Latest news and announcements

Beyond Anecdotes: Why IR Leaders Are Moving to Structured Investor Sentiment Metrics

The Essential IR Data Problem

In a world where strategic decisions increasingly rest on data, Investor Relations teams often find themselves reliant on intuition. Assessing investor sentiment is a core responsibility for IR teams, yet most still depend on selective discussions, anecdotal feedback, broker insights, or expensive perception studies. The difficulty lies in the subjective, inconsistent nature of these methods, which offer only partial glimpses of market sentiment.

Here, Feedback Intelligence offers a new approach. By systematically gathering and analysing investor sentiment as structured data on a broad scale, forward-thinking IR teams are moving beyond anecdotes to adopt quantifiable metrics that support strategy, enhance engagement, and guide senior level decisions.

The key question is no longer just “What do investors think?” but “How is investor confidence evolving, and how should we respond?”

The Limitations of Traditional Investor Feedback

A notable difficulty for IR teams today is the reduced availability and reliability of broker-generated feedback. Regulatory changes and a smaller pool of sell-side analysts have lessened the scope, depth and quality of insights that brokers can offer.

Additionally, increased digital engagement has made investor interactions more transactional, further weakening brokers’ ability to capture relationship-driven feedback. Though some sell-side analysts still provide useful perspectives, many IR teams find broker feedback increasingly limited and less representative of wider market sentiment.

Consequently, companies are taking greater responsibility for obtaining market perception, often through perception studies. However, these efforts also have their limitations:

1. Lack of Consistency:

   In dynamic markets, where perception can change swiftly, traditional perception studies provide a static view, rather than the consistent, practical intelligence that IR requires. Without this, companies risk missing critical shifts in confidence that impact valuation, liquidity, and investor retention.

2. Selection Bias:

   Most perception research focuses on a narrow group of investors, typically the largest shareholders. While these perspectives are important, they do not provide a full picture of how the broader market (including non-holders and recent sellers) views the company.

3. Unstructured Data:

   Anecdotal feedback and qualitative assessments are very difficult to quantify or benchmark over time. Without structured data, it is nearly impossible to identify long-term sentiment trends, measure the effectiveness of investor engagement strategies, or benchmark performance against industry peers.

Kenny Chae, Head of Investor Relations at AkzoNobel, observes: “Having a structured and reliable way to gauge investor sentiment is critical. We consistently track how investors perceive our strategy, management and execution over time, as this plays a crucial role in shaping discussions across our leadership group and informs decision-making at multiple levels. We really value being able to make strategic decisions based on consistent themes and trends”

The Shift Towards Data-Driven Investor Sentiment Analysis

Companies that embrace data-driven investor ‘Feedback Intelligence’ benefit from:

• Timely Insights: Instead of waiting for the results of a perception study, IR teams – and senior management – can instead use rolling Feedback Intelligence to monitor market sentiment as it evolves.
• Quantifiable Metrics: Qualitative feedback is supported by reliable measures such as investor confidence scores and sentiment benchmarks. Examining confidence alongside valuation trends helps to clarify whether sentiment shifts are being driven by company fundamentals, external market forces, or misalignment in messaging.
• Enhanced Investor Targeting: Analyses of sentiment trends, individual outliers and other data allow companies to identify which investors are most likely to buy or sell, and to refine messaging and prioritise engagement efforts accordingly.

James Arnold, Head of Investor Relations at Aston Martin, highlights the power of this sort of analysis: “One of the standout features is the ability to identify the most likely buyers and sellers based on investor confidence trends. This has been incredibly useful in refining our investor targeting strategy, and invaluable in managing relationships and ensuring that we stay ahead of market movements.”

From Anecdotes to Actionable Strategy

Moving from anecdotal feedback to data-driven Feedback Intelligence means that IR teams can:

• Demonstrate Performance: IR teams can now measure the impact of their efforts on investor sentiment, allowing them to substantiate and refine their programme.
• Align Messaging with Market Expectations: Companies can make timely adjustments to investor communications in response to sentiment shifts that are apparent from qualitative and quantitative analytics.
• Transform Internal Reporting: By bringing clear, data-backed insights to the boardroom, IR teams elevate investor sentiment from anecdotal speculation to an essential strategic input.

Head of Investor Relations at Vodacom, JP Davids, emphasises the value of structured insights from Feedback Intelligence:“Our Group CEO and CFO really like the combination of market level analysis alongside clear intelligence from individual investors. I don’t have to second guess anything anymore because I get such clear and specific insights, based on the collective voice of our investors.”

The future of investor relations will be increasingly data-driven and at QuantiFire we are proud to be playing a part in that. Feedback Intelligence has become more than a ‘nice to have’; it’s an asset that IR teams are using to gain strategic insights and competitive advantage. The companies that have incorporated this into their IR programming aren’t only make smarter engagement decisions, they are gaining a significant edge in an increasingly competitive market.