Looking Forward. Delivering More Value.

In a recent message to members, CIRI President & CEO, Yvette Lokker issued the following message, outlining accomplishments of 2013 and initiatives planned for 2014.

Dear CIRI Member,

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful holiday and that 2014 is shaping up to be a good year.

As an IRO, you are in the thick of annual report and AGM preparations, which has you reflecting on your company’s performance for 2013. At CIRI, we are going through the same reflection process. For us, 2013 was a year of challenges and accomplishments. Our accomplishments could not have been achieved without the support of our many volunteers and the small, but mighty CIRI team. Together, we were able to achieve the following:

• We garnered results on our advocacy efforts for equal access to SEDAR filings;
• We advocated and raised awareness for a reduced Early Warning Reporting Threshold;
• We issued four comment papers and six IR Backgrounders/IR Briefs;
• We delivered 53 professional development events including a successful conference with an 85% ‘overall’ rating and 100% ‘would recommend’ rating;
• We virtualized professional development to meet the IROs’ hectic schedule;
• We recognized new Certified Professionals in Investor Relations (CPIRs);
• We released CIRI’s updated Guide to Developing an IR Program; and
• We issued the member needs survey, establishing a benchmark for CIRI.

In 2014, we will continue to deliver similar member benefits to those in 2013, but we also have some new ones in store for you. If you participated in the member needs survey late last year, you will have had a sneak peak at what new initiatives we were considering. Based on the results of this survey we will implement the following in 2014:

CIRI’s Investor Relations Compensation & Responsibilities Survey
We conduct this research biannually and, as evident from the survey results, it is a valuable, highly used resource. Look for an invitation to participate in this survey later this year.

IR Best Practices Research
We will be conducting research on IR practices to reveal trends and best practices – information that CIRI and our members feel would be meaningful. In 2014, CIRI will publish research on four of the following six topics, as selected by you:

• Corporate websites
• Investor presentations
• Governance practices
• Managing shareholder expectations
• Investor days
• Shareholder identification

IR Resource Library
Later this year, we will be introducing an IR resource library, which will contain documents ranging from IR strategic plans to investor day checklists. As a member, you will have access to these resources to assist you in the development of your own strategies and processes.

Free Member Webinar
To make a CIRI membership even more valuable, we have decided to host a free member webinar in July 2014 on capital market dynamics.

To Make These Initiatives a Success We Need Your Support
In order for these initiatives to be successful, we will need your help. When we issue the surveys, please take the time to complete them. When we do a call for sample documents for the resource library, please contribute some of your own (feel free to redact them). And when we host our free webinar in August, please participate. Together we can make a CIRI membership even more relevant and valuable than it is today.

We are now nearing the end of our 2014 membership renewal process. If you have renewed your membership, I thank you for your support. If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to. Our ongoing member benefits coupled with the new initiatives for 2014 make your CIRI membership worth every penny and then some.

If you know of someone in the IR profession that could benefit from a CIRI membership, tell them about us and earn yourself $100 credit. To learn more about our Refer a Friend program, click here.

Warm regards,

Yvette