AGM season is upon us and that has me thinking about CIRI and what we have accomplished over the last year. Here are the highlights:

We Represented IROs' Views on Public Policy

• We continued to advocate for greater transparency of share ownership.
• We submitted comments on take-over bids and issuer bids, as well as the Ontario Business Corporations Act.

• We hosted two Issues Committee update webinars to inform members of regulatory changes and provide them with an opportunity to voice their opinions to regulators.

We Kept IROs Current on Leading IR Practices through Professional Development and Resources

• We hosted 41 professional development events between National and the Chapters, all aimed at keeping our members up-to-date on the changing role of investor relations and the evolving capital markets. Many of these events were offered via live or archived webcasts, making professional development available to all members across Canada, at any time.

• We hosted two free to members webinars, on Trends and Best Practices in Investor Presentations and Strategic Communications: The Key to an IRO's Success.

• We issued nine IR Backgrounders keeping members current on regulatory issues.
• We published six issues of IR leader and six issues of IR focus.
• We published IR directions: Board-Shareholder Engagement & Governance Practices to establish benchmarks and identify trends.
• We published CIRI’s Investor Relations Compensation and Responsibilities Survey.
• We launched the second phase of the IR eLibrary, with sample IR documents contributed by IROs on crisis communications and media relations.

We Raised Awareness of the IR Profession

• With the successful completion of the 2014-2015 CIRI/Ivey Investor Relations Certification Program and the certification exam that followed, 16 students were awarded the CPIR designation. There are now 68 individuals who have earned the CPIR.

What is Next?

We have some exciting plans for 2016. We will continue to strive to provide members with greater value by offering:

• Four issues of IR directions, research to identify best practices and trends in IR, on topics selected by members through our recent member survey;
• Updated Standards & Guidance for Disclosure and Model Disclosure Policy; and
• New events for senior level IROs.

At the same time, we have developed a vision for the organization; one we intend to achieve within the next three years. We have identified areas that we feel are imperative to realizing this vision and are working diligently to further these in order to develop a new strategic plan for the organization. I look forward to providing more insight on our plans soon.

Sincerely,

Yvette