TD Offices, New York
Our seventh annual forum was back again by popular demand! The event was part of our global initiative to create a level playing field for excellence in the IR community. With the help of expert speakers and those leading the charge at public companies, the event included practical advice on the following:
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. More information is available at www.niri.org/certification.
All times displayed are in Eastern Time (ET)
16:30 PM
Registration, drinks and canapés: Build your network
We’ll kick off the event with some networking drinks. Be sure to join us nice and early to grow your network and meet new people in the IR world.
16:45 PM
Optional pre-event mentoring sessions: Career advice and Q&A with experts
You can choose a theme and get practical, informal advice from our esteemed ambassadors on dealing with specific challenges, improving working methods and structuring your career.
Tierney Saccavino-Payne, investor relations, Acorda Therapeutics
Foli Pontillo, global head of investor engagement and perception, Nasdaq
17:30 PM
Opening remarks: Welcome to the Women in IR Forum
Based on the statistics from IR Magazine’s latest research report, hear what factors generally lead to gender disparity in IR, what we, as a community, can recognize and counter in your teams, and a statistical breakdown of diversity in the IR role.
Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
Foli Pontillo, global head of investor engagement and perception, Nasdaq
18:00 PM
Advancing your career, overcoming challenges and building skills for success
Moderator: Swaroopa Desai, MD and head of corporate access, TD Cowen
Keri Mattox, SVP, chief communications and administration officer, Zimmer Biomet
Katie Royce, CFO, ZenBusiness
Alethia Young, CFO, Graphite Bio and board of directors, PTC Therapeutics
19:00 PM
Closing remarks
Lauren McDonald, conference producer, IR Magazine
19:15 PM
Networking drinks continue
20:00 PM
End of the event
We're delighted to announce our speaker line-up for 2023!
Swaroopa Desai
Managing director and head of corporate access
TD Cowen
Swaroopa is a Managing Director and Head of Corporate Access at TD Cowen. Swaroopa has spent the past 10+ years focusing on both the health care and industrial sectors. Prior to joining Cowen, she worked at Barclays Capital for over five years, in Corporate Access and Equity Research, where her primary responsibilities were also in health care and industrials. Prior to Barclays, Swaroopa was at Lehman Brothers as an Associate in Equity Research on the Global Aerospace and Defense team. She holds an MBA from NYU, an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA from Brandeis University.
Keri Mattox
SVP, chief communications and administration officer
Zimmer Biomet
Keri P. Mattox was appointed Senior Vice President, Chief Communications and Administration Officer in May 2022, responsible for strategically integrating, aligning and driving investor relations, communications and philanthropy functions and activities, as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. She joined Zimmer Biomet in January 2020 as Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Chief Communications Officer.
Prior to joining Zimmer Biomet, Ms. Mattox served as Global Lead, Integrated Corporate Communications at W2O Group (now Real Chemistry), an international healthcare-focused marketing and communications firm. There she was responsible for strategically shaping and expanding the firm’s global corporate communications, investor relations, crisis communications, M&A, board engagement and corporate social responsibility/foundation capabilities and offering.
Prior to W2O, Ms. Mattox was Vice President, Corporate & Investor Relations at AmerisourceBergen, a healthcare company ranked #10 on the Fortune 500. She also held executive leadership team level positions at Endo International and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and spent more than 10 years at communications agencies in leadership positions. Earlier in her career, Ms. Mattox was a reporter with Hearst Newspapers. She holds a B.A. from Boston University and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Maryland.
Foli Pontillo
Global head of investor engagement and perception
Nasdaq
With nearly 20 years of Advisory experience, Foli leads Nasdaq’s Global Perception, ESG Sentiment, and Investor Engagement practices. She oversees a globally dispersed team engaging directly with the financial community on behalf of IR professionals, senior level executives, and Boards. Foli and her team provide candid market perspectives and contextual insights to assist corporates with effectively navigating the investment landscape. Further, her team advises IR and senior management teams on buy-side engagement, targeting, and roadshow planning leveraging proprietary data and analytics. The team has partnered with corporates through significant events, including changes in capital deployment, restructurings, M&A, executive turnover, shareholder activism, as well as shifts in the macro, regulatory, and political environment. The team’s research and analyses have aided corporates with gaining a firmer grasp of market expectations, enhancing the Company narrative, engaging more effectively with key stakeholders, and making well-informed strategic decisions. The team’s research has been featured in publications by IR Magazine, IR Society (UK), NIRI, and CNBC.
Previously, at Thomson Reuters, Foli served in a senior strategic role focused on enhancing the IR Advisory customer experience through process reengineering, employee recruitment and training, knowledge share, and cross-regional collaboration. Prior to that, Foli oversaw a team of capital markets analysts providing institutional ownership intelligence and industry insights to companies within the healthcare universe.
Foli currently serves as Co-Chair of Professional Development for Nasdaq’s GLOBE employee network. Foli is a firm believer in the power of mentorship, and has served in this capacity for high school students, college students, and early career and tenured professionals in partnership with a number of organizations. She also sits on the governance and environment committees of Charlotte-based non-profit organizations Young Black Leadership Alliance (YBLA) and Women’s Impact Fund (WIF), respectively.
Foli holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Boston University with a minor in Business Administration. After living in New York City for over a decade, Foli relocated to North Carolina with her husband and two children.
Katie Royce
CFO
ZenBusiness
Royce is currently the CFO at ZenBusiness. Prior to their current role, Katie served as the SVP, Americas CFO at Cognizant. Over her 8 year tenure at Cognizant she also held the position of VP, Head of Investor Relations and was a Director of the Cognizant Foundation. Katie’s experience also includes working in various investor relations and treasury roles including as an Investor Relations Manager at Selective Insurance. Katie began her career on the buyside as a Research Analyst at Clay Finlay, Inc.
Katie Royce has a BSBA from the University of Richmond – Robins School of Business in Marketing and International Business. Katie also is a CFA Charterholder and earned an Investor Relations certification from New York University. She is currently the Chair of the Board of NIRI.
Tierney Saccavino-Payne
Investor relations
Acorda Therapeutics
Tierney Saccavino-Payne is currently IRO at Acorda and also president of TSP Communications. Until 2021, she was the Executive Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs at Acorda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing therapies for people living with neurological diseases. Ms. Saccavino-Payne served as a member of Acorda’s executive management team and was responsible for the Company’s investor relations, corporate communications, media relations, thought leadership, philanthropic giving and consumer / advocacy outreach. She held various roles of increasing seniority at Acorda since 1998.
Before joining Acorda Ms. Saccavino-Payne had over 10 years’ experience in public relations, marketing, and corporate communications. She was the Manager of Corporate Relations at Adventis, a Boston-based management consulting firm. In that capacity, she was responsible for public relations, corporate promotions, and executive education programs. Previously, she worked in a variety of positions at Fidelity Investments.
Alethia Young
CFO
Graphite Bio and board of directors, PTC Therapeutics
Ms. Young has over 20 years of experience in biopharmaceutical industry. Currently, Ms. Young is the chief financial officer at Graphite Bio. In this role, Ms. Young oversees the company’s finance, investor relations and corporate communications functions, and plays a key role in overall corporate strategy. She also serves on the board of directors for PTC Therapeutics.
Previously Ms. Young served as senior biotech analyst and head of research at Cantor Fitzgerald, managing the equity research department covering large cap and small-mid-cap biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Cantor Fitzgerald in 2018, Ms. Young held senior biotech analyst positions at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Earlier in her career, she was a research policy analyst and president at Marwood Group, providing healthcare-focused advisory services to institutional investors. She began her career at J.P. Morgan in the investment banking and asset management divisions.
Ms. Young earned a B.A. in Economics and Spanish from Duke University. She currently serves on the board of directors for BUILD NYC.
Lauren McDonald
Conference producer
IR Magazine
Lauren McDonald is a conference producer at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary. She brings a wealth of experience from her past roles in campaign organising for The Labour Party in Leeds and Tower Hamlets.
Lauren holds a Masters degree in the History of Race & Resistance and a Bachelors degree in American History & Politics, both from prestigious universities. She uses her expertise and knowledge to inform her current work and ensure high quality outcomes.
In her free time, Lauren is actively involved in a number of charitable causes. She has volunteered with the Girl Guides, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and regularly donates her time to political campaigns in and around London.
In her role as conference producer at IR Magazine and Corporate Secretary, Lauren is passionate about providing the best experience to all stakeholders and ensuring all events she produces are of the highest quality.
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 |
Associate director, advisory services | Nasdaq | Head, Governance Services | Nasdaq |
Associate partner | Buchanan | Head, investor relations | Minerals Technologies |
CCO & head, investor relations | Avon | Head, investor relations | Moody’s Corporation |
Co-head of client relations | Orient Capital | Head, investor relations | Mylan |
Director | Powerscourt Group | Managing director | FTI Consulting |
Director, head of investor relations | Peel Hunt | Managing partner | Instinctif Partners |
Director, investor relations | Conduent | Partner | Instinctif Partners |
Director, investor relations – ESG | Lloyds Banking Group | Partner | Taylor Bennett |
Director, investor relations & corporate communications | Anterix | Senior vice president | Formerly Fifth Third Bancorp |
Executive creative director | five corporate reporting & consulting | Vice president | J.P. Morgan |
Executive director, Europe & Asia | Rivel Research Group | VP, business development | Tronox |
Executive director, investor relations | Celgene | VP, investor relations | Etsy |
Executive vice president & CFO | Fortis | VP, investor relations | Fortis |
Head of IR | Barratt Developments | VP, investor relations | Nielsen |
Head of IR | ADLER Real Estate | VP, investor relations | Tradeweb |
Why partner with us?
The IR Magazine Forum – Women in IR 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 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 – Women in IR. 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
Issuers from all market caps, sectors, and regions partner with Nasdaq IR Intelligence to drive valuation, discover new capital, and elevate their global brand. Our team of consultative experts and award-winning IR software provide clients with strategic actionable intelligence and unparalleled visibility into the capital markets for the long term. Combining Nasdaq’s collective intelligence, expertise, and data with premium financial content to maximize the effectiveness of their IR and ESG initiatives and enhance shareholder value.
To learn more visit: www.nasdaq.com/solutions/ir-intelligence
SmoochUnplugged, LLC is a high octane, global talent consulting firm that offers Investor Relations Officer executive search and strategic human capital advisory specifically directed toward financial market success and corporate brand stewardship. The firm’s CEO is recognized as a market maker with respected investment community leaders, Boards of Directors, and management teams, with a charter to solve human capital challenges through its innovative, provocative and impactful collaborations with clients and talent around the world. www.smoochunplugged.com.
With 30 years of laser sharp focus in the Investor Relations Officer niche, SmoochUnplugged’s portfolio of success spans clients in all industries and across all sectors of the public company journey from pre-IPO to mega cap entities. SmoochUnplugged has had tremendous success partnering with recognized PE firms to recruit exceptional IRO talent who serve as their portfolio companies’ stewards of brand leadership as these entities transition to the public markets. Viewed as the global Investor Relations executive search leader, the Firm’s credible and respected brand and performance extends from North America to Europe to Asia.
Us: High Octane – Influencers – Impact-Driven Human Capital Solutions Architects.
Our Clients: Serious-Minded Leaders – Innovators of Change – Focused.
Our Talent: Thought Leaders – Performance Driven – Corporate Athletes.
Supported by
The Virtual Chapter is the second largest chapter in the NIRI ecosystem, with over 230 members representing 160+ publicly traded companies from a wide range of professional experiences, industries, geographies and market caps. The Virtual Chapter has been providing online educational, professional development and networking opportunities for its members and the broader IR community for more than 16 years, and is the only NIRI chapter to offer CPE credits in addition to IRC PDUs. For more information, please contact [email protected] or visit: nirivirtual.org
Register your interest for the 2024 forum by filling in the form at the link below. You will be the first to receive important updates about the event and details about how to book your place.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact Thomas Williams at [email protected] or call +44 208 090 2156.
IR Magazine are long-term supporters of the Coalition for the Homeless. The Coalition is doing all in its power to ensure that homeless New Yorkers get the help and protection they need.
Thank you to those who were able to bring along any of the items outlined in the list below, to be donated to those in need through the Coalition.
For further information about their work, please visit coalitionforthehomeless.org
For partnership inquiries
+1 212 430 6865
For agenda inquiries
+44 20 8004 5619
For all other inquiries
+44 208 090 2156