Globally, a fifth of IR practitioners have a professional IR qualification, with little or no change reflected at the regional level. Among small-cap companies, 13 percent have an IR qualification, while twice as many mid-cap IR professionals have such a qualification. IR heads are slightly more likely than IROs to have a professional IR qualification.
Wider professional qualifications are more common, with 47 percent of IR practitioners globally having such a qualification. The majority of European IR professionals – 55 percent – have a non- IR-related professional qualification, compared with 44 percent in North America. Just three in 10 IR professionals at mega-cap companies have non-IR-related professional qualification.