Money inspires great emotion, ranging from deep red passion to beet-red
anger. Everybody loves it and not many people can stand to lose a lot of it.
Nowhere will you be more caught up in this circle than as an investor relations
(IR) specialist at a corporation.
Although an IR professional has nothing to do with the way a company is
run -- that's the job of the chief executive officer and chief operating
officer -- the IR specialist communicates the good and the bad news of a company,
which can either bring a higher stock price or a lower one.
What you say, says Jay Gould, director of IR at a major corporation, could
affect not only your company, but the world economy. He's not joking.
For example, if you inadvertently pass along some news to the press that isn't
quite ready for prime time, the consequences can be serious.
Suppose this news causes the stock to drop one point, or one dollar. Not
a big deal, you say. It's only one dollar, after all. Suppose your company
has two million shares in the stock market. Your slip to the media just cost
your company $2 million.
Gould recalls being fired by his boss three times over a period of three
days --all because of something he once said prematurely. The first time he
was on business in Amsterdam. The second time he was flying back from Amsterdam
on the company plane, and Gould thought, "What do I do, get off here? I'm
30,000 feet in the air."
As it turned out, his boss hadn't really fired him. "It was his way
of expressing displeasure," says Gould, although Gould was ready to take him
seriously each time.
You need a thick skin in this profession, he says, because you are dealing
with big egos. When a big ego ruptures, the explosion is more intense. It's
even more intense when there is big money at stake.
Despite a few rough spots, Gould loves his job. He says it has a lot of
sizzle, and he likes to deal with the movers and shakers of the world.
At times, the job can be very sobering, Gould says, when you realize how
much what you say affects the outside world. "I've been humbled many
times by my spoken words," he says.
Alex Singal is an IR director for a company that manages prisons located
in Nashville, Tennessee. She loves the challenge of her job. There is no real
routine, she says, and each day is different.
Singal works closely with executive management, such as the chief financial
officer. Gould also spends a lot of time with management. Both say that companies
that are good communicators will let their IR person spend a portion of time
with management.
Singal is something of a financial whiz, having worked for a brokerage
firm before becoming an IR director. In her prior position, Singal was an
analyst, a person who studies companies and decides whether they are good
investments. Analysts rely on IR specialists for information about the companies
they study.
Now, Singal is on the other side of the tracks. She has financial analysts
calling her for information. Math skills are very valuable, but you also need
to be extremely articulate and tell the company's story well, says Singal.
Mary Blair, a member of an investor relations institute, says that a financial
background is most important to success in this field. However, the ideal
preparation for the job can vary considerably, Blair says.
Her example is this: let's say you want to work as an IR specialist
for an oil company. You might have all the communications skills and might
even be a great math wizard, but you don't know the oil industry from
a hole in the ground. There will always be some type of learning curve, Blair
says. So do what you can to prepare, but never expect to stop learning.
You also need boundless energy, says Gould. Since the stock market never
sleeps, an IR specialist needs to be someone who stresses a little and works
a lot. Although the day may appear to be over when the sun sets and the market
closes, remember there are markets in Asia, where the sun is just rising.
Each evening at about 9, Gould prepares for the next day. "This is the
time when the Wall Street Journal releases its Internet edition," he explains.
He scours the screen for his company's name to prepare himself for what
might meet him the next day.
However, if management is doing their job by keeping you informed -- and
if you are doing yours by informing shareholders and Wall Street about your
company -- then surprises will be minimal, says Gould. Outside events might
influence your company and there is nothing you can do to stop that. You just
need to be prepared.
For example, interest rate fluctuations affect Gould's company, which
is in the banking business. In addition, the collapse of the Asian economy
also sent companies' stocks south.
On those bad days, you come in and create a type of cheat sheet that will
walk you through what to say to everyone who calls. The cheat sheet becomes
less needed after a day of about 50 reporters and shareholders asking questions.
If the news is particularly bad, an IR specialist might decide to set up
meetings and travel with management to cities where many investors are located,
such as Boston or New York, says Gould. Here, the IR specialist and management
will make presentations to relieve anxieties.
This is not the type of job anyone could be bored doing, says Gould. "It
is full of peaks and valleys, although I've never had a valley," he says.
Gould would not trade his job for anything, except more time with his family.
"I wish someone would have told me how addictive this would be. You feel you
have a certain amount of power. I didn't know I would like it so much,"
he admits.