In this Inside Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP interview, Jeff Hopson, Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, describes how he shares Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s story with the investment community, from our remarkable history to our bright future as one of the largest life and health reinsurers in the world.
How did you first get interested in the investment world, and what was your journey to Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP?
A neighbor introduced me to stocks when I was 18 years old. I was a teenage stockholder of very limited means, but I was fascinated by the idea that your money could be out there making money. When I enrolled at Saint Louis University, I pursued a finance degree. After graduation, I tapped my analytical mind to become an analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., and continued that work at Stifel Financial Corp. In those roles, I followed the insurance industry for 25 years as an analyst, including the growth of Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP since it went public in 1993. In 2013, I flipped to the other side to become Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s first full-time Senior Vice President of Investor Relations.
What objectives do you focus on as head of Investor Relations for Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP?
My team manages financial communications around Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s status as a public company, so one of our objectives is oriented around the quarterly reporting period. We spend time preparing for each quarterly earnings report and call, gathering data and analyzing our financial performance from every angle. I work closely with our management team to prepare for the call and anticipate and field questions from investors and analysts.
We also manage relationships with ratings agencies to provide updates on Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP's financial health, strategic initiatives, and other relevant information. This helps ensure that the ratings agencies have the most current data to accurately assess the company's creditworthiness.
One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting with investors in different forums, whether at conferences, their offices, or Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s Investor Day in New York. Virtual meetings are great, too, but I find in-person meetings are the best way to help investors and analysts understand our business. Reinsurance is a complex industry, so I try to communicate in a way that is understandable about how we help clients manage their portfolios of risk, develop new products, and explore innovative financial solutions. Frequently I tell the story of Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵAPP’s history – it’s extraordinary how this $19 billion in revenue, Fortune 500, global company originated in one small department of a midwestern mutual company 50 years ago.