Informed 131 published
Society News
Matt Hall reflects upon a busy quarter and outlines priorities for the months ahead – looking at ancient history to discover what may have been the world’s first IRO; Thayeba Hussain introduces herself as the Society’s new membership executive; and Ross Hawley updates members on the latest thinking from the Society’s AI working group.
Event reports
Reporting on a roundtable event, Claire Mogford summarises a discussion with former Society chair and current British Land CFO David Walker; meanwhile Jane Henderson and Sarah Ballamy summarise takeaways from a masterclass on stakeholder engagement; and Tom Symondson shares findings from a recent roundtable on AI and the listed company narrative.
Industry news
In her final industry news, Liz Cole reports on AI adoption, building a stronger investment case, capital and valuation challenges, how governance is viewed as a market advantage, sustainability reporting and a simplified ESRS, and how UK capital markets can look ahead to delivering reforms. Liz Cole also writes about the Society’s view on reporting reform, summarising a recent white paper which was made available to members in July.
IR Notebook
Mark Garraway asks whether the IR industry will exist in five years’ time – issuing an SOS call to the community; Saul Chambers shares a four-stage framework for takeover bid engagement; Liz Cole summarises a Society survey of FTSE 350 companies; and Kirsten van Rooijen and Brendan Fitzpatrick use the same survey to show why fundamental investor targeting outperforms peer targeting.
Best Practice Awards 2026
This special feature includes an introduction from Matt Hall, along with a final call for companies who are considering entering for this year; Julian Smith, chair of the best practice committee, explains how the awards criteria have changed to stay relevant; and Anneka Finnane updates members on preparations and asks two former winners – Kieron Molloy and Lindsey Hall – what they believe led them to win, and what tips they have for companies who are considering entering.
Conference 2026
The main feature in this issue is a 26-page report on the Society’s annual conference, which was held at the IET London: Savoy Place on 24 June, titled ‘IR as a trusted advisor; creating opportunity from uncertainty’. It includes reports on the keynote sessions with Paul Walker, chair of RELEX and Ashtead Group, and with Dr. Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg. All five plenary sessions were also reported on, as well as the six sponsored breakout sessions. There are also networking photos from the day and a summary of proceedings.
Letters from
This issue contains a letter from the USA, with Matt Hall reporting on his time at the NIRI annual conference; and a letter from Denmark, with Tina Hojlund Pedersen reporting on the state of IR in Denmark and across the Nordic region.
Professional development
Here you will find a course calendar for the months ahead and details on the Society’s Certificate in Investor Relations qualification – as well as recent CIR passes.
Society events
With a successful annual conference now behind us, Anneka Finnane reflects on some highlights and updates members on plans for the months ahead. There is also a calendar of upcoming society events including a pub quiz scheduled for September, and details on how to catch up on recent Society webinars.
Services directory
The Informed IR services directory features organisations who offer key services to the IR community
If you have any comments on this issue, or would like to contribute to a future issue of Informed, please email Robert Dann.
HOW TO DOWNLOAD
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