For the May program, NIRI Boston hosted a panel of investor relations professionals who entered the field from differing backgrounds. The speakers consisted of Connie Chandler, Principal at IR Strategies; Rodney Nelson, Head of Investor Relations at CarGurus; and Carlo Tanzi, Ph.D., Principal at Kendall Investor Relations, to discuss the many paths to the IR profession. Brian Norris, Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations at 128 Technology, moderated the event.
The evening began with the panelists sharing their unique individual paths. According to Connie, she “bumped into” IR. She’d been working in political communications in Oregon when she initially became interested in moving into corporate communications. A colleague arranged several informational meetings for her with individuals at a large public utilities company, one of whom was the head of investor relations. Connie admits that she’d never heard of IR before nor knew its function and almost declined that meeting. Fortunately, she attended the meeting out of curiosity and has found her 20-year career since then to be both rewarding and exciting.
Rodney’s path started in Chicago where he worked as an analyst on the sell side covering technology stocks. Part of his function involved research that exposed him to many internet-based companies, including those that employed a subscription-based revenue model. Just over a year ago, at a time when Rodney was looking for a role with more corporate strategy, he learned of the IR position at CarGurus and felt that would allow him to leverage his experience from the sell side with an opportunity to influence business strategy within a growing organization.
Carlo described his way into Investor Relations as circuitous and admitted that it was only about midway through his career that he even knew what IR was. He was initially trained as a scientist and earned his Ph.D. in microbiology. His post-doctorate work brought him to Boston where he worked in the biotech industry. While holding several different roles within the biotech space, one involving product communications, Carlo worked closely with the investor relations function. As a natural career progression, Carlo ultimately join the IR team and has remained in the field ever since.
After sharing how they transitioned into the Investor Relations field, Brian asked the panelists to think back to when they first started and explain how they got up to speed on the craft. Interestingly, their stories shared two similar threads. All the panelists described a “trial by fire” learning curve. As far as learning the basics of the craft, all three panelists also agreed that NIRI played a pivotal role. Connie turned to NIRI to learn many of the IR processes and relates that, “everything I have learned about Investor Relations and best practice[s]… has come from NIRI. I never missed a meeting. NIRI was a great guide for how to meet the sell side and meet the buy side and how to manage disclosure.” While Rodney had buy side contacts from his past experiences and knew his sell side counterparts, he, too, lacked “great processes” and also turned to NIRI for “great resource[s]” such as e-groups on the national website and networking with other NIRI members. About a month after his transition into IR, Carlo attended NIRI National’s “Fundamentals of Investor Relations” conference and related that it was “phenomenal” in getting him up to speed.
Later in the evening, Brian asked the panelists to impart how they stay current and hone their craft. Connie related that when she first started in the field, understanding the financials was an area in which she needed more knowledge. Talking with her colleagues in the finance department was extremely helpful. Rodney recommended building relationships with peers both within your particular industry and internally within your organization. He encouraged audience members to know their strengths and weaknesses and to attack their weaknesses by reaching out to those contacts to fill their knowledge gaps. Brian agreed that perfecting his craft came down to people and connections, or what he referred to as a “buddy system.” Being able to pick up the phone and call a colleague and glean pieces of advice has been crucial in his career.
On honing the craft, Carlo found it helpful to look at how competitors were communicating such as how they structured their press releases, wrote their scripts, utilized their slides, and answered questions in addition to what messaging they used. He encouraged audience members to pick and follow a handful of companies that they believe are good communicators and have solid management teams.
Brian wrapped up the evening by sharing that the best investor relations practitioners possess a blend of finance, sales, marketing and securities law perspectives as well as knowledge about their company, industry and capital markets. He said that, while technology is making it easier to communicate with people, the challenges within the field remain significant and that there is no easy or quick way to manage the function. Brian concluded by encouraging audience members to keep current and to develop relationships with “the Street,” with peers in your industry and with your fellow IROs.
IRC holders may receive one professional development credit for attending this event.