Jennifer F. McCaughey, Senior Director, Investor Relations and Financial Communications at Transcontinental Inc., enjoys a challenge, whether it’s linguistic, athletic, or professional. Raised in a French community in Montreal, her parents spoke French and English inside the home, and enrolled her in an English elementary school, followed by a French high school, and two years of English education at CEGEP. Shifting fluidly between languages has proven critical to her professionally. “I couldn’t do this job if I weren’t perfectly bilingual,” she says.

At Transcontinental, a Montreal-based printer and provider of media and marketing activation solutions, McCaughey operates in a primarily French-language work environment. However, because she oversees both IR and financial communications, she spends around 85 percent of her workday speaking English, the language of the investment community.

McCaughey says that she and her Anglophone husband are recreating the linguistic mix of her childhood by raising their eight-year-old son and six-year-old daughter in “a hybrid household.” McCaughey speaks French to her children 100 percent of the time, and her husband speaks only English to them.

McCaughey’s ability to move seamlessly between languages epitomizes her approach to her career. After majoring in commerce at McGill and obtaining the CFA designation, she was determined to sample a variety of finance jobs before deciding which suited her best. For McCaughey, IR is the right niche. “IR is a very strategic position, and you’re always dealing with the CEO and CFO. I really like that you are very influential to top management,” she says.

Managing Her Career

Immediately after graduating from university, McCaughey spent two years at Deloitte Consulting, specializing in operational finance, followed by two years at Sprott Securities Inc. (now Cormark Securities Inc.), where she worked as a sell-side analyst covering Quebec-based companies. From there, she did a two-year stint at Andersen Consulting in the Corporate Finance department.

When she arrived at Transcontinental as a financial analyst, she quickly knew that being inside a large public company was the environment she liked most. True to her professional pattern of moving on to a new challenge every two years, she next accepted a lateral move into IR, where her experience as a sell-side analyst proved invaluable. After eventually being promoted IR Director, she changed departments and assumed responsibility for all Transcontinental’s financial communications from the annual and sustainability reports to the AGM. “I’ve been at Transcontinental for ten years, but I’ve had four different positions within the company and gained many different skill sets,” she says.

Be Transparent and Available to the Investment Community

For McCaughey, responding quickly and honestly to investors is the key to success. Her greatest IR challenge occurred in 2008, when the financial crisis hit just as Transcontinental had to refinance a billion dollars in debt and one of its large competitors filed for bankruptcy protection. “Our stock price took a dive, but the CEO, CFO, and myself quickly reacted by going on the road to reassure investors,” she says.

McCaughey put together a presentation entitled “Perception Versus Reality,” in which she explained why the company was financially sound. “You have to know what the market is concerned about and then go out there and address it head on,” she says. “Be transparent and available. In the beginning of 2009, we went out on the road and our stock price rose 20 percent. That’s the power of investor relations.”

CIRI Quebec

McCaughey and her family live on the south shore of Montreal, and she crosses the bridge each morning to reach her office. Although a full-time job and raising young children occupies most of her free time, she’s found that running on her treadmill serves as a needed escape.

For the past three years, McCaughey has served on the board of CIRI Quebec, and was elected President of the Quebec Chapter in June 2012. Her vision as president is to build on the three Es: Engagement, Exposure, and Education. So far, she’s forged a relationship with “Les Affaires,” a French business publication based in Quebec, which now acts as media sponsor and is publicizing CIRI events. She’s also reached out personally to CIRI members to drive greater attendance. The strategy appears to be working as attendance is up over 30% since she became President.

For McCaughey, the greatest benefit CIRI offers is the opportunity to network. “I now know most of the IR people in Montreal. If I want to bounce an idea off someone, I call or email and get a response very quickly. In terms of learning from your peers, CIRI is amazing,” she concludes.