A View from Above: A Fireside Chat with Fortune 500 CFOs
By Steven Rubis
Panelists:
Dave Barry, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Fortune Brands Innovations
Jeremy Heaton, Chief Financial Officer, Alight Solutions
Moderator: Joni Konstantelos, Managing Director, Riveron
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- According to the CFOs on our panel, best-in-class investor relations officers (IROs) focus on two things: (1) how they can provide the best value, and (2) opportunities to progress in their careers. The best IROs often operate as a utility executive – i.e., an officer of the firm – and can offer valuable information and insights for investors, as well as colleagues inside the company.
- IROs at this high-performing level typically have benefited from great collaborative relationships across the C-suite and with key departments, including finance, human resources, marketing, sales and legal. These relationships, and the IRO’s ability to communicate clearly, concisely and effectively, can set the stage for career progression. Many IROs ultimately want to become CFOs. During a transition to the CFO role, time management becomes an even greater focus. For example, a new CFO typically needs to rely on the new IR team to be extra-judicious about granting investor meetings.
- One pathway to the C-suite involves rotating through IR, a career path that has become more common at larger companies. The other pathway is for IROs to pitch in during a crisis, such as an activist investor campaign, to demonstrate value based on specific skills that are relevant to a larger role.
- IROs can provide value by “being the intellectual sparring partner to the CFO,” said Dave Barry of Fortune Brands. “A great IRO can provide constructive feedback and difficult feedback in private. He or she can help the executive team push the envelope on thinking.” Added Jeremy Heaton of Alight Solutions, “The best IROs exhibit a great knowledge of the business and inherent strategy. Their knowledge and experience can help the company really supercharge the corporate narrative and attract the right investors.”
- These executives assess the success of investor relations based in part on valuation of the underlying stock, shareholder base composition and the investor calendar – in other words, ensuring the company goes to the right meetings, investor conferences and non-deal roadshows to find the right investors. In fact, these IROs ultimately can help drive a complete shift in shareholder composition.
- Best-in-class IR goes beyond the C-suite to inform the board of directors about how investors see the company, thus better informing board decisions.