Conference Committee
Download Conference Committee Terms of Reference
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Rob Gurner
Head of Investor Relations, Inchcape
Chair of the Conference Committee
Treasurer of the IR Society and Chair of the Finance Committee
Rob joined Inchcape plc, the leading global automotive distributor, as Head of IR in April 2023, have previously been at Plus500, a global fintech group, which he joined in May 2020. Prior to that, Rob spent 3 years as Head of IR at Inmarsat plc, a satellite operator, before which he was Head of Global Investor relations for Tokyo-listed Dentsu Inc, following their acquisition of Aegis plc in 2013, where was Head of IR. Before that, Rob had senior IR roles for Lonmin Plc, a platinum mining business, and G4S plc, a security services company. Before moving into in-house IR, Rob worked for a number of financial communications consultancies.
Joanne Roberts
Investor Relations Director, Phoenix Group
Photo & bio to follow.
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Siobhan Andrews
Interim Head of Investor Relations, Smiths Group
Siobhán has more than 18 years’ expertise in Investor Relations, and more than 10 years’ capital markets experience in equity research and within investment management. She is currently Interim Head of IR at Smiths Group, and was previously Head of IR at Spectris and Deputy Head of IR at BG Group. Prior to her career in IR, Siobhán was a research analyst covering the utilities sector at UBS, and also worked at a leading UK investment management company.
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Michael Hufton
Founder & Managing Director, ingage IR
Michael founded ingage 8 years ago with the aim of providing software infrastructure to help power world-class Investor Relations.
Building on traditional IR CRM, the ingage platform helps quoted companies and other third parties manage a modern IR function; internalise a direct investor engagement & corporate access capability; adapt efficiently to new regulation such as the 2020 UK Stewardship Code, GDPR, MiFID II & MAR; and deliver unique insight and reporting to Executive Management and the Board.
Prior to ingage Michael spent 18 years in the capital markets: 10 years as a portfolio manager and buy-side analyst at Polar Capital, Sloane Robinson and Trinity Street Asset Management; and 8 years on the sell-side at Cazenove & Co where he was a partner in institutional equity sales.
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David Watts
Director, Lazard
David joined Lazard in 2020 as part of the Makinson Cowell team. He advises U.K. and international listed companies on all aspects of their investor relations and on communicating their investment propositions to the capital markets. David's clients come from a wide range of sectors, including consumer goods, food retail, support services, and TMT. He works with investor relations departments, executive management, and Boards as a long-term retained advisor, as well as on Investor Perception Studies and other periodic projects. Prior to joining Lazard, David was part of the Makinson Cowell team at KPMG, where he qualified as a chartered accountant.
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Robert Dann
Head of Marketing & Operations - IR Society
Rob joined the IR Society in January 2012 as head of marketing, with responsibility for the society’s marketing and sponsorship programme. In 2014 Rob’s role developed to incorporate all of the society’s membership activities, including member recruitment and retention and the identification of potential new member groups. In 2019 the roles further expanded to incorporate internal processes and operations. Prior to moving into IR Rob had previously worked in marketing roles across a number of sectors, most recently as group head online for an international media company.
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Anneka Finnane
Events Manager - IR Society
Anneka joined the IR Society in May 2024 as Events Manager. Her most recent role was at the Association of Foreign Banks as Senior Practice, Events and Training Associate. Prior to that, she has worked in various membership organisations such as the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, British Council for Offices, and Industry and Parliament Trust, managing a wide variety of events and training programmes. Anneka has a degree in Event Management from Bournemouth University. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family.
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Matthew Hall
Vice Chairman of UK Investment Banking, UBS
Matt is Vice Chairman of UK Investment Banking at UBS, having previously worked at Credit Suisse as Co-Head of UK Investment Banking and Corporate Broking. Matt started his career at Credit Suisse in 1997 where he worked until 2010 before spending 10 years at Deutsche Bank where he ran the Corporate Broking business. Matt’s current clients include Bunzl, CCH, Halma and Intertek and over the last 27 years in the broking industry, he has advised the likes of Barratt Developments, Carphone Warehouse, BAT, Diageo, IAG, ITV, RB, Stagecoach and Talktalk.
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Laura Hayter
CEO - IR Society
Laura is CEO at The Investor Relations Society. Formerly Head of Policy and Communications, Laura took on the role of CEO in 2019 and has been with the Society for over 13 years. Laura has been part of the IR community since 2001, and among other roles, she was formerly a director at the IR consultancy, Taylor Rafferty, providing IR advisory services to blue chip clients, both in London and New York. Laura’s particular interests within IR are around career progression, mentoring and professional development. She graduated from the University of Leeds, with an honours degree in German and management studies.