Laurie Havelock, editor, IR Magazine
Laurie Havelock is a journalist, writer and podcaster who has worked with IR Magazine for more than a decade. He was previously assistant business editor at the Daily Telegraph and acting business and money editor at the i newspaper. In his spare time, he is a keen boardgamer and hosts a podcast about them called Idle Fantasy. He lives in London with his husky, Mischa.
Mark Hayes, partner and head of capital markets, Breakwater
Expertise:
• Capital Markets and Investor Relations
• Investor Intelligence (Perception), Strategic, Transaction & Financial Investor Communications, Strategy & Reputation, Special Situations and Crisis Management, Valuation
• Investor Relations Strategy & Process Development and Execution
• Sell-Side/Global Buy-Side/Retail Investors
• Board, CEO & Management Team Advisory (Business Strategy & Operations)
• Transformational Business Strategy & Breakthrough Innovation
• All Sectors and Market Capitalizations
Mark is the Founding Partner of Breakwater Capital Markets, a division of Breakwater Strategy, and Head of Capital Markets Advisory. He advises Pre-IPO, Public Companies, Private Equity, Investment Partnerships, Venture Capital and Family Offices on how to elevate valuation, business, and communication strategies. Additionally, Mark provides counsel to boards, management teams and investor relations officers on how to act on investor intelligence, strategic communications (including, Investor Days and Non-Deal Roadshows), IR Advisory, capital structure (including private credit), IR Advisory, hostile and complementary transactions, management change and other special situations including activist and short seller defense and complex business strategy.
Leveraging his diverse background, Mark engages effectively at all levels of an organization with agility and partner to develop highly differentiated strategy and operating plans. He is deeply invested in the success of his clients and keenly focused on delivering transformational innovation that elevates value.
Before joining the firm, Mark was the Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer of a globally oriented investor relations company where he led the development and execution of the rapidly growing business. Earlier in his career, Mark held executive leadership roles in Strategy, Finance, Operations, Technology, Marketing, Communications, Sales, People, Process and Organization and Product development driving significant improvements in operating performance and P&L results through industry leading levels of employee engagement and breakthrough innovation for impact, many of which set new benchmarks for their respective functions, most recently at a Fortune 15.
Simone Pereira, principal product manager, Q4
Simone Pereira is an established product management leader with over a decade of experience crafting new products and experiences at software development companies. She is a Principal Product Manager at Q4, leading the IROps Platform. Previously, she worked in a variety of industries including restaurant tech, public libraries, and higher education tech.
Stephanie Ascher, managing director, team lead, Precision AQ
Stephanie Ascher is a Managing Director, Team Lead and key member of senior leadership at Precision AQ, where she has served as a strategic advisor to life sciences companies for over two decades.
Stephanie has worked with companies both domestically and globally across Europe and Asia. She has extensive experience working with a range of healthcare companies, from preclinical platform companies to established commercial companies, and across a number of therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare disease, central nervous system disorders, gastroenterology and hepatology, and gene regulation, along with companies focused on diagnostics and specialty pharmaceuticals.
Stephanie has helped numerous private companies navigate the initial public offering process through many different market environments, building public company infrastructure and guiding through the first few years of being on the market. She also works with established public companies to improve IR impact and manage complex strategic issues. Stephanie has successfully advised companies through management transitions, billions of dollars of capital markets financings, significant M&A transactions, activist campaigns and other major corporate updates.
