PROFILES
PROFILES
September 2017
How I got into IR: I got into IR by way of corporate governance. After earning my bachelor’s degree in finance at the University of Illinois-Champaign, one of my first projects was to tabulate the proxy vote that approved the FDIC’s rescue of failed Continental Bank. Shortly after this began the heyday of leveraged buyouts, and I became recognized as someone who could clearly explain the various LBO transactions and the junk bonds issued to finance them. That skill soon landed me in McDonald’s IR department.At McDonald’s, I oversaw anything that touched the retail shareholder – which was especially important because McDonald’s had nearly 1 million retail shareholders (both registered and Street name) who were also customers. My responsibilities included managing the transfer agent, overseeing proxy solicitation, supervising a shareholder services staff of three, representing the company at retail events such as the Money Show and Better Investing, and placing advertisements in retail investor publications. I helped spearhead McDonald’s becoming one of the first companies to initiate a direct stock purchase program, leverage the web for retail investor communications and video stream its annual meeting over the Internet. Over time, retail shareholders became less important to McDonald’s IR program, so I took on more traditional IR and communications responsibilities, such as supporting the CFO with presentations, the earnings Q&As and meetings with investors and the media.
I’m proud to say: At McDonald’s, I represented shareholders’ views on our capital allocation team and convinced management to substantially increase total cash returned to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases in 2004. McDonald’s stock performance improved dramatically as soon as we articulated a more comprehensive cash return policy. I’m also proud of creating an IR program from scratch after the IPO of SunCoke Energy. On a shoestring budget, I built a program that exceeded the expectations of my CEO and CFO, who were both large-cap company veterans. Many investors commented that our IR program was sophisticated for a company of our size. In 2014, we were recognized by Institutional Investor Magazine as a top-ranked IR program.
Most memorable IR challenge: I faced quite a few challenges heading investor relations and corporate communications at SunCoke Energy, Inc. and its master limited partnership, SunCoke Energy Partners, LP. Surviving a short attack probably was the most complicated and intense challenge. (See the case study.)
What I do: I founded Lead-IR Advisors, Inc. in 2016 to help large and small companies alike integrate their corporate strategy and financials to tell a compelling investor story. My firm is built on my experience in both investor relations and corporate communications, in relating to investors with differing perspectives, and enhancing and protecting corporate reputation and value.
Why NIRI? McDonald’s leadership development culture encouraged me to join NIRI and serve on the NIRI-Chicago board. I’ve headed sponsorship and programs and served as EVP, president and chairman of the chapter. Now I’m on the advisory board and 2017 IR Workshop Committee. [Editor’s note: Lisa was named our 2017 Individual Chapter Leader of the Year in recognition of her contributions.] But I’ve gotten so much more back from NIRI. This has been one of the best experiences of my life because of NIRI friendships, knowledge and resources. If I’m facing an IR dilemma, I can call any number of NIRI colleagues across the country for advice.
Advice for other IROs: Stay positive, be open and always seek to learn more. More specifically, learn your business thoroughly so you can be more effective in telling the investor story. At SunCoke, that took me to some interesting places. The photos above are from one of our coal mines that required a bit of stooping to tour – but fortunately, not one where you had to crawl! (However, it’s amazing and reassuring to see how much technology there is to monitor safety underground.)
What people don't know about me: I’m a volunteer education guide at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. You’ll find me taking school kids on tours of the south Loop to teach them about Chicago’s history, architecture and why design matters.
