Where should a company begin when setting out to improve the effectiveness of its IR programme?

At Ellinghorst IR, we can perform an independent analysis of your existing IR set-up and materials, looking at your IR programme through the eyes of investors. The output is a report of findings including a roadmap of next steps addressing your strategic IR priorities. This service can be undertaken on a standalone basis or form the foundations for a longer-term partnership.

We also consult on specific issues, often centred upon steps to ensure that a company’s IR strategy and messaging are aligned with the evolving needs of its stakeholders and understood by investors.

An impactful and clear equity story is key to attracting long-term investors.

We partner with our clients to understand their business model, global peer group, market drivers and strategic priorities before crafting and implementing an authentic, engaging narrative underpinned by consistent, timely messaging.

The integration of material ESG-related elements into a company’s strategic narrative is critical, in particular the proactive disclosure and clear presentation of evolving risks and opportunities.

A perception study - an independent analysis of stakeholder views – can serve as a cornerstone in shaping or developing a company’s communication strategy, equity story and IR programme. It can be particularly valuable at times of strategic or management change.

Perception studies often uncover material differences between how investors perceive the company, the outsider’s view, and the view of the internal audiences (management and board). Misalignment between these two groups can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the IR strategy and ultimately on company valuation.

At Ellinghorst IR, we offer perception studies tailored to our client’s needs and lifecycle stage.

Understanding and monitoring our clients’ shareholder composition, or “knowing the investor base”, is fundamental to a successful and sustainable IR strategy.

At Ellinghorst IR, we can help you to regularly perform a shareholder analysis, the many benefits of which include:

• Providing the foundations for effective investor targeting and communication;
• Forming an essential component of your reporting package to the board and C-suite;
• Serving as a prerequisite for planning the IR agenda and AGMs;
• Underpinning the strategic shaping of your shareholder composition; and
• Functioning as an early-warning system for activism.

Shaping and enhancing your shareholder composition can be achieved through a better and more targeted dialogue with current and potential investors. Proactive engagement serves to nurture existing and develop new relationships, at the same time as providing an opportunity to reinforce and expand upon your equity story.  

Recent events have propelled investor targeting up the IR agenda:

• MiFID II regulation
• The decline in quality and depth of sell-side coverage
• Relevance of ESG
• Increase in activism

At Ellinghorst IR, we will support you to create, apply and maintain an effective targeting strategy that enables you to:

• Attract and cultivate the “right” investors including new sources of capital;
• Roll out and communicate your equity story; and
• Optimise IR and C-Suite time.

By optimising your annual Investor Relations agenda, tailored to your C-Suite availability and IR resources, we can help you develop, maintain and effectively monitor your IR programme.

The aim is to achieve “the right mix” of interaction with investors, including “non-deal roadshows” (NDRs), investor conferences, and virtual and in-person investor meetings.

At Ellinghorst IR, we provide tailored advice and pragmatic hands-on support with the organisation and execution of IR events.

Our services range from developing a suitable framework based on strategic priorities, including theme, date, venue and target group, to contributing to the content and providing detailed feedback after the event.

We help you to bring your equity story to life by creating or reviewing your investor-facing materials, such as company presentations and your IR website.

Crafting engaging IR materials with clear, concise and consistent messaging will underpin your IR programme, improve the visibility and impact of your equity story, and ultimately attract new investors.

Managing the market’s expectations in the context of your company’s current trading and future prospects is an essential part of best-practice IR. A discrepancy between guidance and analysts’ consensus estimates is often a sign of market misperception.

At Ellinghorst IR, we can help you to support company guidance with clear, strategic messaging that is consistent with your equity story and overall communication strategy. Years of experience in performing and analysing consensus has equipped us with the knowledge of how to effectively use the data to identify and then eliminate market misperceptions and to benchmark against internal data projections. 

Consistent and accurate guidance, underpinned by effective relationships with the sell side, will:

• improve the quality of consensus estimates;
• realign external and internal views of your company; and
• reduce share price volatility.