A light in the dark
I recently spoke to Jim Toes, CEO of the Security Traders Association, about how the unprecedented number of issuer letters sent to the SEC about the access-fee pilot last year could be a sign that IR teams are getting more up to speed on market structure issues. He cited the increase in trading activity on dark pools as another issue IR teams need to be aware of. ‘Understanding where your stock is traded, why and by whom is a surprisingly hard question to answer,’ he told me. In our cover story for this issue, we explore what IR teams need to know about dark pools (see Stepping out of the dark).
In another lead feature, we’ll take you from where trading occurs to why, looking at how alternative data and machine learning are being used by investors to help power investment decisions (see Model returns). This is supplemented by a new regular feature in the magazine called Problem solver, where we pose an everyday question to three IR professionals and examine their different approaches. In this issue we explore how the respondents tackle ETF rebalancing.
This issue also has a strong regulatory focus. It’s almost two years since Mifid II came into effect and we’ve got several stories about everyone’s favorite EU financial regulation. In Miffed with Mifid, we look at the findings from IR Magazine’s latest research report on Mifid II (spoiler alert: European IROs don’t like it!), while A successful work in progress takes a holistic look at how the rule has been implemented during the last two years. Finally, in Mifid makes its way East, we explore how the rule change has hit corporate IR teams in Asia.
If that’s not enough regulatory content to sink your teeth into, Getting engaged profiles everyone’s favorite European corporate governance regulation: the Shareholder Rights Directive II. Too much regulation for you? There’s a dusting of cannabis in A budding industry and a look ahead to potential 2020 proxy season trends in No going back on ESG and engagement to help take the edge off.
As ever, if you have any questions or comments about the magazine, please do get in touch.
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 Contributors Samantha Cheung, Jeff Cossette, Nisha Hasan, Laurie Havelock, Andrew Holt, Tim Human, Ben Maiden, Linda Montgomery, Chip Newcom, Gill Newton, Peter Taberner 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 Head of events Gargi Iyer Senior events & operations manager Lauren Wilson Conference producer Steven Wade Events co-ordinator Priscilla Lim President Ian Richman Head of sales, EMEA & Asia Sébastien Dutrieu Managing director, content Marie Paul Sales director Brigitte Toledano Head of research Lloyd Bevan Research & customer insight manager Paul Crooke Head of content marketing Stuart O’Hara Digital marketing operations manager Katy Littlewood Marketing manager Stephanie Netchaeva Campaign and content manager Abigail Fajobi Corporate sales manager Paul Campbell Subscription inquiries Asad Daud Tel: +44 20 8004 5015 Email: sales@irmagazine.com
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Cover story photo by Andy HYD on Unsplash