In the 1980s, Tracy Lutz, Founder and President of Calgary-based Keystone Investor Relations Inc., was performing the IR function at Ranchmen’s Resources Ltd., without knowing there was an official name for her job. “Like many people,” says Lutz, “I backed into investor relations. I didn’t know it was called ‘IR.’ I was just doing it.”

Lutz first heard the term “investor relations” when her then-boss Kerry Sully handed her a brochure for NIRI Canada (now CIRI). Over the years, she has served as everything from CIRI Chair to her current roles on the Issues Committee and the Editorial Board. “I feel like CIRI and I grew up together,” she says.

In 2001, after serving as Manager of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at Crestar Energy, Lutz again backed into a dream job: her present incarnation as full-time consultant and entrepreneur. “I didn’t have a business plan,” she recalls. “I began getting calls from people saying, ‘We need a website audit,’ or ‘We need disclosure training."

A Varied Career

Lutz studied public relations at Mount Royal University, and has completed the Canadian Securities Course and the executive development program in the strategic management of investor relations at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

When it comes to essential qualities for IR professionals, Lutz places “personal integrity” at the very top of the list. “When you’re a corporate IRO, integrity means no bluffing. If you don’t have the answer, you don’t try to fake it,” she says. This brand of personal integrity has a practical dimension, too. “If you do bluff, investors realize it and they’ll do an end run around you,” she says.

Integrity is equally important to Lutz in her life as a consultant. Lutz says she makes her clients feel completely comfortable sharing confidential information, knowing she would never divulge it inappropriately.

Lutz also devotes considerable professional energy to pursuits outside Keystone. Although she has worn many hats at CIRI, the proudest accomplishments of her career are writing The Guide to Developing an IR Program, now in its third edition, and her work on CIRI’s Model Disclosure Policy and Standards and Guidance for Disclosure. In addition, she has written over 60 articles for CIRI’s IR leader (formerly Newsline) and IR focus. Lutz relishes the challenge of translating technical information into accessible terms, a skill that applies equally to writing an IR article and drafting a proxy circular or MD&A.

In addition to consulting, Lutz has taught business writing at both the Alberta and British Columbia chapters of the Institute of Chartered Accountants. In this “refresher course,” she reminds accountants to use plain language and to avoid long-windedness, especially in emails.

For her contribution to the development of CIRI and to the IR profession as a whole, earlier this year Lutz was awarded IR Magazine’s Canadian Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Choza on Calle Atun

One thing Lutz appreciates about being an IR consultant is the flexible lifestyle it affords. Twelve years ago, she took a family vacation to Mexico and fell in love with the country. In 2006, she and her husband, Mel, bought a “choza” (the Spanish word for “shack”) in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, a small seaside town half an hour north of Puerto Vallarta.

Lutz likes the rural feel of the village, where neighbors keep chickens and goats. All streets are named after fish, and Lutz’s home is on Calle Atun (Tuna Street). Lutz jokingly refers to her husband as her “own MacGyver” for his skills as a handyman; she boasts that he can fix anything with old shoelaces and cast-off items around the house.

Lutz and her husband have begun traveling between Mexico and Calgary, where their 27-year-old daughter, Mallory, owns Mandala Floral, a flower shop in a trendy neighborhood of the city. The two spend Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and all other major holidays when flowers are in keen demand in Canada, helping out at Mandala.

In her spare time, Lutz is studying Spanish to improve her ability to communicate with friends and neighbours in her adopted home. She and her husband find their Canada/Mexico travels becoming easier to negotiate, thanks to technology, in general, and Skype, in particular. Going forward, the two plan to spend even more time in La Cruz, where Lutz would like to volunteer with Amigos de La Cruz (a charitable organization dedicated to everything from recycling to raising money for computers in local schools) while continuing to take on interesting consulting projects.