Every IR team wants to hear good feedback from investors. But it’s the negative feedback that has the most value. In this episode, you’ll hear Dan Homan, Investor Relations Director at Currys plc, explain why honesty and genuine two-way conversations between IR and investors are a must to achieve continuous improvement in IR efforts.   

Investors value honesty above all else 

Prior to joining Currys, Dan was a Director at Citi Investment Research where he was a lead analyst on top-ranked teams covering the European Retail sector. Alongside Investor Relations, Dan has responsibility for UK strategy, property and the Group's defined benefit pension scheme. 

He joins Enquire, the Investor Relations Podcast to shed light on Currys’ approach to investor relations, communication with the board, and hosting capital market events. We hear about the challenges that his team and Currys has faced over the past few years, including a takeover bid from Elliot Advisors and company restructures. Coming from the sell-side and now working alongside other departments such as property, Dan brings a lot of additional insight into different areas of the business that he says make him better at IR. 

Dan shares his approach to shareholder management, working with brokers and analysts, and why he actively seeks negative feedback from investors. He also explains his thoughts on what makes someone good at IR and advice for anyone considering it as a career.  

In This Episode: 

• Dan shares an overview of his career story before coming to Currys  
• Why companies shouldn’t forget to tell their equity story  
• The top things that surprised Dan about his transition to IR  
• Dan’s advice on preparing for a bid defence  
• How the IR team interact with other communication functions  
• Currys approach to ESG  
• How Dan hosts site visits and capital market events  
• How Dan receives feedback from investors  
• The best way to strengthen credibility with investors  
• Why Dan believes KPIs are too difficult to set for IR  
• What makes someone good at IR  

Quotes: 

• “A number of listed companies forget to tell their equity story regularly enough. At full year updates and interims, they’d just be giving an update on results and assuming everyone knew what they were trying to do as a company.” 
  
  
• “I’m very interested in the negative feedback. It can sometimes be difficult to hear, but it’s the most important stuff that we can action.” 
  
  
• "You need a ruthless focus on simplicity. The simpler you can make the message for the market, the more that investors are going to appreciate you." 

Resources: 

• Connect with Dan Homan