The State of Investor Relations 2026 report from Irwin, a FactSet company, examines how investor relations teams are adapting to rising expectations, evolving investor behavior, and increasing operational complexity.
The report is based on insights from investor relations professionals, consultants, and executives across North America, EMEA, and APAC, offering a global perspective on how IR priorities, workflows, and engagement strategies are shifting.
After collecting data from over 200 professionals across the IR ecosystem, it became clear that IR is in a period of recalibration. Years of volatility, rapid advances in technology, and regulatory shifts have altered the State of Investor Relations in 2026.
Across all geographies and market caps, the industry as we know it is being reshaped.
Key Highlights
- AI adoption has accelerated rapidly: 42% of IR teams are now actively using AI, up from just 6% the previous year—representing the most significant behavioral shift captured in this year’s survey.
- Technology has not yet delivered expected efficiency gains: Despite expanding their technology stacks, 40% of IR teams report increased administrative burden, highlighting the operational friction created by fragmented systems.
- Across regions, including Europe’s large-cap-heavy markets, macro uncertainty ranks as a top challenge for 25% of IR teams overall and rises to 50% among large- and mega-cap issuers.
- Hybrid engagement has stabilized globally, with more than 50% of IR teams planning to increase in-person investor meetings while only 2% expect reductions.
- In EMEA, ESG still carries relatively more weight, with 42% of respondents rating it “somewhat important,” yet overall enthusiasm has cooled—no European respondents rated ESG as “very important,” and globally 52% say ESG is not a key driver for their investor base.
- Measurement remains a key vulnerability: 33% of IR teams operate without formal KPIs, and only 25% of those with KPIs believe they measure their impact effectively.
Focus is the future of IR, and the teams that get this right won’t just keep up —they’ll lead.
Download the full report here
