IR Monitor – 25 February 2026

In this week’s newsletter:

• Are the androids coming for Wall Street CEOs? Not necessarily, argues Bloomberg. Acting as an intermediary between shareholders and the business is likely to remain a “powerful and necessary” role
• Pre-Tax Profits or EBITDA? The Sunday Times on the case of Caffè Nero
• DEI rules that changed corporate boards are vanishing, reports The Wall Street Journal. Big investors have backed off
• Research from Harvard Business Review reveals a fundamental shift in how investors view ESG. The implication is clear for executives and board members: ESG strategies built on presumed investor altruism are fragile
• “Dizzyingly high CEO pay is fine. It just needs to be earned,” writes Alex Edmands in The Economist’s By Invitation column
• And finally … Extel: the pointless yearly bake-off. The FT’s Lex dives into the “disruption and distraction” that is Extel’s analyst rankings

This week’s news

Are the androids coming for Wall Street CEOs? 

Concerns about AI on white collar jobs continue to swirl around Wall Street and while most of the anxious discourse has been focused on the junior levels, some are wondering what is the C-suite’s future. But Bloomberg argues that predictions of CEO extinction are overstated. AI can do a lot of things but it cannot manage competing stakeholder interests, convey a vision, defuse conflicts or build relationships – CEOs can rest easy (for now). 

Pre-tax profits or EBITDA? 

EBITDA of £60 million is the figure Caffè Nero executives want you to focus on, but The Sunday Times casts doubt on how much that metric really tells you about a company’s financial health. Caffè Nero says EBITDA is the best way to “demonstrate the raw operating profitability of a company” but bypassing the servicing costs of its £489 million debt gives limited visibility on whether its recent growth translates into sustainable profitability. In this case, to the tune of a pre-tax loss of £41 million.

Big investors are backing off DEI rules

The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) rules that reshaped corporate boardrooms over much of the past decade are rapidly receding, according to The Wall Street Journal. A new analysis of S&P 500 board appointments shows companies are adding women and minority directors at roughly the same pace they did in 2016, before the widespread introduction of DEI policies. The retreat reflects a broader shift in political and legal pressures as well as a preference for “older and longer-tenured candidates” who are assumed to have the skills to navigate the current volatile environment. 

A fundamental shift in how investors view ESG

ESG investing may no longer usher in the revolution once predicted, Harvard Business Review reveals. Multi-year surveys of US retail and institutional investors show enthusiasm has converged – the gap between younger and older investors’ attitudes has narrowed and retail investors have become more like the institutions in that they are more focused on capital preservation. Support appears sensitive to economic conditions, suggesting ESG is a “luxury good” and when market becomes dicey, there is less appetite among retail investors to compromise on returns. That said, institutional investors still look at ESG, with about 75% saying they integrate ESG criteria into their investment strategies. 

“Dizzyingly high CEO pay is fine. It just needs to be earned”

Tis the season…when investors begin to review proxy forms and steel themselves for “the most awkward item on the ballot: the say-on-pay vote.” Alex Edmands, finance professor at London Business School writes in The Economist that there is good reason for today’s generous CEO pay. Edmands ascribes it to scalability – CEOs’ decisions have a much bigger impact on a company’s valuation today vs a couple of decades ago – and an incentive to work hard. However, not all pay is equal. Edmands believes the best remuneration package primarily comprises shares that cannot be sold for at least five years as it aligns the CEO with the company’s long-term goals. 

And finally… Extel: the pointless yearly bake-off

Popularity contests aren’t just a high school thing, they also exist in the sell-side world. And it’s at its most apparent when Extel’s investor survey crosses the Atlantic, bringing with it a flurry of polit reminders and not-so-subtle nudges. The FT’s Lex notes how a high ranking still carries cachet: sweetening bonus discussions and adding polish to pitch books. But at what price? The “rigmarole” takes time, which is a luxury analysts can’t afford, seeing as many cover at least a dozen of stocks these days. But if it wasn’t for Extel, we wouldn’t have enjoyed Jefferies’ endearing musical submission endearing musical submission – and we thank the team for that.