I hope you’re well
It’s hard to know how to start this welcome letter, after such a turbulent few months. I suppose I’ll open by saying: thank you for reading and I hope that you’re well.
Many of us enjoy IR. Many more are enriched by it. Some are even passionate about it. But it’s also a job. During the last few months, we’ve had bigger concerns. We’ve all made the uncomfortable adjustment to staying at home. Some of you have had Covid-19. Some of you have lost jobs, had difficult conversations with family members, grappled with mental or physical well-being, or struggled to focus while a constant hum of anxiety rattles in the background like a fly you can’t swat. Some of you have lost loved ones.
So I mean it when I say thank you for reading and I hope that you’re well.
In 31 years of IR Magazine’s existence, this is the first ever digital-only issue. We don’t want to risk exposing anyone to the virus – printed magazines can wait until it’s safe to print and distribute them again. But the need to understand what has happened in the public markets during the last few months can’t wait.
In times of crisis, investor relations steps up. I’ve heard it time and time again from people who have experienced other recessions – whether it’s because of 9/11, the global financial crisis, the Sars outbreak or the dotcom boom – and in this issue, Tim Human looks at how IR has responded in other crises. In the dedicated Covid-19 section of this issue, we look at how the pandemic has changed corporate access, investor communications, the role of IR in reporting to senior management and how the market functions. We also profile one company that pivoted its business to help its key stakeholders during the outbreak, and learn IR lessons from the Sars outbreak from John Gollifer, who ran the investor relations program at Singapore Exchange during that period.
Elsewhere in the magazine, we’ve gone big on investor engagement. Zsuzsanna Szabo talks to Victoria Redgrave, director of corporate access and broker relations at Fidelity Research and Management, about how she helps to connect her portfolio managers with issuers – and how Covid-19 will change that. Mike Schnitzel reflects on Regulation Fair Disclosure, the rule that transformed investor communications and created the corporate access industry, ahead of Reg FD's 20th anniversary. And Laurie Havelock looks at how the weightings of emerging markets indexes have changed over the years.
Finally, I investigate how some of the earliest proponents of socially responsible investing are faring as ESG has become a more mainstream investing strategy. On the one hand, there’s satisfaction that environmental and social issues are now deemed to be material. On the other, there are some challenges when primarily ethically motivated investors occupy the same space – and advocate on the same issues – as financially motivated investors.
I hope you enjoy reading. As ever, please do get in touch with questions, comments or suggestions. I hope it’s not long until we can all get together again, enjoy in-person events and quiet the hum of the anxiety fly overhead. In the meantime, stay safe and sane.
Ben Ashwell Editor ben.ashwell@irmagazine.com +1 212 430 6869
Editor Ben Ashwell Managing editor & chief copy editor Kathleen Hennessy Senior reporter Garnet Roach Reporter Zsuzsanna Szabo Contributors Jeff Cossette, Friederike Edelmann, Kimberly Esterkin, John Gollifer, Laurie Havelock, Tim Human, Marisa Jacobs, Marc Jasmin, Ben Maiden, Gill Newton, Katrina Rymill, Mike Schnitzel Editorial advisory board Brian Christie, Janet Craig, Vlad dela Cruz, Gunhild Grieve, Catherine James, Ricardo Jiménez, Richard Jones, Jeannie Ong, Andrew Stephen Founding editor Janet Dignan Design and production executive James Noden Managing director, events Gargi Iyer Head of event operations Lauren Wilson Head of event content Steven Wade Event manager Lucy Edwards Conference producer Anna Phillips Events co-ordinator Priscilla Lim
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Issue 283. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Articles are published without responsibility on the part of the publishers or the authors for any loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any view expressed herein.
Cover story image Artworking: James Noden Source: ©istockphoto.com/icestylecg
