Enquire, the Investor Relations podcast
Enquire, the Investor Relations podcast, is hosted by Equitory founder and CEO, Clara Melia. The purpose of Enquire is to bring together Investor Relations and Capital Markets professionals to share their experiences, best practice and offer listeners insights and ideas in the dynamic world of Investor Relations. Clara and occasional guest hosts from the Equitory team have the pleasure of having fascinating and informative conversations with some of the most experienced and well-respected people in the world of Investor Relations.
Enquire, the Investor Relations podcast
Episode 46: Paul Measday - Why IR is Still a “Contact Sport” in the Digital Age
Can you really build meaningful investor relationships through a screen? Zoom and Teams calls have been an invaluable tool in the past few years, but is there an overreliance on remote communication in IR today? Paul Measday, Head of Investor Relations, Ashmore Group plc, joins the podcast to talk about his career and thoughts on IR as a whole. In his view, IR is still a “contact sport,” and traditional relationship-building is critical to successful IR.
IR in the digital age
In this episode, Paul shares his perspective on IR as a team of one in his role at Ashmore Group plc. Previously working as an equity analyst with Cazenove/JP Morgan Cazenove, he qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and has an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from Exeter University and the University of Liège. With experience across multiple areas of finance and capital markets, he brings knowledge and experience of equity research, covering banks through multiple market cycles.
We hear his thoughts on the practical challenges of managing roadshows and proxy voting, and why he believes traditional relationship-building is critical, especially when building new relationships with investors. He discusses Ashmore Group’s strategic approach to investor targeting, their approach to conferences, analyst relations, and the importance of understanding your company’s investment story.
His biggest tip for those thinking about a career in IR is to gain experience in different areas of capital markets and finance to bring something unique to the role and gain credibility across your company.
In This Episode:
- Paul shares details of his career background and the lessons he applies to his role in IR
- What surprised him about the transition into in-house IR
- Paul’s strategic approach to investor targeting
- How a committee-based investment process reduces risks for Ashmore Group
- The biggest challenges in his career and how COVID changed IR
- Ashmore Group’s approach to roadshows and conferences
- Paul’s thoughts on AI and IR tools
- The challenges of liaising with governance teams and proxy voting
- Paul’s biggest tip for people thinking of a career in IR
Quotes:
- "Asset management, the capital markets, it's a contact sport, right? You need to meet people."
- "You can have a Zoom call or some other sort of virtual interaction with a fund manager. If they're a shareholder, it is a good tool because you've already built that relationship. But if you're trying to establish a relationship, everyone will be very polite on the video call, but I'm not sure it leads to anything meaningful."
- "In order to gain credibility, bringing some relevant experience and industry knowledge lets you carve out a slightly different role for yourself under the IR banner so that if you're in the meeting with the finance director and you've only been in IR for a year, you have a role to play in that meeting.”
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