Strong Sell Side Relationships Keep You in the Conversation
Cultivating strong relationships with sell side analysts should be a critical element of any IR program. Learn ways to build rapport, optimize engagement, and support the analysts who influence investor perception of your company.
Wall Street research analysts are a vital link between companies and investors. They boost your visibility, influence Wall Street’s perception of your company, and can provide valuable feedback on important aspects of your narrative. As they develop and evolve their thesis, forecasts, and recommendations, they often rely on their relationship with your team to provide timely information and broader context to further inform their views. Developing strong, mutual relationships with your covering analysts is a simple and effective way to stand out amongst your peers and should be a core part of a successful investor relations strategy.
Here are some thoughts on how best to engage your analysts.
Work to Build Relationships. As with any partnership, you need to build rapport, mutual respect, and trust through frequent engagement. To foster ongoing dialogue, proactively drive regular touchpoints between your analysts and your team.
Be Responsive. When analysts reach out, it is important to respond in a cooperative and timely manner and work to fulfill information or other requests. This is especially critical when you have news or there is news in your sector, as analysts need to react and synthesize viewpoints very rapidly to do their job effectively.
Respect Their Independence. Analyst credibility with investors requires them to have unfettered opinions, and these opinions may not always be favorable to your company or preferred by you. Instead of focusing on influencing their views, which can change over time, companies should instead ensure their analysts have the facts and context to make their best, informed judgments.
Support Their Work. There are many ways to support your analysts in their role. These include taking the time to provide thoughtful feedback on models and research notes, recognizing excellent work, and making your team available for sell-side sponsored events including conferences, webinars, corporate access meetings, and site visits.
The biotech and life sciences sectors are highly competitive and constantly evolving, making it essential for companies to remain visible and top of mind with important investors. Cultivating strong connections with the sell side analyst community is one of the most effective ways to put you and your company in the conversations that matter.
Strong Sell Side Analyst Relationships Ensure You are Always in the Conversation
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