The story of how compensation and roles and responsibilities are shifting for Canadian IROs is a triumph of the tortoise over the hare: slow, steady progress logged over many years. The good news is that IR compensation continues to be on the rise, as are prestige and levels of job satisfaction reported by Canadian practitioners. | Read Article |

Reporting on and understanding the value of intangibles has been a hot topic for investors for many years. With the evolution to a service economy, businesses are increasingly investing in intangible sources of value that are often not reflected in financial statements. As the significance of intangibles to value creation continues to increase, stakeholders have expressed a growing and broader interest in intangible reporting. | Read Article |

With the movement towards gender diversity at the Board and management level over the last few years, investors are turning their attention to other related areas of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure. Specifically, questions related to the gender pay gap (i.e. the difference in pay between male employees and female employees, also known as 'equal pay for equal work') are becoming more prevalent. Issuers should pay close attention to this issue and be proactive in gaining insight into their current positions and addressing investor concerns. | Read Article |

In August, 181 members of the Business Roundtable – a Washington, D.C.-based lobby group consisting of CEOs of the world's most influential corporations – updated its Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, for the first time acknowledging that business decisions should deliver value not just for shareholders, but for all stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, communities and the environment. Reaction has run the gamut from applause to scepticism. | Read Article |

Some roadshows are more memorable than others. One of my most memorable was a few years ago when we decided to do a non-deal roadshow in Calgary and Edmonton in the third week of December, on the back of a year-end Board strategy session out West. Delays and cancelled flights left my then-CFO and me competing for flights with Alberta oil sands workers travelling east for the Christmas period, while he tried to explain to his family that he was doing his best to get back to catch a flight for their family holiday the next day. | Read Article |