NIRI Virtual Chapter Newsletter | | NIRI Virtual's quarterly newsletter keeps our members and friends informed of everything that is going on with our chapter and in the world of investor relations. | | |
A Letter from the Chapter President
Summer is just around the corner, and we’re closing out another active and engaging NIRI Virtual Chapter season. From programs on investor days, proxy season, buy- and sell-side expectations, corporate access, market themes, and investor communications, to our Café Chats and Book Club, this year reflected what makes our chapter so valuable: timely content, practical takeaways, and a community that is generous in sharing ideas and experience.
As we continue this momentum, I encourage you to join us for two important May programs. On May 14 (tomorrow!) our members only Café Chat will focus on the future of investor perception audits.
Then, on May 19, we have a particularly exciting opportunity: Strengthening the Narrative and Closing the Valuation Disconnect, a full-day hybrid conference presented in partnership with CFA Society New York. This is exactly the kind of candid, practical exchange between IR and Wall Street that our chapter was built to deliver. The program will bring together IROs, investors, analysts, and capital markets leaders to discuss how companies can sharpen their narrative in a market defined by information overload, including sessions on AI and automation, pre-earnings communications, hedge fund expectations, the data points that move the needle, and new approaches to investor communications. If you can be in New York, please join us in person at a special discounted rate of $35 for the full program, networking lunch, and cocktail reception. Virtual Chapter members can access the livestream for only $20. The event will not be recorded, so please make plans to join as much of it as you can live.
Looking ahead, we hope to see many of you at the NIRI Annual Conference in Chicago and at our members-only happy hour at Lizzie McNeill's on Sunday, June 7. Come and meet your colleagues and some of your board members.
As we head into summer, please see your email for ballots for the NIRI Virtual Chapter Board of Directors. Our chapter is member-driven, and your vote is critical to shape the programs, events and community we will build together next season. Please vote!
Finally, as we wrap up the chapter year, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our Board of Directors, volunteers and sponsors. Each season is made possible by those who give their time, ideas and support to organize programs, create networking opportunities, work with our partners, support NIRI’s advocacy efforts and keep our members informed. Thank you for helping make NIRI Virtual such a vibrant and valuable community.
Thank you all for your support and engagement. We look forward to seeing you at our May programs and in Chicago.
All the best,
John Nunziati
NIRI Virtual Chapter President
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Upcoming Events
NIRI Virtual Café Chat (Members Only)
The Future of Investor Perception Audits
Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET / 9:00 AM PT
Join us for a NIRI Virtual Chapter members-only Café Chat on the future of investor perception audits. Perception audits, also known as perception studies, are evolving from annual, retrospective sentiment checks into real-time, AI-driven and highly integrated strategic intelligence tools. As capital markets become increasingly volatile and influenced by automated trading, these audits are becoming essential tools for anticipating activist intervention, closing valuation gaps and aligning with next-generation investor expectations.
The discussion will feature Mark Hayes, Partner and Head of Breakwater Capital Markets. Register Here!
Strengthening the Narrative and Closing the Valuation Disconnect: Where the Capital Markets Meet Messaging Conference
Tuesday, May 19, 2026, 11:30 AM – 7:00 PM ET
Full-Day Hybrid Event: In Person in New York City and Live-streamed
For IROs working to sharpen their company’s story, better understand investor expectations and address valuation disconnects, this full-day program offers direct access to the perspectives shaping capital markets conversations.
NIRI Virtual Chapter and CFA Society New York are bringing together investor relations professionals, capital markets participants and financial leaders for a full-day candid exchange on how companies can strengthen their narrative in a market defined by information overload. Topics will include AI and automation, pre-earnings communications, hedge fund investor expectations, the data points that move the needle, and innovative approaches to investor communications.
Speakers and moderators include leaders from McGraw Hill, Needham & Company, Ciena Corporation, Revvity, Schroders, Point72, NYSE and others.
Attend in person at CFA Society New York in New York City to participate in the full program, including networking lunch and an end-of-day networking cocktail reception.
Can’t make it to New York? NIRI Virtual members can access the livestream for only $20 ($40 for NIRI members/$50 for non-members) and drop in and out throughout the day to catch as much of the program as your schedule allows.
Please note: this event will not be recorded. Join live, either in person or via livestream, for deeper insights, more candid perspectives and a lively exchange between IR and Wall Street. Register today by emailing admin@nirivc.com for your invite.
If you have trouble registering, please contact admin@nirivirtual.org
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Vote for YOUR NIRI Virtual Chapter Board of Directors!
Every year, the members of the NIRI Virtual Chapter elect Board Members to represent them and create the programs and events for the coming NIRI Virtual season. Please find ballots in your emails in the coming weeks and Vote!
| | | The NIRI Annual Conference is the premier professional development and networking event of the year bringing together IR professionals from across the U.S. and around the world. In an industry that is quickly evolving, it is crucial to keep ahead of emerging trends and developments that can impact your organization. NIRI2026 delivers the solutions and connections you need to thrive in an ever-changing and complex landscape. Register! | | | | |
Members Only Meet Up at the NIRI Annual Conference!
Sunday, June 7th, 2026 starting at 6:30 pm
Lizzie McNeill's Irish Pub, 400 North McClurg Court
Chicago, IL 60611
We will be hosting a NIRI Virtual Chapter members' only Happy Hour at Lizzie McNeill's on the first night of the NIRI Annual Conference! The NIRI Annual Conference is the only opportunity each year for NIRI Virtual Chapter members to meet in person. Come join us!
Keep an eye on your inbox to RSVP! (Registration required)
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Call for Volunteers
Each NIRI Virtual programming season is made possible by our Board of Directors, who volunteer their time to organize and host events, support member networking and professional development opportunities, work with our partners and sponsors, support NIRI's advocacy efforts, and help keep our members informed.
As the Virtual Chapter continues to grow, we are looking for members interested in becoming more involved in shaping our programming and community. If you are interested in volunteering to support chapter initiatives, we encourage you to reach out. Please contact admin@nirivirtual.org to learn more about current volunteer and board opportunities.
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Join the NIRI Virtual Book Club!
Did you know NIRI Virtual has its own Book Club? Come join us! Open to all NIRI Virtual Chapter members, the Book Club meets every few months. Join us for a lively discussion and to meet some other VC members!
Please contact Paige Tractenberg at admin@nirivirtual.org to join the club, recommend a book and for the meeting link.
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Did you know that NIRI Virtual Programs are both CPE- and NIRI IRC PDU-approved? By answering the survey questions within a program, you can earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits, but you also earn Professional Development Units that count towards the PDU requirement to maintain your IRC status.
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Join NIRI Virtual!
Love NIRI Virtual's content and community, but not yet a member? Join us! NIRI Virtual is now the largest NIRI chapter! Chapter members hail from more than 10 countries and over 35 industries, representing all ranges of market capitalization and IROs just entering the profession to those with decades of experience. This wide-reaching, global perspective enhances our members' networking and idea-sharing opportunities.
| | NIRI Virtual is one of the largest NIRI Chapters with over 260 members worldwide. New NIRI Virtual members who joined recently include the following. Welcome! | | |
Andrea Bolyard
MGIC Investment Corporation
Geoffrey Buscher
Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
Stacy Digby
ICR
Deborah Hancock
Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc.
Cole Handley
FedEx Corporation
Kevin Haseyama
First Hawaiian, Inc.
Jon Kathol, MBA
Tyson Foods
Mike Lind
Huntington Bancshares, Inc.
Berenice Munoz Jalpa
Arcosa, Inc.
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Saumira Poorsaleh
Curran & Connors, Inc.
Julianne Senulis
Mooney IR LLC
Vance Sherard
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.
Danna Tao
T-Mobile US, Inc.
Ashley Thorne
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited
Mickey Walsh
Ingevity
Timothy Wirth
Elementl
Mark Hayes
Breakwater Strategy
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Quarterly Communion
People writing about the SEC’s proposal to eliminate the quarterly reporting requirement seem to find it equivalent to the Pope blurting heresy like doing away with Communion.
Spencer Jakab wrote in the Wall Street Journal May 12 (subscription required) in a piece titled “Why Give Investors Less Information?” that scrapping quarterly reports solves a problem no one had.
I opined when word broke that the SEC was considering it. Read it for historical perspective if nothing else. It’s a fraught issue. Why do we report financial results? Well, to inform our investors, right? Is that what happens?
It should be somewhat amusing that throughout my thirty years in this profession we’ve complained about “short-termism.” Businesses don’t run quarter-to-quarter. But we report results that way, prompting a focus on fleeting changes rather than long-term value.
And yet there’s a lot of pushback from our community – the same people decrying short-termism – over this proposal to at least elongate short-termism. I think there’s a bit of fear in the investor-relations profession too that if we’re not running the earnings gauntlet every quarter, how do we deliver value?
First, what is money buying? The data are overwhelming. From our 401ks to our 13fs as public companies, it’s apparent that the investment industry is dominated by asset-allocation. At ModernIR we track the data, and I’m going to peg actively management assets at roughly 36% of the total now, a distinct minority.
Morningstar data representing a cross-section of investment management shows Passive assets outnumber Active assets by two-to-one. There are $15 trillion of assets in ETFs, which depend on an “arbitrage mechanism” with an underlying statistical basket for prices (not your earnings reports or SEC filings).
If the money is following models, why are we spending all our time pumping out fundamental data? It’s not a wise use of time. It’s like a gym workout that doesn’t change your fitness level. Why are you doing it?
Second, look what’s happening around earnings. Volatility has exploded. Bets abound. Earnings reports have become the biggest arbitrage event in the equity market. Earnings are the perfect Prediction Market bet.
There’s a study from researchers at UC San Diego looking at the 50 most liquid S&P 500 stocks around earnings. The assessment spanned some 89 billion quotes, eight billion transactions. Oversimplifying, it found that nearly all statistical returns were consumed within seconds of financial results hitting the wire outside regular hours.
And the study was for data into 2020. Volatility around earnings is up another 50% since then.
Automated traders (now AI-powered to boot) capable of reacting instantly to machine-readable data gobbled up returns, long or short. Outside market hours where most people aren’t trading and can’t trade. How is that helpful to long-term holders?
Summarizing, the money today follows models. Reactions around earnings are arbitrage. By shifting – and it’s a choice, not a mandate – from four arbitrage events per year to two, might we help long-term money do better and reduce the scope of instantaneous machine-driven arbitrage? We need to adapt as a profession.
I’m reading More Money Than God, by Sebastian Malaby (I probably should have gotten to it awhile ago). There’s a vignette about a guy in the early days of hedge funds (the first was Alfred Winslow Jones who launched a “hedged fund” in 1949), who went down to the SEC to read quarterly filings rather than wait for the post office to deliver them.
It was an edge.
Today, machines and hedge funds reacting instantly to earnings have the edge. I’m for shaking that up. One way is to chop in half the number of opportunities they get to clock our stocks with bets. You don’t have to. But it becomes a tool in the kit.
Want to know more? Tim Quast is founder and President of ModernIR. ModernIR brings the technology, analytics and expertise that help IR teams, executives and Boards drive shareholder-value in quantitative markets. To learn more, visit modernir.com
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