One of the first things that we are often asked when speaking to prospective clients is “why don’t we have more European participation on our share register?”. It’s a simple question but the answer requires a slightly more complex response.
If you are involved or managing a company that is either private or not listed in the United Kingdom then there are a number of things that you can do to increase investor awareness of your business which, if done in a methodical and professional way should increase the understanding of your business with investors outside of your home market.
The first thing we ordinarily like to do at Stellium is develop a baseline of where your business is today from an IR perspective. This will usually involve comparing your register with those of companies that are in the same peer group. This peer group could comprise companies at a similar stage of development (as the client), involved in a similar field (for example, in the natural resources space, it could be a gold exploration business) or of a similar size. More often than not, the peer group will comprise companies will be a blend of more than one of these factors.
Once a baseline position has been established we can then discuss what the company’s 12 – 18 month goals might be. What then, are the next steps with respect to how we approach IR? Every client will have different needs and requirements but there are activities that are common to each engagement.
Digital review
A company’s digital presence is often an area where we see missed opportunities. Web and social media profiles are often either sub optimally utilised (and sometimes not at all). There is a huge amount that can be done not only to optimise this but also to provide clients with information on how effective their marketing efforts / company communications are being received by the target audience.
By profiling a starting position we can then work towards increasing the reach and gathering the data to enable clients to make decisions on their ongoing strategy based on real data.
Companies that take steps to effectively leverage their online profiles can see large increases in private investor engagements and participation in their trading. This, in turn increases the liquidity and makes the company potentially more attractive to institutional investors.
Roadshows
Many investors appreciate the opportunity to meet company management face to face. This can happen at conferences such as Indaba, PDAC or the privately run conference providers. However, in an environment where a company is competing for the attention of a limited pool of capital it can often be difficult to capture the attention of the targeted investor.
Roadshows are an effective way to get in front of the right people and give company’s the time to have an in depth introduction or follow up meeting. It’s vital that management teams keep their existing investors updated on their activities as well as keep showing a clear investment message to potential investors who can provide the incremental on market buying as well as provide the capital in primary issues.
At Stellium we are adept at providing roadshow services to accomplish the above objectives.
Ongoing IR
Most companies think about their investor relations needs in the market in which they are listed. For example, a TSX company will focus their IR efforts primarily in Canada; an ASX listed company will focus on Australia and so on. This approach potentially neglects the capital market outside of that home market. The company could miss out on intelligence regarding new funds, peer group activity, reaction to news etc. It’s for these reasons that we think the outsourced IR model works particularly well. By using a company such as Stellium your business can keep a finger firmly on the pulse of a market that might otherwise be sub-optimally serviced.
Whatever your company IR goals, we would be happy to discuss how we might be able to assist potential clients with reaching their potential in markets outside their domestic listing.