Der Investor Relations Trend Radar

The beginning of the 21^st century has been significantly impacted by a global megatrend: Digitalization. Foresight has never been more important due to the high velocity of new trends emerging. Many transformational developments in Investor Relations are here to stay, while new ones constantly evolve. Advancing technology, new business models, and dramatic shifts in investor behavior have reshaped the investment and investor relations community already – and this is expected to continue. MIFID2 and travel restrictions created higher transformational impact on the investment community than in perhaps the previous century alone. The full effect of this shift is just beginning. This Trend Radar aims to help IR departments to understand upcoming developments, to rate and prioritize them, and, as a result, shaping the future of Investor Relations in their enterprises.

Every IR department might be seeing its point of departure differently. Nevertheless, it is crucial to closely observe existing and upcoming trends in investor relations to distinguish which trends to pursue and which ones to ignore, at least for the time being. The trend radar supports the user from two perspectives:

First, it aims for stimulating discussions within IR departments as to what trends are becoming relevant, what trends appear important and what could be a future state of the IR effort. This could, for example, be discussed with the whole team at the next strategic offsite.

Secondly, it helps investor relations departments to prioritize their efforts. Focusing on too many things at the same time with high quality might not work due to resource constraints in many cases. Some trends might be important for dedicated areas or teams in Investor Relations and maybe those teams in IR might prioritize trends differently for their purpose.

Once a thorough discussion and a clear view on priorities has been derived, a roadmap and an action plan for the IR department can be created. This ensures that no trend is missed. Revisiting the trend radar after a while helps identifying changes or seeing new trends emerge.  Some trends may have speeded up, others might have become less relevant or did not survive at all. Efforts and roadmaps can be then adjusted accordingly.