An interview with Carwyn Evans, Director, UK Corporate Broking, BNP Paribas

Tell us a bit about you and your role

I’m a Director in the Corporate Broking team at BNP Paribas – with a decade of experience supporting company’s Boards, management, and IR teams in equity story crafting to unlock new institutional investors, providing day-to-day regulatory advice on listed markets, alongside significant M&A and Equity Capital Markets transactions. 

Why do you think the theme of ‘IR as a Trusted Advisor’ is so important this year?

In a market increasingly being driven by passive funds, ETFs and thematic or basket trading it has become challenging for Boards to make sense of factors influencing their share prices. It also means the voice of the true active shareholders becomes even more powerful in shaping Board decisions on strategy or transactions – if IROs can provide those key market insights, then that is a trusted adviser!

What insights will you be bringing to your panel?

We just supported Princes on their UK listing and it shouldn’t be underestimated how much work IPOs require, especially with an evolving regulatory framework. It is also the only time a company gets to decide its shareholder register – that is exciting, especially for IROs, and can set the company up for success. This makes crafting the equity story, the feedback loop and communication of messages to the right investors even more important. 

Are there any other sessions you are looking forward to joining?

I must admit, they all look fantastic and the IR Society has built a great line-up. Hearing from the buy-side is always interesting to see the breadth of opinions and how fund managers are positioned – especially against the tricky geopolitical and macroeconomic backdrop! Diving into the UK market, and the specific opportunities and challenges there in the first session will be fascinating – and Adam Avigdori is always worth listing to!