And the IR Society’s lunchtime event, during which Gary Liebowitz of SAB Miller questioned three top fund managers was a classic example of time well spent.

No doubt everyone there took different things from it, but for me, these included:

• The word ‘relations’. Do the investor/ IR teams truly have a relationship? Increasingly so; 25 years ago IR people had little credibility, and w... ]]> 09 Nov 2011 02:26:40 GMT In this era of more transparency, a rather surprising development. The European Commission has published a set of proposals following its earlier consultation on changes to the Transparency Obligations Directive.  There are several (sensible) proposals affecting disclosure of major holdings (to incorporate CFD disclosures) and improve... ]]> 31 Oct 2011 10:24:08 GMT Big Bang was 25 years ago this week. It was interesting to hear on the Today programme Terry Smith’s analysis of the impact of the changes this revolution has made. Aside from loss of the open outcry, long lunches, personal accountability ( and increased professionalism it must be said), Terry highlighted the increases in detailed regulation.

Studies and more studies. For an industry that is less than widely recognised, the number of studies on aspects of investor communication is surprising.

New studies covering everything from the impact of new social media voting systems, to concerns about the impact<... ]]> 13 Oct 2011 03:03:56 GMT "The play's the thing!" said Hamlet. However as the plot goes on to reveal, the audience for the play within a play turns out to be more important.

The preparers of corporate reporting have many challenges as they sit down to plan the content and structure of their reports. Getting the right investment story across, making the content interesting, flowing, cliche-free. Gathering the information in the first place, winning management buy in, mapping mandatory disclosures AND b... ]]> 29 Sep 2011 12:36:34 GMT Congratulations. You have found the new location for the blog. I thought it was time to move, and also think about what I want to blog about.

Many years ago I worked with a colleague who was a Texan. He had a terrific way of putting things into perspective, and language that did so. One of my favourites was “It’s hard to concentrate on draining the swamp, when you are up to your ass in alligators”. I suspect many an IRO has empathy with the thought.

So what are... ]]> 15 Sep 2011 10:07:32 GMT