Thanks for stopping by and checking out the “Fix It” Investor Relations Officer (IRO) blog.
Investor relations (IR) is an undervalued function in many parts of Corporate America. If you worked on the sell-side, or even the buy-side, you often view investor relations as a less-than-ideal career path. As an IRO, you sit on the outside looking in. To paraphrase Gordon Gekko, the IRO is often the proverbial 12th man on the deal team; left out of the inner sanctum of management information flow.
Many corporations simply outsource their investor relations function to a third party. Investor relations represents the first contact investors have with your company. Why would you outsource such an important touch point to someone outside the firm? Have you ever heard of a successful company outsourcing the sales function to a third party?
To go one step further, successful IR has a direct impact on the wealth creation for executives at a company, as well as shareholders. Why would you outsource control of your executive compensation to a third party?
In my view, the current changes afoot in the investment world driven by MIFID II and other regulations will turn investor relations on its head. The industry continues to evolve away from one that historically was dominated by the communications function to one that will be dominated by the ability to speak the language of Wall Street.
What I write here is not right or wrong, but rather a view point or philosophy from which one can hopefully improve their investor relations capabilities. What the blog represents is simply the thoughts and philosophies of an IRO with sell-side experience. I hope you find this forum useful!
The "Fix It" IRO blog represents the primary channel of communications for Reficio Investor Relations.
