Formal reports prepared under applicable accounting standards (IFRS or US GAAP) summarizing a company’s financial position and performance — comprising the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, and notes to the financial statements.

The process by which a private company becomes publicly traded on a stock exchange — through a traditional IPO, direct listing, or SPAC merger. Going public provides access to public capital markets but introduces ongoing disclosure, governance, and IR obligations.

The practice of making misleading or exaggerated sustainability or ESG claims that overstate a company’s actual environmental or social performance. Greenwashing exposes companies to regulatory scrutiny, reputational damage, and investor backlash. IR teams have a responsibility to ensure ESG communications are accurate and evidence-based.

A pooled investment vehicle — typically available only to institutional and accredited investors — that employs a wide range of strategies including long/short equity, event-driven, and activist investing. Hedge funds are significant participants in shareholder activism and can be both targets and sources of IR engagement.

An investor who allocates capital to or manages capital within a hedge fund. In the context of IR, hedge fund investors may be active traders, event-driven investors, or activist shareholders requiring tailored engagement strategies.

An individual investor with significant personal wealth — typically defined as $1 million or more in investable assets. High net worth investors may hold meaningful positions in smaller public companies and are an important audience for certain IR programs, particularly in the small- and micro-cap space.

The strategic and tactical IR work involved in identifying, targeting, and engaging institutional asset managers whose investment mandates align with a company’s size, sector, geography, and investment profile. This involves investor targeting, roadshow outreach, conference participation, and consistent, compelling communications.

The process of identifying, approaching, and persuading sell-side analysts to initiate research coverage of a company. Success depends on a compelling investment thesis, management access, analyst targeting aligned to the right firms, and a credible IR communications program.

The ongoing optimization of an IR program across communications quality, investor targeting, disclosure practices, digital presence, stakeholder engagement, and management accessibility — with the goal of achieving fair valuation, improving shareholder quality, and reducing cost of capital.

A professional investing organization — including mutual funds, pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds — that manages capital on behalf of clients or beneficiaries. Institutional investors are the primary audience for IR outreach and own the majority of publicly traded shares.