2 Important Takeaways from the NIRI Annual Conference In Orlando

Published on June 30, 2017

For the launch of WeConvene IR at the NIRI Annual conference - Orlando did not disappoint.

Admittedly, the almost constant threat of rain meant we hardly stepped outside of the JW Marriott but this just kept us even more focused on enjoying the strong program of speakers.

As a vendor with a new product, the positive response our WeConvene IR platform received was overwhelming - we gathered invaluable feedback and insight that will help drive the development of our IR feature set.

The conference covered a wide variety of topics relevant to Investor Relations but two key themes stood out for us:

1. Awareness of European MIFID II regulation: Over the past 12 months the topic of MiFID II has been nothing short of omnipresent amongst the European Asset Management community. However, in contrast, this awareness was not reflected among US based IRO’s. A straw poll in one of the sessions highlighted that less than 50% of attendees at the session had any awareness of the upcoming MiFID II regulations and its potential impact.
2. The need to connect directly with investors: As the conference progressed there was an increasing realization among a number of IRO’s that the finance industry is in a period of change and that for the majority of corporates, the level of service they receive from the Sell Side is likely to reduce. Many IRO’s we spoke to were already starting to think about how to “do more with less” and were open-minded on how technology can help them tackle some of the challenges they will face in the next 12-18 months.

Our CEO (Radek Barnert), touched on both these issues in more detail in his interview with IR magazine.