The roles and responsibilities of IR

Investor relations is more than just compliance - it’s about managing perception, maintaining investor confidence, and ensuring the market understands.

Public companies depend on IR teams to engage with investors, provide transparent communication, and ultimately influence market outcomes like share price, liquidity, and investor sentiment.

But modern IR isn’t simple. 

IR teams are small, investor expectations are rising, and engagement must happen at scale. Traditional one-on-one investor meetings aren’t enough anymore, and the role of IR is evolving to keep up

The core responsibilities of IR

At its core, IR is responsible for:

• Financial reporting & compliance
  Ensuring the company meets regulatory requirements for financial disclosures, stock exchange filings, and material announcements.
• Investor communication & engagement Managing earnings calls, investor Q&As, roadshows, and retail investor outreach.
• Market perception & shareholder intelligence Tracking shareholder behavior, monitoring sentiment, and shaping investor confidence.
• Capital markets & fundraising support Engaging new and existing investors during capital raises and managing investor sentiment post-raise.

While these responsibilities have remained largely the same, how IR teams execute them has changed dramatically as investor behavior shifts and markets move faster than ever.

The challenges of execution

Despite its importance, IR is often understaffed, reactive, and forced to operate with outdated tools. The biggest challenges IR teams face include:

• Limited time & resources
  IR teams are small, typically just one or two people managing thousands of investors, forcing them to prioritise institutions over the broader shareholder base.
• Fragmented tools & data
  Investor insights are scattered across multiple platforms, making it difficult to track who is engaging, how they trade, and what they care about.
• Scaling engagement beyond institutions
  Retail investors drive significant market activity, yet traditional IR focuses on one-on-one meetings with institutions, leaving retail investors uninformed and unengaged.
• Reacting instead of proactively managing sentiment
  IR teams often respond to investor concerns after the fact rather than shaping sentiment in real time.

Understanding the evolving roles and responsibilities of IR is essential for public companies to thrive in today’s fast-paced market environment.

While IR's core responsibilities - financial compliance, investor communication, market perception, and fundraising support - remain constant, how teams fulfill these responsibilities must evolve.