CEO Update - May 2026
We started May with the launch of our 2026 Best Practice Awards. These awards celebrate and acknowledge excellence in investor relations and recognise those who are setting the standards - whether responding to changing investor expectations, embracing innovation, or delivering clarity and value in increasingly complex environments. I’m very grateful for the hard work of the Best Practice Committee in reviewing the categories.
All the categories are important in their own right, but this year I’m particularly keen to see lots of entries in the innovation category. I hear so many great examples when talking to members – strategic storytelling, ‘always on’ IR, workflow automation, new approaches for targeting investors – the innovation award is a great way celebrate your achievements, and set the standard for others.
The deadline for nominations is at the end of August and over the next couple of months, we’ll be sharing insights from judges and past winners. Whether you’ve entered before or its your first time, I hope these insights will help you shape your own entries.
I would strongly encourage firms and individuals throughout our membership to take part and showcase the work they are rightly proud of. I hope to celebrate with you in at the Awards dinner in November.
We had some great events as well - including the latest in our IR Masterclass series, focusing on investor targeting. There was a fantastic line up of experts looking at everything from working with the sell side to leveraging data and monitoring trends.
Our AI Working Group also delivered a fantastic webinar in collaboration with Microsoft, looking at how AI can boost productivity for IR teams and individuals. This was principally through the lens of Copilot, which so many of us have access to – and was focused on straightforward application of prompts to remove manual and repetitive processes, freeing busy IROs to focus on higher value work. It was great to also hear from David Irish and Ross Hawley on their adoption journeys. Society members who missed it can catch-up on the recording via our website.
Our Meet the Fund Manager event provided excellent insight into engagement with the buy side, particularly how AI and the evolving approach of analysts is putting an ever importance on relationship building and consistency. Loren Dufton of S&P moderated and shared an excellent summary on LinkedIn.
Looking ahead, we’ve got some great events coming up. In particular, our Annual Conference is less than a month away. We’ve got an fantastic programme of keynotes, panels, and breakout sessions – combining the big macro themes impacting our members with practical advice that IROs can action in their day-to-day work. It’s taking place June 24th at IET London – I hope to see you there.
I often speak about the importance of developing strong ties with our counterparts in other markets, and it was great to meet representatives from the Turkish and French IR Societies recently. The issues we face – geopolitical instability, changing investor expectations, and the impact of AI, are not constrained by borders – and sharing insight, guidance, and good practice collectively strengthens IR on an international basis.
The international theme will continue into June – when I am looking forward to joining the Romanian IR Association’s monthly member meeting to talk about some our recent activities, and share some insights from our membership. Shortly after that, I’ll be travelling to Chicago for the NIRI Conference. If you’re going to be there as well, please do let me know.
Finally, a last call for our AGM and summer networking, taking place on June 2nd. Kindly hosted by Georgeson Advisory, it’s a great opportunity to meet with the Board, the Society Executive team, and other members.
That’s it from me, see you in June!