IR Monitor – 2 April 2025

In this week’s newsletter:

• The IR Society held a webinar on attracting retail investors. Your FTI correspondent in London attended
• Taking management on tour: what’s the sweet spot for investor meeting attendance? asks IR Magazine
• Forbes on an insight that challenges conventional leadership notions: how vulnerability helps CEOs build investor trust
• NIRI held a webinar on mastering the art of storytelling: IR messaging that resonates. Your FTI correspondent in Washington DC attended
• Will private companies need more sophisticated IR capabilities? Private markets are the new public markets, according to Bloomberg
• And finally … public markets risk becoming a dumping ground for bad companies. The Financial Times on market “enshittification”

This week’s news

Attracting retail investors – an IR Society webinar

In a webinar exploring the rising importance of retail investors, panellists highlighted the evolving role of that audience in capital markets. With regulatory changes on the horizon in the UK, retail investors may for instance play a greater role in primary equity markets. Retail investor access is now incredibly straightforward according to panellists, thanks notably to a host of well known platforms. Retail investors were also said to display distinctive traits: a “buy-and-hold” behaviour for most, while most are relatively more interested in management teams and products. To harness that audience, education and communication are key. It was also discussed that only 7% understand the concept of follow-on investments, while 80% would participate if informed. In that context, businesses should manage attention spans with succinct messaging, while also balancing accessibility with completeness of information to ensure that retail investors fully grasp risks and returns inherent to investment cases.

A growing number of IR only meetings 

IR Impact’s latest research highlights a shifting dynamic in investor engagement, with IR teams taking on a greater share of roadshow responsibilities. While senior executives remain crucial for engagement, the data suggests a growing number of IR-only meetings according to IR Impact. IR-only in-person roadshows have risen to 22% of the total, with notable increases in Europe and North America. Sanofi’s Thomas Kudsk Larsen, who led an investor tour in Asia without management, found no difference in meeting effectiveness. Many see IR-only meetings as a strategic first step in new markets before bringing in the C-suite. But the data suggests that balancing leadership visibility with IR efficiency is key in optimising investor engagement. 

How vulnerability helps CEOs build trust 

Leaders today face intense scrutiny, with visibility and demand for authenticity at an all-time high. Yet, many CEOs still appear overly curated, especially on social media, according to Forbes. New research suggests that in today’s capital markets, vulnerability is no longer seen as a weakness but as a leadership advantage. Forbes notes that a study of 249 U.S. adults found that a tech CEO who admitted to struggling with public speaking was perceived as more trustworthy, making his company more attractive to investors. However, while authenticity is key, forced vulnerability can backfire – especially if poorly timed. When done strategically and sincerely, vulnerability enhances trust, relatability, employee wellbeing and investor confidence.

Mastering the art of storytelling with messages that resonate

In a webinar focused on the IR approach to messaging, panelists emphasised the importance of storytelling. Stories are important because they engage the brain differently, and far better than a list of bullets or numbers ever would. While metrics and data are still very much needed for IROs to reach out to the investment community, it may just be a case of making sure they are used to support the story. And when there are too many cooks in the kitchen (say, during earnings prep), remember that you, the IRO, are the chief storyteller: hold your ground and don’t lose the story. Speaking of earnings, it’s important to stay consistent in your approach and offer a messaging bridge between quarters. And finally, always remember to address the “so what” – link your stories to the longer-term strategy, broader business goal, or corporate purpose.

Private markets are the new public markets

Matt Levine’s Money stuff newsletter recently discussed how private markets are shaping up, offering an increasingly credible alternative to public markets for private companies. The role of trading platforms like Forge and EquityZen is discussed in the article, as they offer a marketplace for trading shares of private companies. In turn, that allows investors to access greater liquidity without the tight regulation often associated with public companies. As private companies like SpaceX and OpenAI grow and stay on private market platforms, their investor registers are beginning to change and reflect not only institutional investors and high net-worth individuals but also retail investors. While question marks remain around liquidity or fair value, these new hybrid marketplaces may require more sophisticated investor relations capabilities, as companies realise the importance of managing such a varied shareholder base. 

And finally … Are public markets at risk of becoming a dumping ground for bad companies? 

While IPOs were once the mark of a promising upcoming company, they’re now often seen as a last resort for struggling firms, writes the Financial Times Alphaville. CoreWeave’s slashed initial offering last week reflected a broader trend of declining IPO quality, coined “IPO enshittification” – in reference to a process where platforms and services decay over time. Are IPO markets rotten? Once a launchpad for great companies, primary markets are now flooded with overleveraged firms going public out of necessity rather than strength. CoreWeave is not the only example of a company struggling to generate investor demand, as Venture Global also recently failed to take advantage of temporary market tailwinds in the US. The author goes on to stress a more fundamental realignment of capital flows, where ballooning private markets are in sharp contrast with the halving in the number of US public companies since the 1990’s. If investors don’t demand better, the article argues that the IPO market risks becoming a dumping ground for distressed assets.