Prepare for Fall Marketing by Understanding the Signals Investors Are Sending in 2025

Thus far in 2025, Rose & Co. organized over 6,500 meetings with institutional investors on behalf of companies across industries, regions, and market capitalizations. Through these meetings, most of which were with generalist investors, and the direct feedback we received, our clients gained a real-time view into the evolving focus and sentiment of a large and diverse group of investors.

In today’s volatile market, where visibility is at a premium, understanding how investor priorities are shifting is critical to crafting communications and maximizing engagement with current and prospective shareholders. As companies get ready to re-engage with investors in September, we’ve summarized our insights to help IROs refine messaging and prepare management teams to anticipate key questions heading into the fall marketing season.

The Market Context Has Stabilized, but it Has Not Been Simplified

The macro backdrop has grown more navigable, though no less consequential. Tariff anxiety, which dominated headlines early in the year, has receded without fulsome resolution. Inflation, while trending lower, remains sticky enough to keep the Fed cautious. Equity markets, meanwhile, have powered ahead—fueled by tech optimism and stronger-than-expected earnings. At the same time, valuations are elevated, and skepticism hasn’t disappeared.

Institutional investors are treating this moment with a high degree of discipline. Their questions reflect a desire for precision: clarity around growth expectations, capital deployment thresholds, and margin durability. Narrative alone isn’t enough. Investors want to see the assumptions behind the story and the proof points that validate them.

It’s Not the Questions – It’s How They’re Being Asked

Since January, we’ve captured nearly 125,000 investor questions posed by institutional investors to companies. While the dominant themes of growth, capital allocation, cost structure, execution, macro, and valuation remain familiar, the tone has changed.

• Investors are using more performance-oriented language, focused on delivery, acceleration, and milestone achievement.

• Hedging language persists, underscoring ongoing macro uncertainty and a wariness to overcommit—even in a rising market.

• The presence of assertive questioning has grown subtly, with more emphasis on what companies “must” do to maintain credibility.

• Skepticism remains but has shifted from broad macro fear to company-specific risks like execution gaps, demand fragility, and capital missteps.

Be Prepared to Provide Increased Clarity and Transparency

Below, we show the key thematic areas investors are focused on and the tone of the questions. We also provide actionable recommendations, keeping in mind that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

• Growth Visibility & Demand: Investors are seeking evidence of durable demand, pricing power, and backlog conversion. Questions are increasingly specific and often framed with cautious optimism.
  
  • Provide granular visibility into pipeline, conversion timing, and customer dynamics. Avoid generic statements about demand trends.
• Capital Allocation & Discipline: Capital decisions are under scrutiny, with more assertive questions probing thresholds for buybacks, M&A justification, and return frameworks.
  
  • Justify capital decisions with clear thresholds and expected returns. Be transparent about trade-offs and priorities.
• Macroeconomic & Policy Risk: While still present, macro questions have become more contextual than urgent. Investors are asking how companies adapt rather than react.
  
  • Explain how your business model adapts to macro change. Avoid leaning too heavily on external forces to explain performance.
• Cost Management & Margin: Investors are drilling into the levers of margin resilience, reflecting a desire for detail on cost flexibility and structural efficiency.
  
  • Detail your margin levers and cost structure flexibility. Show how cost actions align with growth strategy.
• Valuation & Market Expectations: Valuation concerns spike during market rallies, and questions are tied to capital strategy and execution consistency.
  
  • Connect valuation support to disciplined capital use and operational credibility. Avoid overly aspirational multiples.
• Execution & Strategic Clarity: Execution is being interrogated with investors asking how strategy turns into milestones, and what evidence supports stated plans.
  
  • Ground messaging in proof points. Map strategy to execution milestones and tie messaging to outcomes, not intent.

Takeaways Heading into Investor Meetings This Fall

It’s clear that this moment calls for a message that is both tightly constructed and empirically grounded. Investors are not simply listening for ambition—they’re listening for confidence, backed by execution.

What to do now:

• Bring sharper internal alignment around operational KPIs and forward-looking metrics.
• Equip spokespeople with specifics—not just direction but structure.
• Anticipate valuation and capital allocation questions even if your stock is performing.

In a year where the market’s mood has been optimistic but uneven, investors are leaning harder into discipline. Their questions reflect it. Your answers—and your narrative—should too.

In summary, the equity market rally this year may have felt broad, but investor confidence remained conditional. The tone of questions suggests a market that is willing to give companies the benefit of the doubt, but only once they’ve demonstrated discipline, clarity, and control. The investor mindset is more focused, more data-driven, and more demanding. Companies looking to inspire confidence in the current backdrop must be ready to support every narrative with data and every ambition with execution.

Rose& Co. Investor Insights^TM is a recurring series aimed at translating real investor conversations into practical, actionable insights for IROs and management teams.

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