Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial community constituents. The largest professional investor relations association in the world, NIRI’s more than 3,500 members represent 2,000 publicly held companies and $5.4 trillion in stock market capitalization.
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Investor Relations Officers See Stable Compensation Through Recession, According to NIRI and Korn/Ferry Survey
- Survey Results Highlight Strategic Value of Key Management Role -
WASHINGTON, May 19, 2010 – Despite the dramatic economic downturn and resulting stock market volatility, the Investor Relations Officer (IRO) continues to play a key management role in publicly traded companies according to the results of a new survey conducted by Korn/Ferry International and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). The survey of NIRI member and Fortune 500 corporate IROs shows that average base salary ranges and department budgets have held steady since the recession began.
Key survey findings:
v Salaries – Despite the dramatic economic downturn and resulting stock market volatility, average base salary ranges of corporate IR practitioners were essentially unchanged from the last survey (published in 2008), with the largest segment reporting a range of $126,000 - $150,000.
Ø Reported base salaries range from a low of $100,000 and below to a high of $700,000.
Ø Forty-eight percent of Fortune 500 IRO* respondents earn an annual base salary of more than $225K.
v Bonuses – The proportion of IROs receiving bonuses increased – 86 percent of those who were eligible to receive a bonus report receiving bonuses for 2009 compared to 82 percent in 2008, though 65 percent report a reduction in bonus amount.
Ø Forty-one percent of Fortune 500 IRO respondents receive an annual cash bonus of more than $100K.
v Budgets – IR budgets remain virtually unchanged compared to the prior survey.
Ø The large majority of public company IR departments (78 percent) have experienced no change in staffing levels over the past year, while 11 percent of respondents report an increase in staffing.
Ø A large proportion of Fortune 500 respondent IROs (45 percent) manage IR budgets between $1 million and $2,499,999, while another 27 percent of executives report budgets in the range of $500,000 and $999,999.
“Though this survey paints a picture of expected modest belt-tightening in light of the recent recession, I am pleased by data points such as consistent investor relations salary, budget and staffing levels,” said Jeffrey D. Morgan, president and chief executive officer of NIRI. “These findings support the strategic value that public company management teams rightly place in the investor relations function and high-performing investor relations officers and teams regardless of economic cycles.”
“During the recessed market, many IROs took on greater workloads as organizations downsized, most without receiving a salary adjustment,” said Pepper Binner, senior client partner in the Corporate Affairs Practice of Korn/Ferry International. “As the economy rebounds we are seeing the hiring market open up, with demand particularly high for IRO candidates with steep financial acumen and analyst capabilities, experience building an IR function from the ground up, and crisis communications expertise. Employers would be wise to think competitively about their compensation strategy in order to recruit the best IR talent available in the market, and retain the existing talent they have within their organization.”
Survey Methodology
The NIRI-Korn/Ferry International IRO Compensation Survey collected compensation and job data from NIRI corporate members as well as Fortune 500 IROs (97 percent of whom are NIRI members) in March 2010. The response rate was 25 percent.
About the National Investor Relations Institute
Founded in 1969, NIRI (www.NIRI.org) is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial community constituents. NIRI is the largest professional investor relations association in the world with 4,000 members representing 2,000 publicly held companies and $5.4 trillion in stock market capitalization.
About Korn / Ferry International
Korn/Ferry International, with a presence throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, is a premier global provider of talent management solutions. Based in Los Angeles, the firm delivers an array of solutions that help clients to attract, develop, retain and sustain their talent. Visit www.kornferry.com for more information on the Korn/Ferry International family of companies, and www.kornferryinstitute.com for thought leadership, intellectual property and research.