Key Takeaways: Investor Relations as a Strategic Value Driver

1. The role of IR has become one of the most strategically important in the C-suite.

Once viewed as an administrative and then a financial communications function, IR has become a strategic driver of valuation and market perception. It now sits at the intersection of the board, the C-suite, and the capital markets.

“You have thousands of employees that are working so incredibly hard to create value… And what does everyone want? The board wants the shares to be higher. So does the C-suite, the employees, the shareholders... How you create a marketing effort for your stock is absolutely tactically and strategically critical.”

2. IR teams face growing demands without growing support.

The IR mandate has expanded to include targeting, perception management, narrative development, competitive intelligence, ESG reporting, and more, yet headcount and budgets often remain unchanged. According to the 2024 Korn Ferry & NIRI survey, nearly 80% of IR professionals now manage responsibilities beyond traditional IR—up from 62% in 2022.

“They’re asking you to do more, and yet often you’re working alone, or with very limited help.”

3. Investor outreach and engagement is challenging for under-resourced IR teams.

Issuers must now lead investor engagement efforts themselves, as traditional broker support continues to decline. Sell-side corporate access desks generally focus on a limited group of institutions that generate approximately 80% of their revenue, namely high-turnover hedge funds. Long-only investors have also reduced reliance on bank resources due to MiFID II and ongoing fee compression. This dynamic presents little incentive for banks to identify new suitable long-term investors, and non-real roadshow meetings are offered and allocated to their best clients rather than the best shareholders for the company.

“Every asset manager, every portfolio manager has a different mandate. Market cap, country, sector, discipline—growth, value, distressed—it’s about finding your customer.”

4. The pool of accessible capital for Australasian companies is growing.

There is no shortage of capital. North America and Europe represent a combined $58T in assets under management. With thousands of decision-makers, investor engagement must be thoughtful, data-driven, and highly targeted.

“The good news? People want to meet you. It’s just about getting the two of you together.”

For decades, U.S. institutional investors have exhibited a strong home bias. That era is ending. A structural reallocation is underway driven not only by valuation differentials and a desire to diversify away from U.S. mega-cap concentration, but also by rising concern around political instability and policy volatility. Investors are reassessing their exposure to U.S.-centric risk and rebuilding international positions as a long-term strategic hedge.

“This is not a short-term trade—it’s a fundamental repositioning of portfolios. And Australia is positioned to benefit significantly.”

5. Most U.S. investors won’t come find you—you need to go to them.

Geographic distance, the global pandemic, and the ongoing reduction in bank resources have disrupted connectivity between Australasian companies and institutional investors–particularly those offshore.

“You may feel like a big fish in a small pond at home, but you’re swimming in an ocean abroad. It’s not easy to find the right audience from thousands of funds—but they do want to meet you.”

Unless a company screens well in quant models or fits a fund’s internal screens, it won’t get discovered organically. Visibility must be earned through strategic outreach and proactive engagement. The one constant is that institutional investors value access to management teams and it remains a key part of the investment process.

“We’ve had amazing success connecting Australian companies—big caps and small—with investors who hadn’t seen them in a decade.”

Rose & Company partners with companies across geographies, sectors, and market caps to position them at the forefront of this shift. Through our proprietary approach, we systematically identify, engage, and nurture relationships with high-quality, long-only investors, helping turn initial interest into portfolio inclusion.

We’d be pleased to connect and discuss how we can support your efforts to build long-term institutional ownership. Contact info@roseandco.com to learn more.