Countless IR articles address how to communicate bad news to disgruntled or fearful investors. Far fewer consider how to tell the most appealing story to a group eager to be part of your company’s growth.
Over the past 12 months, the tenor of investment sentiment has often been quite positive – even in an era of grave global uncertainties, where world events seem to be changing the investment picture on an almost daily basis.
Graham Farrell, Founder and CEO of Toronto-based North Star Investor Relations, finds that taking the temperature of investor sentiment is invaluable. “If you’re not doing your best to understand where the general investment community is at in terms of their mood and what they’re looking for, you’re missing opportunities,” he says. “And the more data points you can use to get a sense of the general mood in the market, the better.”
One source of recent optimism has been a soaring stock market. In 2025, for instance, the S&P/TSX Composite saw total returns of 31.7% to 32%. This benchmark significantly outperformed its U.S.-only counterparts, thanks to surging gold and silver prices and robust returns in banking, according to Morningstar Canada.
“With gains like these, who’s not going to be happy?” asks Janet Craig, Founding Partner at Strategic Endeavours and former IRO at companies that include Maple Leaf Foods and Fortis.
Look a little harder, though, and she points out that gains have occurred unevenly, with index funds often outperforming actively managed funds. She also notes that in Canada, in particular, strong performance has buoyed some sectors and not others. “You have to dig in to see which sectors are doing well and which aren’t,” she cautions.
What’s more, global stock markets were experiencing some wild rides around the time this article went to press, with a new war in the Middle East and surging oil prices making any and all prognosticators qualify their statements.
Gauging sentiment
For IROs, reading the room has always been a critical skill.
“For sure, we take in investment sentiment surveys, and that helps inform our disclosures and reports,” says Adam Borgatti, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development & Investor Relations, at Aecon Group Inc. “The last thing you want to do is hold a conference call and be on a topic when the market has clearly stated that it’s not focused there. They’ve moved on to something else.”
Making pronouncements that almost immediately look out of date has been a liability in 2026.
Already, the headline of the most recent annual study by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), which reads: “Global investors optimistic going into 2026,” looks positively quaint. Still, it’s worth noting that of 1,270 global investors surveyed, Canadian investors expressed slightly more positive feelings than average, with 75% saying their outlook for the overall investment environment was “favourable.”
Recognizing that sentiment surveys aren’t crystal balls, IROs can still find kernels of wisdom to use. For instance, one interesting finding from the OTPP survey is that Canadian investors expressed a strong interest in their own home market. In late 2025, 69% of investors indicated interest in opportunities within Canada, a 24-point increase from the prior year.
As for other topics fueling optimism, technology rated high. In late 2025, 86% of global investors surveyed by the OTPP liked what they saw when it came to the pace of technological change (an increase from 78% in 2024).
Catherine Brunet, Associate Director at Rivel Research Inc. in Montreal, says that knowing investors are interested in themes such as technology can be a great messaging opportunity. She does, however, list a few important caveats. First, topics of interest should be “tied to specific initiatives, roadmaps and measurable outcomes that demonstrate how they improve the company’s operational and financial performance.”
She also underscores that messaging on topical issues should “remain consistent with the company’s long-term equity story.” Appearing to change narratives in response to the trend du jour “can undermine credibility and create confusion with investors,” she says.
In another caveat, Lisa Kramer, Verecan Chair in Behavioural Finance at the University of Toronto, points out that sentiment for retail investors, who are the pension plan members whom OTTP is serving, is not necessarily reflected in a survey such as this one, which canvassed only large institutions.
When approaching retail investors, Kramer reminds IROs to remain aware of the diversity of this audience. Here, she says, “even if on average [retail] sentiment may tilt one way or the other, each investor has their own unique views...Attempting to cater to the average investor may mean missing the mark with a subset of investors.”
How Best to Take the Investment Pulse
For IROs speaking with investors in 2026, a nuanced approach makes sense, given some of the major macro challenges out there. Even before the war in Iran had begun, Craig observed that vacillating policies around tariffs were contributing to a feeling of general uncertainty.
She notes that when there are geopolitical headwinds, sentiment sometimes sours – but not always. “During the Great Recession, people were completely stressed. They didn’t know what was going to happen, and they went hiding under their desks. Same for COVID-19, when things were on fire,” recalls Craig.
Practically speaking, Craig and Borgatti appreciate investor sentiment surveys for providing a set of data points to consider. As seasoned IROs, though, they both rely on a number of different approaches when taking the temperature of their investor audience. One of the best ways to do this, they agree, is to make the most of every opportunity available to talk to investors one-on-one.
“It’s easy to get into a cycle of addressing investor questions, and then the meeting’s up, and you haven’t gotten feedback from them,” says Borgatti. “We try to take a little time in every meeting to ask the investor: ‘What’s on your mind? And what are you seeing out there?’”
In addition, Borgatti relies on industry conferences as a trove of information on investor sentiment about his own company, as well as about his peers and the construction industry more broadly.
Another important source of investor sentiment is investor perception studies, which many companies commission, says Kristine Labrunye, an independent IR consultant and former IR senior analyst at Innergex. These studies are important because they measure the greatest concerns of one’s own investors, she says.
The perception study and the sentiment survey each offer a valuable perspective. Labrunye notes that while investor perception studies provide one piece of a bigger picture, a broad sentiment survey has the advantage of being “anonymous and so investors are more willing to share their way of thinking.”
And as yet another way of gauging sentiment, Labrunye urges IROs to proactively forge strong bonds with sell-side analysts who possess yet another critical piece of the whole sentiment puzzle. She recalls that at Innergex, “We were always speaking with analysts, and so we knew what questions we’d be asked in quarterly calls and at conferences. We were well aware of the key topics of concern prior to quarterly earnings calls.”
Using Sentiment to Craft a Stronger IR Story
In the winter of 2026, levels of optimism in Canada often varied by sector, observes Farrell. Because he works on IR at Amerigo Resources and Hot Chili Limited, both copper companies, he began the year seeing levels of optimism among mining investors “that I haven’t seen in 20 years.”
Farrell advises IR teams communicating into a cyclical uptick to seize whatever golden opportunities come their way.
“The changes I make [in my communications] are subtle, but it’s important to know when to lean into a story that resonates with the investing public,” he says. “From an outreach point of view, people are more receptive to hearing these stories and buying stock because that’s where the alpha is.”
On a cautionary note, Farrell warns against exaggerating aspects of a company’s story just to ride the momentum of a vibe change. “You never want to get over your skis or get too promotional and say things that aren’t true,” he says.
Craig agrees: “Flavours of the moment don’t do all that well when you incorporate them into an investment strategy.”
In the end, Craig emphasizes that in moments of optimism and pessimism alike, the fundamentals of good IR and strong storytelling hold true. “Regardless of the times,” she concludes, “we all benefit when we do a better job of communicating clearly and effectively about the key aspects of value creation of the business.”