In this episode of Enquire, we're joined by Peter Russell, an experienced FTSE 100 IRO at Rentokil Initial and Avast. Peter shares what he's learned throughout his career in IR, and why the role is far more human than people expect. We hear about his experience managing some of IR's toughest challenges, such as dealing with activist investors, maintaining investor confidence through leadership changes and communicating effectively during periods of share price pressure.
Peter explains why staying calm matters more than shouting louder, and how IR becomes a steady point of connection when businesses need it the most. You'll also hear Peter's thoughts on measuring success in IR, including why you need hard metrics and soft sentiment, and practical advice on everything from getting feedback from investors to presenting to the board effectively.
In This Episode
Why Peter describes IR as "psychology with a calculator"
The human side of investor relations that often gets overlooked
How IR can maintain continuity and credibility during leadership transitions
Understanding what information investors actually find useful versus treating everything as key
Measuring success in IR: balancing quantitative metrics with qualitative sentiment
Why the numbers tell you how much you're doing but sentiment tells you how well you are doing it
Board communication and the power of one-pagers
The role of AI in IR and why it remains a human business
Career advice for anyone moving into investor relations
Quotes:
"IR is far more human than people expect. One banker put it to me that it’s psychology with a calculator. Markets don’t move on mass; they move on belief. It’s your job as IR to keep that belief grounded, but alive enough to keep people interested.”
"If you spend enough time inside the business with people who make it work, you can learn to tell the story, whatever the sector. I made a point of going out and talking to anyone who could explain why the company created value. Then you start to see the rhythms of the business.”
"AI will probably give us some more capacity by taking on a lot of the heavy lifting and processing analytics. But it’s still way off from matching the judgement and nuance that comes from real conversations.”
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör
Clara Melia. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Clara Melia och inte av,
eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.
