What a few weeks it’s been. We recently held two awards events in North America, celebrating the very best of IR in the US and Canadian markets. Huge congratulations to all the winners and nominees, and thank you to the 1,000 guests who joined across the two nights.
One takeaway from the awards, aside from the fact the IR community enjoys a good party, is the current focus on innovation. Within the nominations, we saw dozens of examples of IR teams exploring new ways of engaging with investors and analysts.
Being innovative with the way we do things doesn’t always come naturally, which is understandable. IROs operate in heavily regulated markets, meaning any mistakes can have big negative consequences.
In addition, companies don’t want to put their hard-won credibility with investors and analysts in danger by regularly chopping and changing their approach to communications.
But standing still carries its own risks. The way investors consume information is changing fast – just look at the reliance of the buy side on AI models or how younger investors increasingly turn to social media for investment advice. Companies need to adapt to stay top of mind with their target audience.
IR teams also have much to gain by trialing new tools and techniques within their workflow. AI, of course, is a big part of the picture. The hope is that the technology will eliminate repetitive tasks, lead to smarter decision-making and free up time for high-value activities, like relationship building.
That’s why this month we are turning our focus to innovation. During April, we’ll be profiling various examples of fresh thinking by IR teams around the world.
This week, Shivani Kak at Moody’s tells us all about her custom-made, internal AI platform that she and her IR colleagues have been leveraging heavily over the past month.
And Udemy’s one-man IR team Dennis Walsh explains how he leaned on unique videos with his customers and the learning platform’s instructors to reach investors in new ways, bagging an IR Magazine Award in the process.
We also have articles lined up on an ESG prioritization tool for ratings agencies, how AI could change IR team structure, the use of podcasts for investor communications, and much more.
Are you working on any IR innovations? Do get in touch and let us know at tim.human@irmagazine.com or find me on LinkedIn.
