Unlocking the Future of Investor Relations Through Corporate Access
By Todd Skene, MBA
Vice President, Capital Markets & Strategy Alliance Advisors Investor Relations
mskene@allianceadvisors.com
Shareholder engagement. Ownership intelligence. Proxy logistics. These have long been the staples of investor relations (IR), and for good reason. But if securing information and offering advice remain essential for everywhere, that’s increasingly dovetailed by a new service: corporate access.
Introducing potential investors to c-suite leaders, arranging meetings and building long-term partnerships, corporate access has the opportunity to revolutionise how business is done. Yet for that to happen, advisory firms must first ensure they have a robust understanding of what kind of investment their client needs—something that’s much easier if they have a long-standing professional relationship.
The Rise of Corporate Access
For decades, IR has served as the link between companies and their shareholders. Whether overseeing earnings calls or helping CEOs navigate challenging investors, the primary role of IR was to manage existing shareholders rather than attract new ones.
However, today’s shifting capital markets have rendered this traditional approach insufficient. The complexity of modern financial markets is staggering—there are roughly 11,000 institutional investors, from private equity firms to hedge funds.
Combine that with the surge in retail investors—one recent study found that 30 million Americans opened brokerage accounts between 2021 and 2023—and it’s clear why executives are struggling to identify the right shareholders to engage. This challenge is especially
daunting for companies less experienced in deal- making, as growing competition has made personalized interaction with investors more critical than ever. Here too, the figures are stark: work by the University of Göttingen has found that direct meetings can improve the likelihood of shareholder support by 5%.
Amid these pressures, the rise of corporate access is both logical and transformative. Nearly half of all meetings between companies and investors are now arranged via sell-side corporate access—what does the process actually involve?
What Does Corporate Access Involve?
Corporate access can be viewed as an evolution of traditional IR activities. While conventional IR focuses on managing existing shareholders, corporate access is about generating new business. The specifics vary depending on the parties involved, but there are several common themes.
One of the most straightforward examples is meetings, which advisory firms organize to connect companies with potential investors. Face-to-face interaction is powerful, with personalized engagement taking center stage; a third of investor relations officers (IROs) say direct contact with investors is paramount.
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