The Agile Investor Relations Professional: Diverse Strategies for a Changing IR Landscape
By Advisor Lars Sandstrøm, Corporate Relations
A broad set of investor relations (IR) and communication strategies is required when addressing investors and the capital market. Companies need compelling narratives, an understanding of investors’ backgrounds and needs, and new digital and communication skills. These were some of the main themes at DIRFdagen, held at Scandic Spectrum on the last day of September 2025.
Macroeconomic and geopolitical challenges are piling up, and today’s investor relations officers (IROs) must be able to navigate them. Trump, MAGA, and the shifting view on trade policy and tariffs are among the key elements affecting businesses, capital markets, and investors. Steen Bocian of Børsen noted: “We don’t know how all of this will impact the global economy. It’s a bit of an economic experiment. I’m not worried about the next 12 months, but beyond that I believe we could see an institutional breakdown.”
Niels Lunde, also from Børsen, was more optimistic: “The future is as unpredictable as ever, and when markets and economies change, it creates new opportunities for competition and innovation.” He also pointed out that the fundamental challenges for companies remain the same: creating value for investors and customers. But it is crucial to build resilience and to focus on the direct relationship with customers. For investors, the CEO must act as a sense maker – someone who explains and contextualizes the company’s development.
Using the Annual General Meeting to Tell a Story
There are many possible channels to communicate a company’s story and its ability to create value for key stakeholders. Helle Mayor of Mayor Communication explained: “The annual general meeting is an opportunity to bring a company’s story to life. You can leave a strong impression on investors at the AGM, and it’s important to use the occasion as a way to communicate meaningfully across other channels as well.”
In Denmark, many AGMs remain traditional, physical events carried out as a matter of formality. At A.P. Møller-Mærsk, however, Anne Pindborg explained that they have turned toward digital formats, combined with invitations to visit the Mærsk museum and a large container vessel, while also giving investors the chance to meet company leadership. ISS has taken another approach, according to Michael Vitfell-Rasmussen, by hosting shareholders at the company’s headquarters with catering and barista coffee, while also inviting opinion leaders and creating space for informal conversations with management.
Across Europe’s largest companies, the trend is clear: more and more are hosting hybrid events that combine a virtual AGM with some form of physical gathering. This provides international investors with a much better chance to take part. This was also one of the key takeaways from Euronext’s representatives, Jonas Andreas Rasmussen and Mattias Bendixen, at DIRFdagen. They also emphasized the importance of expanding and maintaining shareholder registers (e.g., through an IR CRM system), as many foreign investors are not automatically included.
Tools of the Investor Relations Function
One of the central tasks for IR is to understand the analyst’s role and to contribute to their evaluation of the company and its stock on a well-informed, data-driven basis. Analyst Lars Topholm of Carnegie Investment Bank offered advice to companies and their IROs: “First and foremost, it is crucial that management makes itself available for questions and dialogue in both good times and bad. The conversation about what creates value, and how these value drivers are performing, should be at the center. Companies must also explain the factors that influence value creation, and what is needed for that to happen. Context and transparency are essential.”
Mark Jessen of ATP highlighted that IR plays a vital role in a well-functioning stock market, particularly in terms of managing corporate communication and shaping investor expectations. Similarly, Mikael Bak of The Danish Shareholders Association pointed out that the number of private investors is increasing, and companies and their IROs must support shareholder democracy through open and transparent communication, while also making management accessible to retail investors and their representatives.
Tue Østergaard of HC Andersen Capital supported this view: “The information gap between professional, institutional investors and retail investors is far too wide. It must be closed. Digital communication plays a key role here.”
The importance of strong, effective investor relations is only growing. Oskar Yasar of Broome Yasar Partnership even spoke of a global IR revolution: “IROs are increasingly moving from being communicators to corporate strategists. They are not merely financial storytellers but are also analysts and advisors at the executive level.”
Yasar also discussed the many competencies today’s IR professionals must master—ESG expertise and AI skills being among the most prominent. IR now overlaps with many other functions and is becoming part of a convergence of disciplines such as governance, compliance, ESG, branding, and corporate affairs. Companies must therefore invest in IR and in the tools (e.g., AI systems) needed to advance the profession.
Investors Are People with Feelings
“You have to create a story that speaks to investors’ hearts,” said Mikael Rautanen of Inderes Oy. “The problem is when the story isn’t linked to data and numbers. The narrative comes alive through your key figures.”
Another key point is that intuition and emotions dominate investor decisions and behavior in 70–90% of cases, while rational, analytical thinking accounts for just 10–30%. And investors know this themselves. It therefore makes sense to nurture strong narratives, as long as they are consistent with the numbers and help create realistic expectations among investors. Rautanen added: “You need to be humble and open about mistakes, and the narrative must be consistent over time.”
Karen Bodner of Bank of New York added that the company narrative is critical for managing expectations and for ensuring that IR contributes to a fair stock price: “The story must clearly and convincingly describe the company’s strategy, numbers and results must be transparent, and the broader context—industry trends and competition—must be explained.”
Henriette Wennicke, CFO of Zealand Pharma, agreed on the importance of storytelling when engaging both small and large investors: “It is crucial to know precisely what potential investors are looking for in our company. At the same time, it is important for us to define how we differentiate ourselves from competitors—how our products stand out, and what impact this has for customers.”
