In today’s volatile market, investor relations officers at small cap companies need to be able to adapt quickly and shift their focus in response to changing conditions.
There is a higher emphasis being put on finding new investors, increasing share ownership, and expanding research emphasis to stay competitive. The IR Magazine Forum – Small Cap is designed to help public companies prioritize and improve practices so that they can stand out in the capital markets despite the economic, time and resource pressures faced by small companies today.
We will be joined by over a hundred CEOs, CFOs and IROs in New York on Friday, September 13 and will discuss how to effectively target investors, stand out in the financial press, build analyst coverage and engage retail investors in today’s macro environment.
NIRI IRC® CREDENTIAL
Holders of the NIRI IRC® credential can earn up to 4 professional development units (PDUs) per day. IRC-credentialed speakers may also earn PDUs. For more information about the Investor Relations Charter (IRC)®, please visit www.niri.org/certification.
Click here to view the 2024 agenda.
Timings on the agenda are shown in Eastern Time (ET)
08:00 AM
Registration, refreshments and networking
09:00 AM
Welcome to the IR Magazine Forum
09:15 AM
Turbulent times: Small-cap strategies for weathering the storm
Within a volatile global environment, small-cap companies are often first to feel the effects of real-world issues on capital markets. Faced with political uncertainty, soaring inflation, rising interest rates, supply chain disruptions, and the global energy crisis, these firms must be nimble and strategic to navigate the volatility successfully.
In this session, our panel will examine the unique impacts on the small-cap market and provide actionable insights for positioning your company to withstand changing headwinds:
• Unpack how the uncertain political landscape, potential policy shifts, and geopolitical conflicts could disproportionately affect small-cap investor sentiment
• Understand how investor demands and priorities may shift in this environment, and how to proactively adapt your IR strategy
• Review “lessons learned” from recent years of volatility and how to incorporate those into your risk mitigation planning
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Adam Borgatti, senior vice president, corporate development & investor relations, Aecon Group
Samir Jain, head of IR and treasury, PLAYSTUDIOS
Kathleen Nemeth, SVP IR, Omnicell
09:45 AM
Small-cap ESG: Balancing demands and deliverables
For small-cap companies, responding effectively to evolving ESG initiatives and disclosures can feel like an overwhelming task. With limited budgets and countless competing priorities, dedicating meaningful resources to bolster your ESG credentials is easier said than done.
Yet investor demand for transparent ESG reporting and tangible progress shows no signs of slowing down. Join this panel to see how smaller issuers can punch above their weight class in the ESG space without draining precious time and capital:
• Gain clarity on current ESG reporting frameworks and learn how to balance mandatory vs. voluntary
• Get investor perspectives on their minimum ESG disclosure expectations for the small-cap market
• Hear approaches for determining which ESG metrics to prioritize when resources are limited
• Explore creative ways to integrate your compelling ESG narrative into investor communications
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Ken Goff, VP IR, Vimeo
10:15 AM
Coffee break and networking
10:45 AM
Navigating the retail revolution
With the rise of retail investing apps, social media forums and subsequently, more accessible capital markets – the modern investor landscape contains many new and inexperienced investors. With their growing influence and unique needs, developing an approach for engaging this audience of retail holders has become paramount.
In this panel, our experts will examine how IROs can effectively engage, monitor and educate a new breed of retail investors. Join this session to:
• Gain insights into the motivations, information sources, and decision drivers for retail investors compared to their institutional counterparts
• Review the pros and cons of direct retail targeting as part of your IR program’s investor marketing strategy
• Examine the new communication channels that are resonating with retail audiences today
• Get tips on crafting content, messaging, and delivery formats to build retail investor rapport and educate this audience on your company’s narrative
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
11:15 AM
The lean IR machine: Crowdsourcing hacks for maximizing limited resources
In the small-cap world, resource constraints are the norm, not the exception. As companies tighten budgets and streamline teams, IR professionals are forced to get lean and creative to keep delivering maximum impact.
But you don’t have to go it alone! Join this highly interactive session to tap into the collective wisdom of your small-cap IR peers to crowdsource innovative tips, tricks and real-world hacks for doing more with less.
• Share the key pain points for your IR team and hear what challenges your peers and colleagues are also facing
• In groups, generate practical ideas and solutions to take with you back to the office
• Hear from seasoned IR professionals about their own efficient processes, budget hacks, trade secrets and outside-the-box ideas
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Lucia Dempsey, senior director IR, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation
Michael Marks, head of IR, Vizio
11:45 AM
Hitting the bullseye: Mastering investor targeting and conversion
In the small-cap arena, establishing a high-quality investor base is both an art and a science. Identifying the right shareholders for you is the first challenge, but compelling these potential investors to pay attention and engage with your company is where things become even more difficult.
This panel brings IR experts together for a practical discussion on the best tactics for optimizing your investor targeting and driving more effective conversion:
• Get tips on leveraging data, technology, and expert partnerships to build a highly targeted prospective investor map
• Learn how to evaluate your company’s positioning and objectively assess fit for various investor types
• Hear creative approaches for packaging your company narrative to appeal to divergent investor mindsets
• See examples of innovative tactics IR teams use to stand out and capture investor attention
• Hear perspectives from the buy-side on what compels them to initiate a new small-cap position
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Mark Fasken, COO and co-founder, Irwin
12:30 PM
Lunch break
13:30 PM
Small team, big impact: Optimizing earnings calls with fewer resources
The quarterly earnings call is both the bread and butter of IR duties and a prime opportunity to spotlight your expertise to senior leadership. With months of preparation culminating in this high-stakes event, flawless execution and compelling communication are paramount.
This panel brings together proven IR professionals to share strategies for transforming your earnings call from minimum compliance into a masterclass on investor engagement:
• Discuss strategies and technologies for facilitating an engaging and informative earnings experience
• See examples of innovative ways small teams elevate production value through affordable solutions
• Hear effective methods for ensuring your management team “show up” in the best way on the day
• Learn approaches for managing Q&A smoothly and preparing for any curve balls that may come up
• Explore post-call follow-up strategies that continue converting investors on your small-cap story
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Douglas Kris, SVP IR, Diversified Energy Co
Jennifer Kull, VP of Investor Relations, Katapult
14:00 PM
Unlocking the analyst's perspective: Overcoming coverage hurdles
For small-cap companies, securing quality analyst coverage can feel like an uphill battle. With analysts overwhelmingly focused on large names dominating the market, IR teams must get creative and strategic to capture their attention and sustained focus.
This panel brings the analyst voice directly to you – providing an inside look at what drives their coverage decisions and how to position your small-cap story in the most compelling way:
• Hear firsthand from analysts what criteria prompt them to initiate coverage on a small-cap company
• Understand the key factors and metrics analysts prioritize when evaluating small-cap investment potential
• Gain insights into analysts’ preferences regarding company outreach, accessibility of management, and investor marketing efforts
• Learn strategies for deepening your relationship with analysts and keeping them engaged, even amid volatility
Moderator: Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
14:45 PM
Champagne roundtables: Exchange ideas with a glass of champagne!
How the roundtables work
15:30 PM
Roundtable summary and closing remarks
Steve Wade, head of content, IR Magazine
16:00 PM
Drinks reception and networking
Our attendees are leading IR practitioners with an established track record and strategic IR role within their company.
Below is a sample of some of our past attendees:
Job title | Company | Job title | Company | |
Director, IR | Jushi Holdings | VP, communications and IR | Adaptimmune | |
Director, IR | Energy Recovery | VP, corporate finance and IR | Universal Technical Institute | |
Executive director, IR | Quad | VP, finance | Gambling.com Group | |
Head of IR | Bakkt Holdings | VP, head of IR | Xerox | |
Head of IR | Beyond Air | VP, Investor Relations | AvePoint | |
IR analyst | Kambi Group | VP, IR | Comscore | |
SVP marketing, IR and ESG | LTC Properties | VP, IR | DNOW | |
SVP, Investor Relations & Treasurer | G-III Apparel Group | VP, IR | Blade Air Mobility | |
SVP, IR | Usio | VP, IR | Shattuck Labs | |
SVP, IR | Three Part Advisors | VP, IR | Sovos Brands | |
SVP, IR and communications | Cadiz | VP, IR | WM Technology Inc | |
VP IR | IDT | VP, IR and corporate development | Standard Motor Products |
Why partner with us?
The IR Magazine Forum – Small Cap brings together some of the most influential people in the IR community.
The event offers an effective approach to targeting clients when they are exploring how they can improve their IR practice. Through our unrivaled knowledge of the subject matter and commitment to in-depth agenda research, our events are guaranteed to attract a qualified audience.
The unique buzz we create at our in-person events – a far cry from a traditional conference – makes them multi-faceted and highly interactive with great engagement in particular from heads of IR. This allows our partners to have meaningful conversations with corporates who are deciding which parts of their IR program to invest in, which service providers to engage and which consultants to retain. By partnering with us on an event, you can generate leads, showcase your thought leadership and position yourselves as the partner of choice to the IR community.
We’d love to have a chat with you about how you can get in front of a truly engaged and motivated audience at the IR Magazine Forum – Small Cap. Get in touch with Ian Richman or call on +1 (212) 430 6865
In Association with
TD Securities offers a wide range of capital markets products and services to corporate, government, and institutional clients who choose us for our innovation, execution, and experience.
With more than 6,500 professionals operating out of 40 cities across the globe, we help clients meet their needs today and prepare for tomorrow. Our services include underwriting and distributing new issues, providing trusted advice and industry-leading insight, extending access to global markets, and delivering integrated transaction banking solutions. In 2023, we acquired Cowen Inc., offering our clients access to a premier U.S. equities business and highly-diverse equity research franchise, while growing our strong, diversified investment bank.
We are growth-oriented, people-focused, and community-minded. As a team, we work to deliver value for our clients every day. Learn more at Cowen.com
Forum Partners
Alliance Advisors is an independent advisory firm that supports hundreds of global public & private companies in several key investor-related areas.
Core services include Shareholder Engagement & Solicitation, Compensation Advisory, Governance & Sustainability Advisory, M&A- Activism, Institutional Ownership Intelligence, and Retail Outreach.
We go beyond, from development to execution of bold, client-first strategies, resulting in winning outcomes.
For more information, please visit our website.
Corbin was founded on the idea that insights-driven advice is a powerful catalyst for unlocking value. Leveraging proprietary research and analytics, a best-practice mindset, executional excellence, and a deep understanding of what influences sentiment, we deploy a proven model to realize value. We work with organizations globally, across all sectors and sizes, as our knowledge and insights drive breakthrough thinking and impact. We collaborate with our clients to execute sound, effective communication, and engagement strategies.
For more information, please visit corbinadvisors.com
Build, innovate, and grow your business with Irwin, the only investor relations platform designed with automation and reduced time-to-insight at its core. Irwin unlocks and enhances investor and shareholder relationships for your business—for various use cases, market caps, and industries—whether you have an established IR program or are just getting started.
At Irwin, we’re building a better way to manage investor relations. Legacy tools and companies in capital markets often grow stagnant, and the capacity to innovate wanes over time. This has left the majority of IR teams with two to five inefficient tools to manage their program and workflows—over time; we hope to reduce that to one. Our full-service tool suite includes powerful investor targeting, comprehensive shareholder monitoring, an intuitive CRM (with built-in email and engagement tools), timely research, estimates, and transcripts, and IR website intelligence.
To learn more, please visit www.getirwin.com.
Executives of small and mid-cap companies are susceptible to a common vulnerability: lack of familiarity with current investor priorities.
Having observed this as Head of US Small Cap Equities at Voya Financial, James Hasso built One 44 Advisory & Consulting to help companies understand and optimize planning around an ever-evolving, increasingly complex sea of investor concerns.
One 44 offers a range of value-added services to address those factors, helping you strengthen your growth plans with tools that build business agility and resiliency.
Utilizing our proprietary analytical model, One 44 closely monitors the long-term and short-term influence of a range of factors on corporate P&L and market performance.
With your company’s unique business demands in mind, we blend these quantitative findings with qualitative industry research, and then work with you to tailor custom plans that address these factors.
Our bespoke recommendations are designed to improve both your financial returns and shareholder engagement.
One 44 can address your specific concerns or conduct a holistic business review to prepare a recommended course of action.
Q4 Inc. is the first IR Ops Platform with the world’s largest set of proprietary investor data, purpose-built to remove obstacles between public companies and their investors. Q4 gives investor relations leaders and their teams the tools to attract, manage, and understand investors — all in one place. The AI-enabled Q4 IR Ops Platform boasts a simple yet powerful IR website management system, frictionless events software, a robust analytics engine, a streamlined investor CRM, and shareholder intelligence with enhanced metrics to elevate investor targeting strategies. Q4 delivers the data, insights, and workflows that give IR teams the power to focus on what really matters: strategy, relationships, and driving premium valuations for their companies.
The company is a trusted partner to more than 2,600 public companies globally, including many of the most respected brands in the world, and maintains an award winning culture where team members grow and thrive.
Q4 is headquartered in Toronto, with offices in New York and London. Learn more at www.q4inc.com.
We will be hosting this years event at:
TD Offices
20th floor, 1 Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Directions
For transport options and directions to the venue, please click here.
Accommodation
IR Magazine have arranged preferential rates for attendees at nearby hotels. View the hotels and rates by clicking here.
Click on the button below to book your ticket.
We have 20 corporate rate tickets left at our first release rate before they rise to the second release rate of $195. Book now to avoid disappointment. The rate will automatically increase once they’re gone!
The corporate rate is reserved for in-house IR or communications professionals, employed directly by a corporation listed on a public stock exchange ONLY.
We have now sold out of non-corporate tickets for this event. If you do not fall under the corporate rate and would like to get involved please email Ian Richman at [email protected].
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Williams at [email protected] or +44 208 090 2156.
For partnership inquiries
+1 (212) 430 6865
For agenda inquiries
+44 20 8004 4818
For all other inquiries
+44 208 090 2156