Steve Wade, Head of Content, IR Magazine

With so many factors affecting the rise and fall of a company’s value, it is essential for IROs to understand the factors that govern these movements. In this panel we will focus on the methods IROs can use in a low valuation environment, specifically looking at how to control your company narrative and which communication channels to use when engaging current and potential investors.

• Learn how to align your equity story with those investors that fit your company in today’s market
• Discover how to successfully communicate your position in a risk-off market
• Debate how to act if the buy side narrative is wrong – understand the most effective communication channels to use to challenge this narrative
• Changing your communication strategy to optimize your company’s value when others in your market have had bad earnings
• Discuss how to differentiate yourself from a sector that is out of favor with investors

IR professionals have many milestones to work towards throughout their calendar year. Milestones such as quarterly earnings, proxy season, the annual meeting, annual reports and at each point the information they need, people they address and channels they use to communicate will change. In this panel we will assess how IROs can ensure they are prioritizing enough time to each milestone, differentiating their communications accordingly and using the most relevant channels to optimize their outreach.

• How to position yourself as the thought leader and strategic catalyst behind your company’s communications
• Learn how to tie major investor communications to both your company and product news
• What are the various recurring cycles on the calendar and how can IROs streamline their communications
• Debate how to differentiate the message based on the IR activity
• Understand how to foster effective cross-department collaboration at these points in the year.

With the rapid increase in the amount of proprietary information and data acquired by investment firms, knowledge sharing and accessibility is of paramount importance to Investor Relations professionals. However, AI tools on the market continue to create challenges with their limitations, security issues and lack of reliability. In this panel we take a deep dive into best practices for navigating the publicity surrounding Ai to get c-suite buy in and look at how IRO’s can produce a comprehensive plan detailing the challenges and solutions of incorporating Ai into their IR programme, now, in the near future and further down the line.

• The now: Learn effective ways to manage AI scepticism, showcase ROI and obtain C-Suite buy in
• The new: Understand which AI tools are readily available to IROs and hear how IR teams are utilizing them to enhance IR efforts
• The far: Understand the impact of increased AI usage by investors and potential for issuers, and hear future best practice for optimizing value and minimizing risk.

Efficient targeting is an essential part of all successful IR programmes and crucial to driving strategic value. With many internal and external factors to consider, evaluate and understand; prioritising time, data sets and which channels to use is critical in cultivating relationships with compatible investors.

This panel will provide actionable insights and assist in creating a marketing strategy that can help with investor conversions and increased sell-side coverage.

• Discuss how to successfully evaluate your existing targeting activities and optimize them: Understand what can be improved and how to improve your targeting efforts?
• Recognize how to prioritize which investor events and meetings to attend and how to effectively allocate the most appropriate person to the correct investor
• Learn how you can enhance the accuracy, timing and overall impact of your investor outreach
• Best practice investor screening and profiling – delving deep to unearth an investors financial situation, investment experience, requirements and risk-tolerance.

With the continual expansion of the global investor base and a growth of laws and regulations encouraging shareholders to exercise their rights there has been a noticeable surge of shareholder activism over the past decade.

As shareholder activism becomes more prominent, this panel aims to help IROs navigate and manage the process effectively, preparing for the challenges in 2025 and beyond.

• Learn want an activist campaign can look like and how to communicate with all investors during this time
• Understand how to work with external counsel and advisors effectively when an activist is at the door
• Discuss effective methods for winning support among your shareholders
• Hear how to manage and brief the board during an activist campaign

The success of an IRO is measured not just in financial terms but also in the effectiveness of communication and engagement with stakeholders. IROs play a pivotal role in shaping how an investor perceives a company and are crucial for optimizing strategies and achieving sustainable growth. In this panel, we will explore the essential Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that IR professionals should track to measure the success and impact of their efforts.

• Performance KPI’s vs action based KPI’s: Which are more effective and how to balance reporting
• How to make the most out of your investor perception study
• Learn what management most value in an IRO and an IR program and which KPIs showcase that most effectively

Increased pressure on the buy side means that the IR-portfolio manager relationship will be paramount in 2025.

Discover how IR can most effectively partner with the portfolio managers and analysts in this open Q and A session, that gives you the opportunity to get answers to any burning questions direct from the horse’s mouth.

A carefully structured, collaborative session that gives attendees an opportunity to work together to solve each other’s real-life IR challenges in a consultation-style setting

• Get real solutions from IR peers on a particular challenge you are facing
• Understand the challenges that other IR professionals are facing
• Benefit from the collective discussions that result