IR is about relationships, not reporting.

Over the last month, I've met a lot of you in person - Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and next week, Brisbane. I sat on four panels, hosted two dinners, and had dozens of meetings with ASX leaders like yourself.

The team here asked what stood out most. 

And there was one quote, from one of you, that stuck.

"IR isn't about reporting. It's about relationships."

• Not reports released, we hope no one reads.
• Not tick-the-box comms. 
• Not end-of-quarter blasts written for compliance and no-one else.
• Not AGMs schedule to be invisible.

It's about human interaction. Sometimes we forget that. We get caught up in what has to go out, and lose sight of what should go out.

The truth is, investors don't fall in love with your stock.

They fall in love with your story, and the people behind it. 

Now you might say:

"Ben, I've got 5,000 shareholders. I can't have a relationship with all of them."

Fair. But you have two choices (or more realistically, a mix of both).

1. Add people.

You can scale with people.

Wilson Asset Management does this better than most. Their valuation reflects it. They have 20+ internal IR staff who manage over 100,000 shareholders. They scale relationships the traditional way.

With human time and effort (and yes, they also use option 2). 

2. Fit your engagement to your register.

Relationships aren't one-size-fits-all.

I recommend splitting your register into three key groups:

Top 20 / Insto

 These need, and deserve, a 1:1 relationship. Plan to meet them face-to-face at least once a year, and engage digitally or directly every 4-6 weeks.

Mid-register / HNW:

Your next 5-10% of holders, just outside the T20. This is hundreds of people.

1:1 doesn't scale so go 1:few - think private webinars, investor drinks on your roadshow, or group meetups. Invite them to bring a +1 to in-person events and you'll both (1) deepen your connection with key holders and (2) meet new investors.

Retail - Long tail:

Still influential, specially in illiquid stocks but now you're in 1:many territory.

Use scale tactics - videos on announcements, quarterly webinars, virtual site tours, behind the scenes content. Let them meet the scientist, watch the drill, or see the product in action.

Whatever the group, remember - they're people. And they want to see your people.

Don't ignore small holders, just engage them in a way that works for you.

Have a great weekend and remember, we all signed up for this game but it doesn't mean we have to play it alone.

Talk soon,

Ben