CHAIR’S LETTER | SERVICE PROVIDERS | PERSONAL VIEW | INDUSTRY NEWS INFORMED PROMOTING EXCELLENCE IN INVESTOR RELATIONS ISSUE 101 WINTER 2018/19 BEST PRACTICE INVESTOR RELATIONS A 14-PAGE SPECIAL FEATURE AND FULL COVERAGE OF THE 2018 BEST PRACTICE AWARDS PLUS PREPARING FOR AGM SEASON LETTERS FROM OVERSEAS CONFERENCE 2019 UPDATE NEW YEAR COURSES ADVANCED EARLY BIRD OFFER ENDS 31ST DECEMBER 2018! THE INVESTOR RELATIONS SOCIETY 33rd ANNUAL CONFERENCE IR: Leading change; driving value TUESDAY 18TH JUNE 2019 KINGS PLACE, LONDON N1 9AG After a year of considerable political, market professionals gather to meet with peers, and regulatory change, the Annual Conference compare notes and hear from some will explore ways in which IR can adapt and wonderful speakers and panellists. overcome these challenges to fully exploit the value of the public markets and help lead our For all exhibition and sponsorship enquiries, companies to win the competition for capital. please contact Robert Dann at [email protected]. For general At the 2018 IR Society Annual Conference enquiries, please contact Nicolle Oliver at (pictured) we saw almost 400 IR [email protected]. Book your tickets now at www.irsocietyconference.org.uk or call +44 (0) 20 7379 1763 Thank you to our 2018 annual sponsors INVESTOR ANALYTICS INFORMED WINTER 2018/19 CONTENTS 21 4 CHAIR’S LETTER IR Congratulations all round ACTICE David Lloyd-Seed, chair, IR Society BEST PR 5 NEWS FROM THE SOCIETY Evan Davis to host conference in 2019 New IR Society members, October to December (p8) Event report: IR Society visits Dublin (p9) A new addition to the Society team (p9) A SPECIAL FEATURE CIR and ICIR passes – October and November (p9) 6 A PERSONAL VIEW Welcome to issue 101 of Informed... 37 Gary Davies, CEO, IR Society 10 INDUSTRY NEWS MiFID II continues to have an impact Selected key issues for IROs 12 AGM SEASON AGM season is fast approaching – being well prepared will pay dividends Ross Hawley, ContourGlobal and IR Society AWARDS COVERAGE 14 LETTERS FROM OVERSEAS Romania: Welcome to ARIR, a new professional IR association Daniela Serban, ARIR and McGuireWoods Consulting 50 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Singapore: A brave new world for IROs (p16) Judy Tan, ARA Asset Management Limited Courses (p47-48) Certificate in Investor Relations (p53-54) Denmark: After 30 years, DIRF navigates new waters Diploma in Investor Relations (p55) Tina Høilund Pedersen, DIRF (p18) 56 EVENTS Middle East: Demand for IR skills in a changing market (p19) The IR Society events programme Andrew Tarbuck, Al Tamimi & Company and MEIRA 57 IR SERVICE PROVIDERS DIRECTORY Find help in this listing of IR service providers WE WISH OUR MEMBERS AND READERS A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR 62 IR SOCIETY BOARD Names, roles and email addresses IR SOCIETY 3 INFORMED CHAIR’S LETTER The Investor Relations Society 5th Floor, 30 Coleman Street, London, EC2R 5AL Congratulations Tel: 020 7379 1763 www.irsociety.org.uk all round THE MANAGEMENT TEAM Gary Davies CEO [email protected] I hope you enjoyed this year’s fantastic, glamorous, fun and entertaining Best Practice Alina Ardeleanu Awards dinner as much as I did. The executive team at Coleman Street have done us Financial controller proud by pushing the boat out yet again this year – we should perhaps award them a [email protected] best practice award for the evening itself! With Miles Jupp as our host for the evening, it Robert Dann really was a night to remember. If you didn’t make it, you missed a good one, so make Head of marketing and membership [email protected] sure you get your tickets early for next year’s awards. Laura Hayter Our world is being shaken by ongoing political turmoil, economic stress and more Head of policy and communications directly by regulatory upheaval. The latter, through MiFID II, is sending seismic shock [email protected] waves through the capital markets and putting IR front and centre of much of the fall- Jessica Hyett out. This means that we in IR need to adapt to the changing world, overcome the Professional development executive challenges and help lead our companies to win in the competition for capital. [email protected] For me the biggest areas of impact are being felt among what I call the ‘Four C’s’: Tara Hogg Professional development executive corporate sustainability, consensus management, coverage and corporate access. [email protected] Investors are waking up to the financial advantages of promoting ESG within their Nicolle Oliver portfolios and thus are enquiring increasingly of companies about their sustainability Events manager credentials – that is sustainability in the true sense of the word, not just about ticking the [email protected] boxes in corporate governance, or having a PR campaign about how a business is using Rebecca White less of a scarce resource, but about a whole host of matters that ensure a company is Marketing and membership executive [email protected] here for the long term. Like a stick of Brighton Rock, sustainability must exist right through the core of a company in thought, word and deed. We, as the custodians of a company’s investment case must ensure that we weave that messaging right through our THE OFFICE HOLDERS narrative. David Lloyd-Seed Chair [email protected] Adapting to a changing world David Walker Research is going through existential changes impacting coverage, with, I suspect, Deputy chair more significant changes to come in the New Year. The shake-up is impacting our [email protected] ability to measure and thus manage consensus. All the while many IR teams are Fay Dodds establishing new ways of targeting and managing investor interaction. Treasurer A listing on our public markets is, if exploited fully, a source of incredible value [email protected] to a huge number of stakeholders, be they employees, investors or others. As such James Eves Company secretary listed companies have a duty to ensure that they fully exploit these benefits. That [email protected] can only truly be done through a properly formed approach to IR, even more so in For a full list of the IR Society board and the the new world to which we must adapt. It is beholden on every listed company – committee chairs, see last editorial page. be it large, mid or small cap – to invest in its IR function to enable it to overcome the four Cs. This is our moment of opportunity we need to adapt to the changing INFORMED world before us and take IR to the forefront of companies and be a part of the John Thistlethwaite leadership that we rightly justify. Publishing assistant At our conference next year we are planning to explore ways in which IROs can [email protected] do this and exploit the opportunities in the years ahead of us, so put 18 June 2019 Alex Murray in your diaries and make sure you get your ticket. Publisher Your IR Society is here to help and serve you, our members, and a key part of the [email protected] IR Society’s raison d’etre is to set out the basis for, and to promote, best practice in Informed is published on behalf of the IR Society by Silverdart Publishing our industry so that companies can achieve this. Tel: +44 (0)1285 831 789 www.silverdart.co.uk Pushing the boundaries Editorial enquiries can be addressed either to In being part of the judging panel for our awards, it was clear that this year there are Laura Hayter or to Alex Murray. emerging tensions between the competing forces of narrating the corporate and Views expressed in this publication are not strategic story vs regulations and best practice. But it was refreshing to see how many necessarily those of the Society. © 2018 IR Society companies are navigating these challenges in innovative and engaging ways. However, we were all struck by the fact that it is FSTE 250 companies who are really pushing the 4 IR SOCIETY WINTER 2018/19 SOCIETY NEWS boundaries of best practice rather than, more usually, FTSE 100 companies. Evan Davis to host I was delighted that this year we were able to award ‘The Roddy’ for the first time. It is fantastic that the Society has decided to conference in 2019 remember one of the great characters of IR, sadly taken from us too young, and to The journalist and broadcaster Evan Davis recognise the characteristics that Roddy has confirmed that he will be the strove for in pushing the boundaries of best moderator for the 2019 IR Society annual practice. conference – a role that he has performed In recognition of all those shortlisted for with skill for the past six years. awards I am pleased to report that they will The conference is titled ‘IR: Leading be receiving a certificate in recognition for change; driving value’ and will be held on their achievement. A hearty congratulations 18 June at Kings Place, London. Further to all our winners, all very well deserved details will be on the website – and I hope you enjoy some of their insights www.irsociety.org.uk. Members are shared in this copy of Informed. advised to save the date. I wish you and your families a very happy Evan Davis is the presenter of the Radio and safe Christmas and very best wishes for 4 daily news and current affairs show PM. the New Year. ■ He is also the host of Dragons Den and the Radio 4 business discussion programme the Bottom Line.