Earlier this month, CIRI announced the graduates of the 2014 Certified Professional in Investor Relation (CPIR) Program – a group of 12 distinguished IR practitioners across all market sectors. The announcement garnered the attention of the entire market when the graduating group rang the bell to open the Toronto Stock Exchange on Dec 1. Congratulations to all of our recent graduates for their hard work and commitment, not only to the program but also to advancing their careers.

CIRI is a global leader in certification and I am proud to be associated with an organization that works so hard to advance and promote its membership. The CPIR designation is probably the single most effective way for our profession to get the attention and earn the respect of the C-suite. A full 10% of CIRI’s members are now certified as a CPIR – an impressive accomplishment in just three years, but one I believe we can strive to increase. I encourage the remaining 90% of our members to attend an information session to find out how the CPIR designation can advance your career.

This is also the time of year to think about membership renewal. All members have received their renewal packages by now and I encourage you to support CIRI by signing up before the end of the year. Among the many benefits of membership, this avoids any interruption of service in your communication with CIRI.

CIRI’s staff continues to work hard on programming and advocacy, and has recently submitted position papers on a number of important issues, including changes to the early warning reporting threshold and the proposed changes to disclosure requirements regarding gender diversity on Boards. These are both issues that will affect every IRO, and CIRI has done an outstanding job keeping its membership informed and up-to-date. I encourage you to read the Backgrounders and Briefs as they arrive in your inbox.

As always, I welcome your comments, questions and feedback on anything CIRI-related. I can be reached at mbrown@edrsilver.com or by phone at (604) 640-4804.