Company spending on investor relations drops as IR executives assume more internal duties, NIRI says
The median base salary of the average IRO in the US has risen a nominal 5.7 percent since 2012, even as companies’ overall spending on IR has declined, according to a survey by NIRI and recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International.
The median base salary for an IRO has increased to $185,000 a year in 2014 from $175,000 in 2012 after rising from $156,000 between 2010 and 2012, according to the survey. Adjusted for inflation, the average yearly gain is 2 percent over the past two years. The average cash bonus has increased 6.2 percent to $69,000 in 2014 from $65,000 in 2012.
Meanwhile, the largest proportion of companies – 34 percent – report IR budgets in 2014 of between $500,000 and $1 mn, down overall from 2012 when the largest proportion, also 34 percent, reported annual IR budgets of between $1 mn and $2.5 mn.
‘We’ve seen IR executives take on a steadily increasing number of other internal duties, more of them holding upper-level educational and professional credentials, and a steady influx into the field of former Wall Street sell-side and buy-side analysts,’ says Jeffrey Morgan, president and CEO of NIRI, in a press release. ‘Investor relations professionals are a public company’s primary conduit to Wall Street and play a critical role in its securities achieving fair valuation, and the rising IR compensation data reflects this.’
The median base salary of IROs from Fortune 500 companies is $195,000 this year, 11.4 percent more than the median of $175,000 earned by IROs at other companies, the survey shows. Salaries of Fortune 500 IROs, however, are little changed over the past two years, while the average cash bonus of Fortune 500 IROs is $82,732.
‘While having functional expertise will always be core to success in the profession, increasingly there are opportunities for IROs with the right leadership and business skills to expand the scope of their role and take on even greater responsibilities within the enterprise,’ says Richard Marshall, Korn/Ferry International’s global managing director of corporate affairs and IR, in the press release.
