and biotechnology equity research last month
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‘We’re seeing unusual complexities’: Webinar explores the changing nature of market valuation
Stock markets hit record highs in 2024, powered by falling interest rates and, more recently, expectations for business-friendly polices under US president-elect Donald Trump. The macroeconomic environment, however, feels highly uncertain, with talk of trade wars back on the agenda and geopolitical tensions simmering across the globe. Amid this complex environment, it’s becoming harder to understand what’s driving corporate valuations and the best way for IROs to tell their unique story. IR Magazine recently held a webinar, in partnership with Breakwater Strategy, to explore shifting market dynamics and provide advice on how IR teams can remain agile as they engage…
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Small caps don’t plan to change strategy despite Trump’s election win, finds poll
While Donald Trump’s reelection as US President is often viewed as positive for small-cap companies, most do not see the result as an opportunity to rethink their strategy, according to a poll carried out during a recent IR Magazine webinar, held in partnership with One 44 Advisory and Consulting. The event, titled ‘Navigating today’s capital markets: Essential strategies for small-cap companies,’ discussed the shifting capital-markets landscape for smaller issuers and how they can boost their appeal among investors. Click here to watch a replay of the webinar. Of the audience members who voted, 77 percent said the election outcome had…
