“A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste” – Meet Aprio Investor Relations’ CEO

By Koketso Mamabolo

Nikki Catrakilis-Wagner, CEO at Aprio Investor Relations

Nikki Catrakilis-Wagner knows how to walk through the eye of a storm. She knows how to guide businesses through a crisis and she’s happy to share some of her insights with the business community. 

Before she got into investor relations (IR), she started her career at the South African Reserve Bank, after completing her postgraduate studies in economics. Nikki completed her MBA while running a corporate treasury. “My thesis was on whether share prices reflect fundamentals or emotion.”

Her employer at the time had sponsored her studies, and when she presented her findings to the executive the CEO thought she would be perfect to fill a vacancy in investor relations. She went on to hold various senior IR positions. 

“As CEO of Aprio Investor Relations, I’m able to share my many years of experience with clients and team members, groom and mentor young and up-and-coming IRO’s, while being challenged with the strategic and operational costs of the business.”

Here she explains how organisations can be guided through a crisis, the mistakes many make when dealing with a crisis, and more.

How do you go about guiding companies through a crisis?

In the eye of the storm, stay calm. Clients will look to you for advice and guidance when the going gets tough. Be the voice of reason and where necessary step in as a sounding board or as a contact for specific stakeholders. In the context of Investor Relations, it’s important to understand that equity markets and how you communicate are regulated by the JSE Listing Requirements. A sound understanding of these helps our clients remain compliant while still communicating.  

What mistakes do companies make when dealing with a crisis?

In the first instance, they are not prepared. Companies need to ensure that they have robust plans in place for every eventuality and the right partners to guide them through it. Secondly, they don’t maintain sound stakeholder relations during the good times making it difficult to find support when the going gets tough. The biggest mistake companies make is that they don’t communicate. A good crisis is a terrible thing to waste. It inevitably means that you have investors’ attention – regardless of the reason – and so it is an opportunity to tell your story.

Please could you share an example of a crisis which you guided a company through.

When a large Aprio IR client experienced an emergency of global proportions, the relationships we’d built with shareholders proved invaluable. The largest shareholder at the time consulted with us before responding to media queries, and publicly showed support for the company in terms of how we were engaging shareholders on the matter. This allowed management to focus on the issues at hand, knowing full well that they could trust IR to communicate effectively, with sufficient detail, while remaining compliant with regulations.  

What is the difference between Public Relations and Investor Relations?

The fundamental difference is that in IR we don’t spin – as mentioned above it’s regulated so you can’t shoot your mouth off. The role of investor relations is to manage expectations and to build trust between the providers of capital and the users of capital so that both can focus on the long-term. Business is not linear, and IR is tasked to explain the good with the bad by adopting a balanced narrative. In addition, IR’s communication plans are inextricably linked to the financials. We also speak to every aspect of the business ranging from governance, operations, strategy, risks and opportunities, allocation of capital and returns, debt levels, M&A, management, people, culture and succession as well as macro and global economic and political issues.

What advice would you give someone who wants to get into investor relations?

Find out what it entails. Talk to people who are in the role and if you’re in a listed entity, try to get some exposure to IR. 

Is the IR role a popular one in South Africa?

Probably not as popular as in developed markets but, it is starting to gain traction as more companies understand the need to communicate with shareholders, who are after all the owners of the company and the only stakeholder group to place capital at risk. 

What challenges have you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

I’ve been relatively lucky in that opportunities have, more often than not, presented themselves, and I’ve always leaned in and grabbed them with both hands. The biggest challenge would be to find work/life balance – as a woman, mom and wife, it often weighs on your mind whether having a career compromises other elements of your life. The challenges I’ve faced are no different to other professionals. Things don’t always work out as you may have initially thought – roll with the punches, learn to pivot and as hard as it may be, wake-up, dress-up and show-up. Not far off from this challenge is not always getting buy-in for certain initiatives. In both instances, having grit differentiates success from failure.  

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