Now in its fifth year, HSBC's GCC Exchanges Conference continues to grow, and this year was certainly no exception—over 3,000 investor meetings, 119 GCC companies with a combined value of $2.4 trillion contributed to a valuable four days of networking and professional development. Hosted in London from June 8 to 11, the conference brought together hundreds of global institutional investors with all seven GCC stock exchanges, making it a truly comprehensive gathering of the region's financial ecosystem. It was enhanced again by the addition of Extel to the event line-up. Extel, in partnership with FINEO Investor Relations Advisors, delivered two intensive one-day workshops on June 9 and 10, aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of investor relations (IR) across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
These sessions were condensed versions of the IR ACCELERATION PROGRAM, combining Extel's independent research excellence with FINEO's 30 years of global IR advisory expertise to deliver comprehensive solutions for modern investor relations challenges.
Across the two full-day sessions, 15 senior IR practitioners took part, representing companies from Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE and Qatar with a combined market capitalisation of $36 billion. C-suite executives made up 29% of attendees, underlining how far up the priority list IR has climbed for GCC issuers. Notably, 21% of attending companies had also sent representatives to a previous programme, evidence that the value on offer extends well beyond a single session.
Key topics of the IR Acceleration Program included 'IR in 2026: from best practice to strategic positioning', 'Capital markets strategy: where should IR focus to influence valuation and ownership?', 'The equity story: storytelling or valuation framework?', 'Disclosure and communication under pressure: from compliance to decision-driven outcomes' and 'Boards, leadership and investor feedback loops'.
Extel’s Amani Korayeim once again co-ran the workshops with FINEO's President, Anne Guimard. “The IR Acceleration Program at the HSBC GCC Exchanges Conference was structured and carefully curated to reflect each company's market dynamics and capital structure, while remaining agile enough to let participants bring their own real-world challenges to the table; from unfavourable disclosure restrictions to crisis situations unfolding in real time. The topics were highly relevant, but it was this flexibility to work through each company's specific circumstances that made the sessions so valuable. Seeing one of the participating companies go on to establish its own IR function as a direct result of the program has been one of the most rewarding outcomes of this work”, said Korayeim.
IR as the architect of investability
The workshops reinforced a theme that is fast becoming the defining narrative in GCC capital markets: investor relations is no longer a passive communications function, it is the primary mechanism through which companies become institutionally investable. Valuation is increasingly shaped by strategic coherence, disclosure discipline and management judgement, not operational performance alone.
As GCC issuers compete within globally benchmarked capital markets, investability has to be deliberately engineered rather than assumed as a natural byproduct of strong fundamentals. The strongest IR programs are evolving well beyond disclosure management, actively shaping how the market interprets strategy and positioning IR as the architect of a company's capital-markets credibility. One participating company has already taken this a step further, moving to establish a dedicated IR function as a direct result of the programme.
What attendees said
"I thoroughly enjoyed the session, both from a knowledge perspective and from the opportunity to connect with and get to know new faces within the IR community. The content was highly relevant and provided valuable insights that I can apply in my role."
Head of IR, Oman
"Thank you for the excellent workshop on the Investor Relations Acceleration Program. I found the session highly insightful and engaging, with several valuable learnings that I can apply in practice. The program was very well structured, and I truly appreciated the knowledge and perspectives shared throughout the workshop."
CFO, Saudi Arabia
Looking ahead
Building on the last two year’s momentum, Extel and FINEO are already exploring how to deepen the impact of the programme for GCC issuers, with more tailored, company-specific engagements being discussed.
As the conference continues to evolve, the addition of data-driven, high-impact learning experiences signals HSBC's commitment to advancing capital markets capability in the GCC, equipping regional leaders with the tools they need to thrive on the global stage.
