Informed 132 published

27 Oct 2026
The Investor Relations Society
IR Society News
This issue of Informed brings together perspectives from Ukraine, the Philippines, Japan, Saudi Arabia and Germany in an expanded ‘Letters from’ feature exploring how IR is driving market change. It also examines reforms to UK prospectus rules and corporate reporting, the importance of protecting the corporate narrative in an AI-driven world, and how IROs can build their influence and prepare for the spotlight.

Society News
Matt Hall reflects on a busy quarter, outlines the Society’s priorities on reporting reform and professional development, and looks back at Isaac Newton’s experience of the South Sea Bubble to illustrate the importance of transparent reporting and sound judgement. We also welcome the Society’s newest members.

Best Practice Awards 2026
With the Best Practice Awards approaching on 24 November at the Royal Lancaster London, Anneka Finnane encourages members to book their tickets and outlines the evening’s programme, hosted by comedian Darren Harriott. She also highlights the award categories and a range of exclusive sponsorship opportunities.

IR regulation update
Michael Jacobs and Tom O’Neill explain how revised prospectus rules give UK-listed companies greater flexibility to raise capital more quickly and cost-effectively, while outlining the documentation choices and considerations for IROs. Matt Hall also reports on the Society’s Modernising Corporate Reporting consultation roundtable, exploring how reforms could create a clearer, more proportionate and investor-focused reporting framework.

IR Notebook
Alex Dee considers how IROs can preserve an honest message when simple stories spread more readily than complete ones; Charlotte Wilkes explains why media training matters and how IROs can prepare for challenging interviews; Laura Hayter explores how to build the credibility, influence and executive presence needed to become a trusted strategic adviser; and Dan Drury examines how companies can protect the accuracy of their narrative as AI retrieves, compresses and retells it.

Letters from
Under the theme ‘From Kyoto to Kyiv: How IR is driving market change’, this issue brings together five international perspectives. Mariana Mazur explores Ukraine’s transparency dividend and the importance of building a credible national equity story; Thea Caballero considers how the Philippines can strengthen IR as a strategic profession; Yuto Ishii explains the implications of Japan’s revised corporate governance code; Vijith Kannangara examines Saudi Arabia’s move towards digital-first annual reporting; and Kay Bommer discusses the growing strategic importance of IR in Germany and the value of international collaboration.

Professional development
Tara Mitchell introduces the forthcoming updates to the CIR and ICIR study guides and asks Allison Connolly how completing the qualification has helped in her communications role. You will also find details of the Society’s Certificate in Investor Relations qualification, recent CIR and ICIR passes, and a calendar of upcoming professional development courses.

Society events
Anneka Finnane reflects on the autumn events programme and looks ahead to the Best Practice Awards, forthcoming Masterclasses, Roundtables and plans for 2027. There is also a calendar of upcoming Society events and details on how members can catch up on recent webinars.

Services directory
The Informed IR Services Directory features organisations that 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 contact Matt Hall.

HOW TO DOWNLOAD
Logged-in Society members can download their copy of Informed from the Knowledge Bank.