Shawn Southard, IRC

VP, Investor Relations, Kei Advisors

Shawn Southard has more than 20 years of investor relations experience in both corporate and consulting roles and earned the Investor Relations Charter (IRC) designation. His expertise was honed heading investor relations for two NASDAQ-listed companies, advising a dozen companies across eight industries as an external consultant, directing investor communications for two additional companies, serving on several committees for the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), as well as in various leadership roles on the Board of NIRI Philadelphia, and earning his MBA in finance.
 
Currently, Shawn is vice president at Kei Advisors, an investor relations and business advisory firm helping client companies create optimum shareholder value, where he supports five clients with their comprehensive investor relations needs. Prior to joining Kei Advisors, Shawn built 19 Squared IR to provide investor relations advisory, analytic, and communications services to primarily to small-cap companies. Before 19 Squared IR, he spent nearly six years as director of investor relations and corporate communications with Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania REIT (NYSE:PEI) focused on communicating the company’s strategic plans consistently across all channels.
 
Before PREIT, Shawn was head of investor relations for EPIQ Systems (Nasdaq: EPIQ), in Kansas City, where in one year, his institutional targeting and outreach efforts resulted in a 25% increase in the number of institutional holders and shares held. But more importantly, the new positions acquired effectively offset the potential negative impact to share price when the company’s second largest holder, a large activist, liquidated their entire position. Prior to EPIQ, he successfully designed and implemented the first IR program for U.S. Interactive (Nasdaq: USIT) following their IPO. In his first year, he tripled analyst coverage, nearly doubled institutional ownership, produced the company’s first annual report, and managed communications through a series of crises including stock exchange delisting, multiple executive departures, a corporate change of control, and bankruptcy. Before U.S. Interactive, he served as managing director for Financial Communications Associates (now known as Gregory FCA), an investor relations consulting agency, where he managed five client accounts and oversaw the firm’s daily operations, including third party services. In 1993, Shawn got his start in investor relations as part of a comprehensive, in-house team at Advanta Corporation (Nasdaq: ADVNA/ADVNB), where he learned the fundamentals of investor relations and held several positions of increasing responsibility up to IR manager.
 
Shawn’s passion for investor relations is exhibited in his years of volunteer service to NIRI, both nationally and with the Philadelphia chapter. He currently serves as chair of the IRC Examination Development Committee and as Advisory Board member for NIRI Philadelphia.
 
A graduate of the University of Delaware, Shawn holds a bachelor of science in business administration. He earned his MBA in finance from Drexel University in Philadelphia