CIRI BC Chapter Update

How do you interact with your company’s Board? As an IRO, establishing this relationship can be both intimidating and difficult. Bob Garnett, Chairman, Great Panther Silver and Jeff Chater, Principal, Namron Advisors, both experienced Board members, along with moderator Rhonda Bennetto, Vice President, Corporate Communications, Great Panther Silver, held a lively discussion in October at our BC Chapter event entitled Should Investor Relations be Board Business? The unanimous answer was yes!

One of the most important things for the IRO to remember is that he or she provides a conduit from investors and the investment community to the Board. It is the IRO’s job to ensure the executives and Board understand the current corporate messaging, shareholder sentiment, ownership trends, buy-side feedback and sell-side information.  

How do you present this data to the Board? Is a written report more suitable than a verbal presentation? Each Board and the IRO’s relationship to it will be different. It is important to establish and maintain a good rapport and continually evaluate the information the Board would like to see. Be proactive with your Board and carefully select the information you are providing. 

Effectively communicating with your Board will help your team be aware of market conditions and sentiment, thereby allowing the IR group to make the best decisions possible.
 

CIRI Alberta Chapter Update

In November CIRI Alberta hosted an interactive lunch seminar entitled Shareholder Outreach – Are You Hitting the Target? Attendees heard how to improve their targeting efforts and learned best practices for non-deal roadshows in today’s changing markets.

Jeffrey Tha described his new online service tool called Meetyl, which is aimed at assisting IROs in finding quality institutional investors. 

In December, the Chapter held its annual holiday event at Centini’s restaurant in Calgary. CIRI colleagues were able to reconnect and make new contacts, while celebrating the spirit of the season.

As part of CIRI Alberta’s holiday tradition, the event included a charitable focus. In lieu of payment to attend, CIRI members contributed a bottle of wine to a ‘wine tower’ that was raffled off to a lucky winner – congratulations Lavonne Zdunich! All proceeds from the raffle were donated to the Calgary Poppy Fund.

CIRI Ontario Chapter Update

In November, CIRI Ontario toasted the holiday season at a wine tasting fête at Eight Wine Bar in Toronto. Seventy guests sampled new- and old-world wines, dined on delectable hors d’oeuvres and caught up with old – and new – friends. CIRI Ontario is grateful to its generous sponsors for their support:  Ipreo (Gold sponsor); Webfilings (Silver sponsor); Fundamental Communications; Merrill Corporation; Laurel Hill; Corbin Perception; Craib Design & Communications; Moveable Inc.; and CNW. Fabulous door prizes were donated by CIBC Corporate Access; IR Magazine; Cineplex; and Chorus Call. 

The same month, CIRI Ontario provided attendees with a View from the Sell-Side. This insightful session featured a distinguished panel of sell-side experts: Rajiv Bahl, MD, Former Head, Financial Institutions Group (Canada) at RBC Capital Markets; Jeff Clapp, MD & Co-Head, Institutional Equity Sales at National Bank Financial; Jamie Coulter, GM & Senior MD, ECM at Raymond James Canada Financial; and Stephen D. Walker, MD, Head of Global Mining Research at RBC Capital Markets.

CIRI Ontario had an excellent start to its 2013-2014 season, holding five great events to support professional development, networking, and career objectives. We look forward to our second Mentorship Breakfast, which will be held on January 21 and led by Michelle Dodokin, VP, Grey Power Insurance Brokers, as well as our January 28 event featuring Andrew Willis, who will describe his career journey from journalist to corporate communicator. This session will be webcast.

CIRI Quebec Chapter Update

The Quebec Chapter recently held a very successful program on Shareholder Activism, which featured two experts: William Orr, Partner, Fasken Martineau and Glenn Keeling, Executive Vice President, CST Phoenix Advisors. More than 35 people – many of them first-time attendees at a CIRI event – were present for the lively discussion.

The Chapter also held its Christmas cocktail party, preceded by a very interesting session on Crisis Communications. More than 50 attendees heard the views of François Ramsay, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs and General Counsel of Yellow Pages. He provided interesting insights into the crisis faced by Yellow Pages.