Don't confuse investor relations with publicity!

On a blog of one highly respected investor relations practitioner I was shocked to read the following:

"As an investor relations person, I’m not part of the negotiating process for corporate deals. Folks who do negotiate the deals earn the big bucks – but that’s OK. My job is to communicate a deal once it’s done."

My shock was even stronger as the person writing these words was a long time member of NIRI and a president of a successful investor relations agency.

However, I have to conclude he is not an investor relations officer. Maybe a publicist. Maybe a journalist-in-residence. But not an investor relations officer.

Because if he were an investor relations officer, he would be part of a negotiation process. Investor relations must be involved in making a deal, representing the company's investors and defending their interests before the deal is carried out rather than simply communicating about a deal "once it's done." Maybe in this case the officer will deserve earning "big bucks" as well...