Investor outreach is one of the most fundamental ways you can expand your shareholder base. It’s also one of the most challenging tasks set before your company. Creating a successful targeting strategy isn’t always an intuitive process, so you may not know what to do next.
If you aren’t sure about which step you should take in raising your corporate profile, an end-to-end investor relations tools & solutions provider will help you engage, target, and acquire quality investors.
What is an End-to-End IR Provider?
In broad terms, an investor relations company helps you target new investors by positioning your brand as a compelling investment opportunity. They do this by aggregating information from your website, capital flows, and meetings in one convenient place over the cloud.
In the past, these data points remained siloed, making it hard to showcase a unified story about your IR program. An IR company removes these barriers so that you can highlight your financial prospects, build trust with shareholders, predict shareholder behavior, and — most importantly — identify future investors.
How to Find the Best Professional for Your Needs
Most of the big brands partnering with an IR provider take this end-to-end approach — from Shopify and McDonalds to Netflix and Walmart. To join the expanding list of corporations successfully engaging new investors, here are some things you should look for in an IR company.
1. Insist on Made-to-Order Solutions
A cookie-cutter IR approach isn’t just misinformed. It’s doomed to fail. No two companies are alike. Your history and goals are unique, even if you corner the market on the same product or service.
The investor relations company Q4 Inc recommends tailoring your IR program so that it’s just as unique as your vision. You can expect investor relations made easy with Q4 because they customize each tool and service within their platform.
Common IR tools include results-driven websites, CRM monitoring tools, analytics, and surveillance on real-time insights on the market.
2. Expect Experience
The company you choose must be an industry expert leading the IR space today. Their team should consist of former investor relation professionals, capital market specialists, and surveillance analysts that understand your audience.
Together, these consultants have the combined experience to understand your current and future shareholder base. An accomplished team can help you identify investors whose interest and investment style suit your company — and those that do not.
With this understanding of your prospects, an IR company can help convert these insights into action with investors.
3. Make it Scalable
All too often, people equate investor targeting with a permanent roadshow. They believe they need to be pounding the pavement, visiting every asset manager in reach to find new investors.
A roadshow is an important tool that can generate interest in your initial public offering. It’s an opportunity to drum up excitement and reach potential investors located in different corners of the world.
However, this large-scale strategy doesn’t have staying power after the IPO. Between travel costs and marketing materials, roadshows are an expensive outreach campaign.
An established IR company will understand scalability is a crucial step in targeting quality investors over the long term.
4. Demand Compliance
How and when you share financial information with shareholders is a highly regulated part of your IR program. Every country has specific rules and guidelines dictating how you can share financial statements, corporate governance documents, charters, market disclosures, and more.
Following these regulations comes with two major benefits. For one, you’ll be able to improve transparency by ensuring you publish all relevant and legal information. For another, compliance ensures you avoid costly penalties and damage to your reputation.
This is especially important if you plan to move into markets in the European Union (EU). You must partner with an IR company that’s familiar with Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID).
MiFID II is the latest standard of conduct aiming to increase transparency in financial markets, including banks, IPOs, brokers, retail investors, frequency traders, and more. Its framework aims to make these markets safer for investors as a way to restore investor confidence.
The Takeaway
Finding new investors is likely at the top of your to-do list, but it can be challenging to cross this task off your corporate to-do list on your own. Investor outreach becomes much easier when you have the experts on your side.
Your IR partnership should involve a world-class company delivering everything discussed here today. From customizable and scalable services to industry-leading experts and easy compliance, these features can help you lock onto a service that works for your needs.
Remember these traits as you search for an IR solutions provider. The right fit for your needs will help you engage, target, and acquire quality investors for years to come.
