Recent articles

ESMA not to take action against periodic auctions

Jun 20, 2019

The EU’s financial regulator, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), has highlighted that it does not intend to introduce restrictions on trading that has come under criticism for supposedly undermining stock market transparency regulations. ESMA has been assessing the issue of so-called ‘periodic auctions’, which allow fund managers to trade larger blocks of shares while limiting the amount of order information revealed to the market before tra...

ESG

ESG sits with corporate governance, not IR, in North America, study finds

Jun 20, 2019

Ben Ashwell

ESG sits with corporate governance, not IR, in North America, study finds

As investors integrate ESG into decision-making and proxy-voting processes, the ESG efforts at North American public companies appear to be led by corporate governance teams, not IR, according to new research from IR Magazine and online sister publication Corporate Secretary. Staff at both publications have noted that there is no uniform approach to whether IR or...

Technology & Social Media

NIRI 2019: AI makes its way into the IRO toolkit

Jun 19, 2019

Ben Ashwell

NIRI 2019: AI makes its way into the IRO toolkit

The investment community has been experimenting with Big Data and AI tools for several years now, and the latest signs are that these are making their way into the IRO’s toolkit. While McKinsey recently noted that mentions of Big Data increased four-fold in research for asset managers between 2012 and 2017, the equivalent AI and al...

Buy side

Launching an impact-investment effort

Jun 19, 2019

Ben Ashwell

What is the history of Spouting Rock and who are its clients? Spouting Rock began as a single family office. It was founded by our current president, Blakely Page. He had been doing investments for his own family – he has a long career on Wall Street – and then the firm established a merchant bank and broker-dealer side. In 2017 it started an asset management division. We have a handful of investment products; they’re not necessarily go...

Careers

Mifid II and the changing IR role

Jun 19, 2019

Judith Ugwumadu

‘Mifid II seeks to improve transparency, reduce potential conflicts of interest and promote competition by unbundling brokers’ activities,’ said Andrew Bailey, CEO of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, in a speech delivered earlier this year. The European legislation has brought in ‘a number of fundamental changes,’ he added. Alexander Free, senior analyst at Nasdaq IR Intelligence, explains that these fundamental changes, since Mifid II went...

Reporting

How GRI targets common language for ESG reporting

Jun 19, 2019

Debbie Miller

How GRI targets common language for ESG reporting

What is your methodology and approach to reporting on ESG matters? The Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) methodology is encompassed through the GRI Standards, the most widely used sustainability reporting framework in the world. The aim is to help organizations communicate and measure their ESG impacts in a way that conforms to global best practice, understands risks and opportunities, and informs strategic decision-making. There are thre...

Sell side

EMEA IPO market struggles as global IPOs see big fall

Jun 19, 2019

Andrew Holt

EMEA IPO market struggles as global IPOs see big fall

Capital-raising in global IPO markets fell by 37 percent in the first half of 2019, with volume plunging 34 percent compared with the same period in 2018, according to data compiled by global law firm Baker McKenzie. A total of $69.8 bn was raised across 514 IPOs – the lowest for value and volume since 2016. The US federal government shutdown, continuing trade tensions between the US and Beijing, the ongoing Brexit saga and the decline of mega-IPOs all cont...

Small cap

FTSE Russell ESG data expansion boosts Australian small caps

Jun 19, 2019

Andrew Holt

FTSE Russell ESG data expansion boosts Australian small caps

Global index FTSE Russell has expanded its ESG data analysis to include small-cap firms, providing a coverage boost to 250 Australian listed companies, as they will now be included in FTSE Russell’s ESG coverage. Australia has been one of the most vociferous markets in the Asia-Pacific region about the need to integrate ESG into investment practice, with 129 asset owners and asset managers signed up to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment. ...

Regulation

Fee pilot debates reignite at NIRI and CIRI conferences

Jun 18, 2019

Ben Ashwell

Fee pilot debates reignite at NIRI and CIRI conferences

‘While many market participants have suggested something should be done to address maker-taker pricing and transaction fees, there is less agreement about what specifically should be done,’ said Brett Redfearn, director of the SEC’s division of trading and markets, at the NIRI national conference earlier this month. Redfearn is the man behind the SEC’s transaction-fee pilot, which has ...

Careers

NIRI 2019: IRO as chief intelligence officer

Jun 18, 2019

Ben Ashwell

NIRI 2019: IRO as chief intelligence officer

This year marks the 50th anniversary of NIRI – a milestone that was emphasized throughout the national conference held earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona. As the association looked ahead to the next 50 years, it wanted to reflect on how the role of IR has changed and think about how it may evolve further. NIRI brought together a select group of its members to put together a ...

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