Best Practice IR
-
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 […]
-
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…
-
‘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?)
-
‘The best IROs treat disclosure as a strategic asset’: TMX’s Omar Khafagy on award-winning IR
Leading investor relations professionals are increasingly adding strategic strings to their bow, both by leveraging their existing resources for impact in the capital markets and through gaining internal buy-in.
-
‘It’s a matter of understanding how their industry is evolving’: Great-West Lifeco’s Shubha Khan on working with the sell side
With market dynamics continuing to impact how the sell side operates, many IR teams are having to adjust their interactions with analysts in order to make the most of their relationships with them.
-
‘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 […]
-
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.
-
‘IR teams are being juidicious about management’s time’: RBC Capital Markets’ Lisa Guarini on corporate access
As recent IR Impact research has shown, IR teams are increasingly picking and choosing where they deploy management when meeting their shareholder constituents out on the road.
-
‘At the end of the day we’re selling trust’: FedEx’s Matt DeBerry on the key to investor engagement
One of the keys to any successful IR program is building a working relationship with your shareholder community and ultimately fostering trust with the market.
-
‘We’re in a world where AI adapts to your workflow’: Q4’s Darrell Heaps at the IR Impact Forum – AI & Technology Europe
With IR teams becoming more adventurous in their experimentation with AI, many are finding new and nuanced ways to employ the technology to improve their workflows.
-
‘AI increasingly mediates the conversation with investors’: IDX’s Simon Gittings at the IR Impact Forum – AI & Technology Europe
With the role of the corporate website evolving in a post-AI world, IR teams are grappling with the challenge of making sure they are the authoritative source of information about their company in the market.
-
‘The relationship side of IR is still key’: MUFG Corporate Markets’ Gustav Pegers on the role of AI
It is often said that, for all of the innovation that AI can offer IR professionals, the key to successful communications with the capital markets will always be reliant on relationships.
-
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.
-
‘It’s fascinating to hear how people are using it’: Getech’s Irina Logutenkova at the IR Impact Forum – AI & Technology Europe
Understanding how the buy and sell side are using AI to improve their investment decisions is something that is key for IROs to grapple with, else they face missing their main audience’s key expectations.
-
‘I don’t think there has ever been a more dynamic time to be in this business’: Four key insights from the IR Impact Think Tank – West Coast 2026
The Think Tank saw CFOs, investors and senior IR leaders to discuss how the IR role is evolving amid changing capital markets, AI and technology The IRO role is constantly evolving. From the impact of technology and AI to shifting investor expectations, IROs spin different plates to keep their strategy coherent and their company on […]
-
The CFO: ‘Nothing opens a presentation better than something from r/dadjokes,’ says Reddit finance chief
Drew Vollero, CFO at Reddit, is used to doing things a little differently. He oversees the finance function at the social media giant at a time when its investor relations team are receiving plaudits for their unique approach to shareholder communications. The firm took home two trophies at last year’s US IR Impact Awards – for best innovation in shareholder communications and the coveted rising star award for Jesse Rose. Ahead of this year’s event, Vollero talks about where recognition like this fits into Reddit’s measure of IR success, how his own approach to IR has evolved across a career…
-
‘I had four meetings, one in a restaurant with great Texas steaks’: Inside Infineon’s IR-only day in Dallas
If you’re going to travel from Germany to the US to roadshow, what’s a few extra miles here or there? For Alexander Foltin, head of IR and group treasurer at Infineon Technologies, it makes sense to try to maximize the return on a transatlantic travel – which is what brought him to Dallas and Denver last year. Foltin shares his wider thoughts on Dallas in the IR Impact Roadshow Report 2026, where you can also find tips, tricks and roadshow commentary from other leading IR professionals. ‘Dallas was first put on the map for us from the debt side,’ he…
-
‘Start with the objective, not the technology’: Infineon’s Daniel Györy on ensuring AI drives value for his IR program
For Daniel Györy, senior director, investor relations at German semiconductor firm Infineon Technologies, AI is only worth using if it can ‘meaningfully’ improve an IRO’s day-to-day work.
-
‘We went public into a bear market’: Lithium Royalty Corp’s head of IR on the buy-side-into-IR learning curve
Lithium Royalty Corp’s IR lead didn’t come to the profession through the more typical paths of corporate finance or a transition from the sell side. As Jonida Zaganjori tells IR Impact, she took on her first IR role fresh from working at a Toronto money manager, an experience that has guided her approach to relationship building on the other side of the table. You can read more from Zaganjori in the IR Impact Global Roadshow Report 2026, where she shares her views on divvying up the CFO and the CEO’s time as well as her favorite city to visit. We…
-
How can IROs increase annual report visibility in generative AI?
Generative AI (genAI) has become a central gatekeeper between companies and stakeholders. A growing number of investors use large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT to research companies, challenge investment ideas and analyze financial and market information. But how visible are annual reports as sources in these systems? And how can IROs improve the visibility of verified financial disclosures? The shift in information usage creates new risks for IROs. LLMs can hallucinate or generate plausible but incorrect answers, especially when relying on third-party sources such as Reddit or Wikipedia, which are quite prominent in genAI. User-generated content often mixes facts…
-
‘IR must retool to nudge machines instead of humans’: Vodafone’s Matthew Johnson on how the profession will need to adapt to a new era
Matthew Johnson, Vodafone group communications director, is a former skeptic when it comes to AI. But, a quick demo from an AI-minded 25-year-old turned him into a convert and soon, IROs can hear first hand about Johnson’s approach to this rapidly evolving tech. As he prepares to talk about the investor and analyst approach to AI at the upcoming IR Impact Forum – AI and Technology Europe, which takes place on Thursday, March 12 in London, we caught up with Johnson to hear more about why the topic – and the tech – resonates with him. You can also hear…
-
Why capital allocation is the new equity story in the AI era
A familiar pattern is dominating the current earnings season: companies deliver clean beats on revenue and earnings – then see their shares wobble or sell off as management outlines higher-than-expected capex and a longer-dated investment phase. Alphabet and Amazon are prominent examples, but the takeaway for CFOs and IROs is broader: capital allocation has become the equity story. In an AI-driven market, the debate is no longer simply about growth. It’s about how that growth is funded, how long elevated investment will persist and what returns the capex is expected to generate. Investors aren’t punishing ambition; they’re repricing capital intensity,…
-
US boards answer to all shareholders, not just the loudest ones
There is a growing habit – mostly American, often loud – of treating ESG as a single cultural package: climate, DEI and whatever social flashpoint dominates the cycle. It makes for sharp copy. It is also a category error in the markets where stewardship decisions are actually made. In the UK and EU, ESG is regulated process: rules, disclosures and supervisory expectations designed to surface financially material sustainability risks. Think less ‘cause’, more ‘cash flow’. Across the UK and Europe, faith-based investing has long been expressed through formal, responsible-investment practice rather than culture-war branding. Since the 18th century, Church and…
-
The Polish miracle: How IR is finally catching up in the ‘second Japan’ predicted to outstrip the UK’s GDP
A new wave of Polish tech firms are bringing IR into the spotlight – shown by record attendance at the Polish IR Association conference at the end of 2025 Something is changing on the Polish IR scene. While the country’s economy has been booming – and booming – it is only in the past year […]
-
The CFO: ‘Good investor conversations are indicative of really good IR,’ says Essentra finance chief
Rowan Baker talks to IR Impact from inside the world of hidden – but essential – components In our first installment of The CFO for 2026, we talk to Rowan Baker, Essentra finance chief, about what she looks for from investor relations, why should moved out of the capital markets and back again and why being lower profile but essential helps drive a ‘great business’.
-
Global Roadshow Report 2026 available now
Where are companies travelling when they go on the road? Which brokers are putting on the best roadshows? Which members of the C-suite are putting in more time for these vital events and are they more likely to attend in-person or virtually? These are just some of the insights you can pull from IR Impact’s […]
-
Global Roadshow Report 2026
Marking 16 years of IR Impact’s research into global roadshow trends: where companies go, who goes along and the brokers they travel with
-
Proxy season 2026: What to expect from rule 14a-8 changes
Governance experts share their predictions for the upcoming proxy season following the SEC’s pullback around shareholder proposals Among the tumult of 2025 was a November announcement from the SEC stating that it would reduce oversight of shareholder proposal disputes. Blaming ‘current resource and timing considerations following the lengthy government shutdown,’ the regulator said that it would end ‘substantial’ reviews of no-action requests under rule 14a-8, with the change applying to the proxy season running from October 2025 to September 2026 – as well as anything it hadn’t got to before the decision was made. You can read more about the…
-
One battle after another: Why the 2026 proxy season might be marked by activist ‘do-overs’ and M&A proposals
In the current critically-acclaimed film One battle after another, circumstances compel the lead character, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, to revisit old conflicts and confront former adversaries. A similar narrative could prove to be one of the major themes in the shareholder activism world this year, as old battles flare up again and activists continue to push for improved corporate performance. My view is largely based on the momentum generated by last year’s high volume of activist campaigns, coupled with the fact that a large percentage of those contests were resolved via negotiated settlements between the activists and the target companies’…
