Winning IR

In this episode of Winning IR, Mark Fasken sits down with Rodney Nelson—VP of Investor Relations at Twilio (Director and Head Of Investor Relations of Qualtrics at the time of recording). 

Rodney shares his expert perspective on why IROs should have a solid understanding of their investor base, the importance of conducting an investor analysis, and further insights on the evolution of a public company’s shareholder base.

Listen to the full episode to learn more about:

• How a company’s investor base will change as they make the transition to a public company —and over time.
• How to engage with new and different types of investors. 
• The importance of understanding the profile of your company’s investor base, and how to achieve it. 
• How to present an investor analysis to the board of directors. 

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

In this episode of Winning IR, Mark Fasken sits down with Gene Rubin, President of Rivel—the largest global perception study provider—to discuss how companies can gain competitive advantages by utilizing research, insight, and distinctive communications. 

Gene talks about the insights and value a perception study can provide, what point IRO’s should consider conducting one, the value of hiring an outside firm, and more insights from his 20-plus year tenure at Rivel.

In this episode, we cover:

• What a perception study is
• The events that may trigger a need for a perception study 
• Some of the best practices to prepare for a perception study and ensure that it’s successful 
• Conducting a perception study one yourself vs hiring an outside firm
• Common misconceptions about perception studies
• The time commitment a perception study requires 
• The steps to take after a perception study has been conducted

About Our Guest

Gene Rubin is the President of Rivel, and has been with the company since 2000. He manages the overall growth of revenue and profitability of the firm while overseeing custom investor perception study projects for several dozen clients. Since joining the Rivel team, he has led 600+ investor perception study projects, advising senior management teams and boards in areas of strategic investor communications across all industries, with a heavier concentration in energy, materials, financials and industrials.

Gene helped to create Rivel’s Executive Intelligence Council (now GuideLign) program and is also heavily involved in its research and programming processes. In addition, he has served as a mentor supporting the growth of Rivel’s consulting team since 2006. He is a frequent presenter and panelist at NIRI local chapter meetings, regional conferences and national events.

Prior to joining Rivel, Gene spent eight years working as a stockbroker for various brokerage firms on Wall Street.

Much of Gene’s free time is devoted to School of Rock activities and his son’s rock & roll band, The Inoculated Canaries.

He earned a BA in International Business from Hofstra University.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

In this episode of Winning IR, Mark Fasken sits down with Scott Einberger, Investor Relations Officer at JLL, to talk about how he approaches investor targeting and practical advice for IR teams looking to attract new investors.

Scott shares his best advice and tips on building, prioritizing, and measuring his investor targeting efforts, and what advice IROs need to know when it comes to effective investor outreach and relationship building. 

In this episode, we cover:

• How to build and prioritize a targeting list
• In-house investor targeting vs. third party
• How much time investor targeting should take
• When it’s the right time for targeting
• How to be more successful in your investor outreach
• Leveraging your shareholder base for introductions
• Measuring the success of investor targeting
• Response rates to outreach efforts
• NDRs with the sell-side
• The impact of the macroeconomic environment on targeting strategies
• ESG-specific investor targeting

About our guest:

Scott Einberger is an accomplished investor relations and finance professional with over 20 years of experience. He is currently the IRO at JLL and has extensive experience in the food and beverage, consumer staples, and hospitality industries, with strong knowledge of market dynamics and industry drivers.

Connect with Scott on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

In this new episode of Winning IR, Mark Fasken sits down with Rebecca Gardy, Senior Vice President and Chief Investor Relations Officer at Campbell Soup Company, to talk about how to lead through influence and foster stronger relationships with external and internal stakeholders. 

Rebecca talks about the three most important skills for a successful IRO, the importance of trusted relationships between IR and internal stakeholders that create value for the whole organization, how IROs can build the skills needed to grow, and more insights from her extensive career in finance and communications. 

In this episode, we cover:

• The skills you need to be successful in IR
• How to build more influence as an IRO
• How to develop your skills
• Common skill gaps for new IROs
• How to balance the art and science of an IR role
• Managing internal stakeholders with different priorities
• How to build stronger relationships
• And how to navigate challenging economic environments

About Our Guest:

Rebecca Gardy is the Senior Vice President and Chief Investor Relations Officer at Campbell Soup Company. She has extensive IR experience working at companies like Nike, Popeyes, Green Sky, and KPMG.

Connect with Rebecca on LinkedIn. 

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR explores the value and necessity in building a network of fellow investor relations professionals. Matt Brusch, President and and CEO at NIRI (National Investor Relations Institute in the USA) joins Mark Fasken to share his perspective on the uniqueness of the investor relations function and the importance of being able to connect with and learn from your peers. 

Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• What are the challenges of learning investor relations? 
• What characteristics and talents do IR professionals have in common?
• How do professional associations help IROs access mentorship and learning opportunities?
• What kind of events, opportunities, and social/professional networks are available to investor relations professionals?
• Why meeting your counterparts at business competitors is vital to your career.
• Is in-person networking still common post-pandemic?

About our Guest:

Matt Brusch is President and CEO of NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations. He was previously COO, led professional development programs, credentialing, publications and communications for NIRI. He has over 25 years of experience leading the investor relations and corporate communications functions for several public companies, and he served in regulatory and marketing roles with the Nasdaq Stock Market.

You can connect with Matt on LinkedIn here. 

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR discusses the similarities and differences of investor relations and public relations. Fabiane Goldstein, Investor Relations Senior Director at Grayling, joins Mark Fasken to talk about the overlap between IR and PR and what IR professionals can do to maximize their investor brand. Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• How does IR relate to PR? 
• What challenges arise when building an investor brand?
• Why is social media important for investor relations?
• How should IROs approach building a social media / PR strategy? What are the first steps they can take to get started?
• What challenges do international companies face when trying to enter North American markets?
• How can IROs determine the impact or ROI of PR?
• How can IROs leverage existing content to develop an investor marketing strategy?

About Our Guest:

Fabiane Goldstein established herself as a reference in Strategic IR in Latin America, serving clients of all sectors and sizes in strategic projects, writing dozens of articles, hosting and participating in several webinars. She brings 20 years of experience in the financial markets and is an expert on Investor Relations, Corporate Communications, Sustainability/ESG & Integrated Reports and the power of Social Media in the capital markets.

Connect with Fabiane on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR explores what it means to implement a total stakeholder approach. Jeremy Cohen, Vice President Investor Relations at Alight Solutions (SVP IR and Financial Communications at Edelman Smithfield at time of recording), joins Mark Fasken to share his perspective on how a successful IRO must act as a hub to connect stakeholders to strategy. 

Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• What is a “Total Stakeholder Approach”, and why is it important?
• Why does IR need to have a seat at the table for strategic discussions and strategic planning?
• What’s the difference in expertise of an in-house IRO compared to an IR consultant? 
• What can IROs do to become the internal expert on everything and build strong internal relationships within the company?
• How can IROs get buy-in from internal stakeholders to support the IR strategy?
• What kind of data is most useful when getting buy-in from key stakeholders?
• How can IRO’s optimize their time with retail investors and communication on social media channels?
• How can you validate that your IR communications strategy is effective? 

About our Guest:

Jeremy is Vice President of Investor Relations at Alight Solutions (SVP of Investor Relations at Edelman at the time of recording), and has worked closely with clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, industrials, consumer, healthcare and technology. Jeremy’s background includes special situations, M&A, ESG communications, crisis, public relations and investor relations, building the IR program at Gogo, and working as an equity analyst with Morningstar.

Connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR explores the innovative ways that modern companies are seizing the attention of institutional and retail investors. Alyssa Barry and Caroline Sawamoto, Principals and Co-Founders at irLabs, join Mark Fasken to share the tips and tricks they use to create value and interest for issuers.

Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• How can IROs incorporate untraditional and creative elements into their IR programs?
• What makes for a compelling story? 
• What differentiates a compelling story from a bland one? 
• What can IROs do to improve their storytelling?
• How often should you revisit or revise your company story?
• What can IROs do to cut through the noise and differentiate their company?

About our Guests:

Alyssa Barry and Caroline Sawamoto are both Principals and Co-Founders at irlabs. Each boasts over 15-years of investor relations and capital markets experience. An activist by nature, Alyssa has raised over $1 billion of capital, led some of Canada’s most successful activism campaigns, managed M&A transactions and enhanced board governance frameworks. Caroline has supported numerous financing activities, both public and private, and helped raise over $650 million of capital.

Connect with Alyssa on LinkedIn here.
Connect with Caroline on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR explores the challenges faced by IROs and issuers in new and emerging industries. Leah Gibson, Vice President, Investor Relations & Strategic Communications at Cybin Inc., joins Mark Fasken to share her perspective from transitioning from a traditional biotech company to one developing treatments derived from psilocybin, a Schedule 1 Substance in the US.

Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• The similarities and differences between  IR for traditional and emerging companies.
• How to address gaps in investor education.
• Managing the risks and challenges associated with early stage companies. 
• How to manage communication with diverse audiences, including retail investors.
• Strategies for staying abreast of changes in a dynamic industry. 
• How to successfully engage with an audience of retail investors.
• How does being in a tightly regulated industry affect your IR strategy? 
• What is the most important thing for an IRO representing an emerging industry to know?

About our Guest:

Leah Gibson is a life sciences investor relations leader with nearly two decades of experience in corporate and shareholder communications, and business strategy development. She has worked with small-, mid- and large-cap publicly traded biotechnology companies in North America, including a $60B large-cap U.S. biotech focused on creating transformative medicines for serious genetic diseases.

Connect with Leah on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir

This episode of Winning IR explores what qualities and actions separate the top performing IROs from their counterparts, and how CEOs and CFOs determine the best candidate for their enterprise. Smooch Repovich Rosenberg, Founder and Chief Talent Innovator at Smooch Unplugged, joins Mark Fasken to share her learnings from over three decades as a human capital expert. 

Listen to the episode or read the transcript to learn more about:

• What does the current career market look like for investor relationships?
• How have the expectations have changed for investor relations professionals in the last five years? 
• But what are some of the unique leadership attributes that stand out in IRO candidates?
• What should IROs be prepared to discuss in their interviews?
• What traits separate the top 20% of IROs from the rest of the pack?
• How important is culture amongst the companies that you work with as they're looking to hire IROs? And what are some of the questions that management can ask to uncover that?
• What's a sign for IR professionals that the current role isn't the right fit?
• How can IROs ensure that a new role is aligned to their values?
• What does career progression for IROs look like?

About our Guest:

Smooch Repovich Rosenberg is a pioneering executive search consultant, specializing in Investor Relations and Executive Communications. With a storied career spanning several decades, She is an expert at building high-performing teams and has helped businesses ranging from pre-IPO Startups to Fortune 100 Companies hire over 400 investor relations officers. She is also the only executive recruiter awarded with the prestigious title of NIRI Fellow.

Connect with Smooch on LinkedIn here.

Winning IR is brought to you by Irwin.

For more winning ideas, subscribe to Winning IR wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, visit getirwin.com/winning-ir