Investor Presentations Best Practices. Building a Strong IR Presentation

Investor presentations serve to educate, engage and positively influence investors and analysts. After financial statements, a company’s investor presentation is one of the first places investors go to learn the story. Building comprehensive presentations following best practices and guidelines generates deep, high-quality engagement with long-term investors. The presentation should tell a story, and like any good narrative, it should be compelling, credible, and concise.

Investor presentations, in particular, have to fulfill the needs of existing and potential investors. They should be focused and consistent with creating confidence among investors, and they should be structured into three sections. First, the introduction is essential because it outlines the topic and is used to get the audience’s attention. The main ideas, results, and solutions are presented within the body section. Finally, a summary and an outlook are a must-have to ensure that the information is effectively conveyed.

IR presentations contain certain forward-looking statements and expectations of future events and financial performance. Corporate strategy should be the focus of such presentations because investors want to understand the growth strategy and the strategic initiatives that are either underway or implemented. In addition, investors want to know how the company will drive revenue, earnings, and cash flow over the mid-to long term. Ultimately, preparing an IR presentation is an exercise in communications – telling a story that hits all the right notes.

 IR Presentations Best Practices

IR teams can adopt the following best practices to develop and deliver their presentations for investors and stakeholders effectively.

Tailor the IR presentation for your target audience. Before IR teams deliver their investor deck, they need to know their target audience ahead of meetings. This can be done by researching investors, any companies or interests they represent or are affiliated with, and what type of businesses they have supported in the past. This information allows IROs to tailor the presentation according to the target audience’s needs.

Create compelling content that grabs investor attention. IROs need to develop persuasive investor deck content that includes material that can easily garner investor attention. As such, the key aspects that IROs should aim to cover in their presentations include, but are not limited to, the company’s investment thesis, competitive advantages over its competitors, strategies that can make the company reach its targets, management’s industry experience, financial highlights, and critical KPIs to look for, and recent and upcoming milestones.

Make the presentation concise and to the point. IROs should ensure that the investor deck is straightforward but to the point and covers every important aspect that makes the company an attractive investment. As a best practice, such presentations should last 20 to 30 minutes, providing a good overview and leaving sufficient time for the management to answer investor questions.

Get a third-party view by enlisting expert IR advisers. A company’s advisors may be made insiders regarding its results to assist in the preparation of the related statements and presentation. In addition, they can help define a cohesive message illustrating the firm’s investment story. Expert IR advisers will bring industry-leading research and deep best practice knowledge to build and support investor presentation development. Their ability to effectively organize your equity story and overarching messages into a powerful investor presentation is critical to targeting, cultivating, and converting investors into shareholders and maintaining their trust over the long term.

Deliver the presentation digitally and include it on the IR website. Including the latest version of the investor presentation on the IR, the website is also a great way to make the company’s investment thesis and goals accessible to interested investors. It is a practice adopted by many top-tier companies. Doing this also drives traffic to the IR website and improves the company’s visibility in the investment community.

 Closing Line

The investor presentation isn’t a regulatory requirement; it’s an excellent platform to communicate your business strategy, structure, culture, and performance. It should be part of an integrated communications strategy. Assets such as infographics, charts, and even content can be used across multiple channels on your website or in an annual report. This creates a consistent message that communicates your story clearly and engagingly and reinforces your brand. It’s not just what you communicate – it’s how you do it. So the layout, structure, and hierarchy of information are as important as the information itself.

The Sager IR team takes the time to understand your company and develop a compelling equity story reflective of the value and opportunities they identify during our discovery process. They help our clients to build up comprehensive and compelling communications and IR strategies that deeply engage high-quality, long-term investors.