This article was produced by ELITE Connect and originally published on the ELITE Connect platform
With a plethora of daily, weekly, monthly and annual tasks to complete, not to mention conference and roadshow event activity and the need to respond to ad hoc requests and situations, it’s fair to say that an IRO’s role can be a busy and challenging one.
With this in mind, we speak to Laura Doyle, head of IR at Legal & General, Marisa Jacobs, senior director of investor relations at Crocs, and Zac Lemons, IR lead at Malibu Boats. They all share their advice and life hacks on how IROs can make their lives that little bit calmer and more organized.
Laura Doyle
Advice: ‘If I had to share one piece of advice it would be not to live and die by the share price. Although we influence some of the factors that can determine share price, we have no control over many of the external – and often global – occurrences that can defy all of our hard work. Sometimes, the market just doesn’t make sense so instead of focusing on the share price, IROs should concentrate their efforts on how they can communicate strategy and respond to their investors during challenging times.’
Life hack: ‘I call my IR hack a ‘meeting tracker’ but it’s really a tracker and target list. Basically, I have a document that lists every institution, detailing its size, its holding with us and our main contact. Importantly, it also contains detailed notes on when, where and in which context we last saw that institution. This tracker enables me to identify those investors we haven’t seen enough of (or those we’ve seen too often) and adjust our contact with them accordingly. It’s not always the easiest thing to keep up to date, but it’s a worthwhile exercise.’
Marisa Jacobs
Advice: ‘The best piece of advice I was ever given was to keep things in perspective. This is our job and also our career choice, so we all want to do our best at it. But there are bigger things impacting the world at large, and family and friends are also important – so don’t let the demands of the job consume your every waking moment.’
Hack: ‘My life hack is all about understanding the timelines and schedules. So much of this job revolves around timing dictated by your company’s fiscal quarter, and that means detailed calendars plus timelines of action items and critical due dates are essential to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.’
Zac Lemons
Advice: ‘Value the executives’ time appropriately. Don’t waste the opportunities you have to use them and their time whether it’s for meetings, events or roadshows.’
Hack: ‘My life hack is organization. I keep detailed checklists for recurring events that happen throughout the year, such as earnings, roadshows, and so on. That way I know I’m organized and won’t miss any valuable opportunities. It’s little things like this that are important to ensure you don’t get stressed out by the role.’
