Welcome

I have absolutely no doubt that anyone connected to the investor relations industry will ﬁnd at least one course or workshop in

this brochure which will be of relevance, and would come away from that event with a deeper insight of the topic. I believe this

would be equally true whether they are a new IR team member, a specialist IR service provider, or the most battle-hardened of

IR Directors.

Professional development is an ongoing process for us all, at whatever stage of our career, to ensure we can fulﬁl our roles

eectively and with a solid understanding of the regulatory and ﬁnancial environment, and industry best practice. The IR

Society therefore provides a large range of courses and events within its annual programme which will enable a practitioner

to keep up to speed with the changing environment within which we all work.

It is also an excellent way to network and hear from your peer group in a positive and supportive environment. While there can

often be no real substitute for direct practical experience, being aware of how others have handled similar experiences, or

where they have looked to for information or advice can make all the dierence to an IRO facing a tricky issue.

Having been a one-man IR team, I have on many occasions found myself in situations where I would have wanted advice

or a sense-check from an experienced IR colleague. The IR Society education programme has helped me to ﬁll this gap, and

the topics and structure of these courses allows attendees to select those which best suit their focus, and desired level of

technical detail.

The courses we oer are delivered by expert course trainers, often supported by senior IR practitioners and advisers, who

can provide essential ﬁrst-hand insight into the course topic, and examples as to how they have handled a similar situation or

programme. The Club IR lunchtime workshop is now in its third year and has oered a chance to discuss with peers a wide

range of topical issues ranging from resolving consensus issues to Board reporting and leadership skills. Last year we sought

to expand the number of courses targeted at specialist areas, under the Advanced IR course pages in this brochure. These

now include such topics as advanced ﬁnancial modelling, Debt IR and ESG/SRI, and this year, we will be adding a course on

strategic IR/PR to the list.

We are also in the process of developing a Diploma in IR - an examined qualiﬁcation based on a number of courses in this

brochure, together with options outside the core role of an IRO. Targeted at those wanting to step up to a lead role where

this knowledge is a core requirement, this is a very exciting and landmark development for the IR Society’s Professional

Development Programme. Together with the DELIVER programme (see page 15), we are building a full suite of courses and

workshops to cater for the needs of IROs and other market participants, whether new entrants to the profession, or FTSE100

heads of large teams. I hope to see many of you at one of them, and would welcome your feedback on any of the courses

we put on.

Ross Hawley

Assistant Director of Investor Relations, Rolls-Royce

Chair of the IR Society Education Committee

Deputy Chair of IR Society Policy Committee