Fay Dodds awarded Honorary Fellowship

Looking back over your career, what moments or achievements have been most meaningful to you personally?

I was lucky enough to set up three dedicated IR functions at GUS, Experian then Burberry.  It was very satisfying to see how colleagues, the executive team and the Board began to realise the benefits of a professional approach to IR.  I also worked on lots of corporate transactions, including a FTSE 100 demerger, as well as the odd profit warning or two.  I hope that we guided the companies through these with clear advice and communication.

How have you seen the role of investor relations evolve during your career?

When we first started at GUS in 2000, our finance director said to my colleague, a chartered accountant, that it was all well and good doing IR for a couple of years, but he would need to get a proper job!  He is now SVP of a FTSE30 company worth £17bn whose share price has more than doubled in the last three years.  As IR has become more professionalised (rather than being done by the FD or strategy or comms in their spare time), the quality of IR teams has improved, as has their ability to communicate effectively with investors and analysts.

What motivated you to stay involved with the Society for so many years, and what does this fellowship mean to you?

I have very much enjoyed my time in investor relations and thus wanted to give something back to the profession - whether mentoring up-and-coming IROs or driving the executive team nuts with questions about the Society’s cashflow through my role on the Finance Committee.  This fellowship is a great honour for me. I was speechless when invited – not something that happens very often as anyone I have worked with will attest to! 

What advice would you give to the latest generation of IR professionals entering the field today?

Despite the inevitable drama and crises surrounding results periods, remember that you are in a very privileged position at the centre of some of the best companies in the world, working at C suite level, seeing how key decisions are made on strategy and operations.  
You bring a unique perspective to this process in terms of how the financial markets are likely to react to any transaction or update. Don’t be afraid to challenge or question anything that you believe the markets won’t understand or like. And prepare your executive team to be able to deal with these issues in Q&A sessions.

And network like crazy.  Although companies compete for capital, in my experience, IROs and service providers are very happy to share issues and solutions.  What is keeping you awake at 3am was probably keeping me awake twenty years ago!