As 2025 draws to a close, it feels like we are coming to the end of a particularly important year for capital markets. Over the past 12 months, we have seen global markets grapple with major macroeconomic changes, including Donald Trump's return to the White House, continued instability in Europe and the Middle East, and the evolving role of AI, as well as more local changes in the daily lives of IROs.
What's consistent is that we focus on the issues that matter most to our readers, whether it's the changing role of the proxy advisor, what AI can do for IROs, or just the latest best practice data.
As always in December, we highlighted pieces that resonated with our audience to find out where IRO will be focusing its time as we head into 2026.
As a pleasant surprise, the article, which attracted the attention of thousands of readers, revealed how one leading investor relations executive spends a significant portion of his workday engaged in virtual adventures in fantasy and science fiction worlds rather than talking to investors. This is how Karolina Gunas, head of investor relations at Polish video game developer CD Projekt, enjoys the studio's biggest hits with the investment community.
This was the most read article of the year, and for good reason. Our readers always say they love hearing how other IR teams (often from different geographies and industries) are dealing with the unique challenges of their roles.
“One of the great perks of working in IR in the games industry is that you often get to play, or have to play, our games during work hours, so I played both The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 during work hours,” Gunas said.
Another article in the top 10 was a conversation with Scott Parsons, head of investor relations at Canadian mining company Alamos Gold, about doing more with less and why he's still a big fan of virtual meetings.
The second most-read article of the year was a guest column by David Grunfeld, founder and CEO of aiiro, who looked at how AI can help set new standards for investor engagement as its use in capital markets matures. This was a topic he explored in more detail during a panel at the AI & Technology Forum – Europelater in the same year.
Another guest column ranked third. Andrew Kakabadse, Professor of Governance and Leadership at Henley Business School, and Dr. Reeves Knight, Chairman and Governance Advisor at Minerva Lending, wrote about how traditional corporate governance models are being eroded by the consolidation of power among the Big Three financial institutions: BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors.
A consistent theme of IR Impact's 2025 deep dive is the nature of the relationship between IR and the sell-side, the associate editor said. garnet roach It has been explored on many occasions. Her fourth most read article of the year was one in which she spoke to several former sellsiders, including analysts, researchers, and corporate access professionals who have moved into in-house investor relations roles.
“I underestimated the work that went into this quarter's preparation, management discussions and analysis, or conference calls to anticipate all the potential questions that could be asked,” said Bonita To, director of investor relations at First Quantum Minerals, who has held sales and research roles for more than 20 years.
roach We also examined exclusive IR impact data on the evolution of sell-side relationships based on a survey of hundreds of in-house experts. Part 1, which looked at the value of research, was one of the most read articles of the year and is worth a deep read as part of your 2026 preparations, as is the follow-up, which looked at coverage numbers, when and how analysts want to engage, and forecasts and negative ratings, respectively.
As mentioned above, Trump's return to the White House and the reinvigoration of trade and tariff policy was something the IRO had to consider throughout the year. In April, Andre Vasconcelos, IR Impact editorial board member and chief strategy and investor relations officer at Fichter Alimentos, discussed what that means for companies outside the U.S., particularly his home country of Brazil, in his fifth-ranked article of the year.
Other articles in this year's top 10 included my simple analysis that while a lean CSRD may sound good, ESG-minded investors won't be happy. Guide by Petter Hedborg, CEO and Founder of Modular Finance. Learn how data quality is critical for IROs to effectively use AI. And an overview of the summer's latest meme stock mania that drove up Krispy Kreme and American Eagle's stock prices.
All of this shows that the challenges you faced last year were multifaceted. Of course, there is a high possibility that next year will have a similar result…
Got a favorite article we didn't see here? Let us know via LinkedIn or email us. [email protected].
