The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) is eliminating its standalone Office of the Investor Advocate and moving the Investor Advocate role under the Office of Communications and Engagement as part of a reorganization.
The role of Investor Advocate will now be held by an Associate Director for Investor Engagement within the communications department, and on August 28, 2026, the PCAOB opened the position for candidates to apply. The current Investor Advocate, Saba Qamar, is eligible to apply for the new position.
Qamar was named Investor Advocate in June 2022 by then-PCAOB Chair Erica Williams. At that time, the position was in the outreach department, and the standalone Investor Advocate office was established in February 2023.
While the reorganization creates a new reporting layer, the nature of the work appears to remain the same. However, the new position comes with lower pay and less apparent authority, as the person will no longer be the head of a department, which was the case before the separate office was created. The reorganization means a return to the previous structure that was in place when Williams appointed the first Investor Advocate over four years ago.
The Investor Advocate has served as the primary point of contact for the investor community.
The Associate Director for Investor Engagement “will serve as a program management lead for investor-related activities, working as part of the Office of Communications and Engagement and working closely with the Office of the Chairman and other PCAOB divisions and offices to ensure effective program planning, facilitation, and execution,” according to the job posting, which describes similar duties to those the Investor Advocate has had.
“As a member of the Office of Communications and Engagement (OCE), and reporting to the Director, OCE, this position will also support efforts to incorporate and align investor perspectives into PCAOB strategic planning and internal and external communications,” the job posting states. “This role will serve as the primary staff contact to the Investor Advisory Group (IAG) and develop, manage, and coordinate investor-related meetings and events.”
Publicly, Qamar has attended IAG meetings, helped to moderate panels, and published investor bulletins. For example, in March 2023, she issued an advisory urging investors to exercise caution with third-party verification and proof of reserve reports for crypto entities.
This move also comes as the PCAOB has had to reduce its budget and will need to continue using its resources judiciously.
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