In November 2023, we brought together a diverse group of thought leaders for a virtual roundtable to discuss the biggest changes happening in fundraising right now.
As any firm knows, sharing investor updates and managing relationships with LPs is a full-time job—but not every team has a dedicated investor relations expert. The roundtable’s goal was to serve as a forum for participants to share valuable learnings from their own experiences with like-minded peers.
Representatives from more than twenty firms participated in the roundtable, with a nearly even split between those with a dedicated investor relations (IR) team and those without. A small proportion said ‘other’, with examples including ad-hoc LP support from members of the C-suite with fundraising experience, and leaning on an external PR agency for some LP communications.
Three main takeaways emerged from the roundtable discussion:
1. Newsletters are a preferred channel, but customization is key
Aside from annual investor meetings, roundtable participants listed newsletters as the primary form of communication with LPs. One reason for this is that the format and function of a newsletter is something understood and appreciated across countries and cultures. LPs are located around the world–Brazil, North America, North Africa, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe–and newsletters are also an accessible way to share updates when meeting in person is not possible.
But while newsletters can be a straightforward channel of communication, firms still need to adapt their approach depending on LP location and other factors. One roundtable participant said, “The pace and velocity of your pitch is very different with investors in the U.S. compared to other regions.” Even in markets where the same language is spoken—Australia and the U.S. for example—the marketing approach should be tailored to the audience.
Segmentation is also critical to an effective newsletter strategy. As one roundtable participant explained, “We have a monthly newsletter that provides high-level news around the fund, but then we also have more specific newsletters to certain groups.” By optimizing relevance for each group of LPs, firms are more likely to see steady open and engagement rates from their newsletters.
2. Personalization—both in-person and virtual—makes a big impact on LPs
Newsletters are helpful in keeping LPs in the loop but they lack the level of personalization that relationships need to be built and nurtured over time. A roundtable participant explained the extra level of impact that an IR team can have: “We’re building an ongoing IR function to be consistent, everflowing, and keeping in touch with investors more regularly as opposed to just monthly and quarterly cadences or sporadic outreach.”
Another participant has found success with events where the IR team gets what’s called ‘supervised’ time with the LPs. They said, “We host a dinner with a 1:1 ratio of IR team members to investors; this offers junior team members exposure to LPs, often for the first time.”
Content is another way firms are personalizing how (and what) they communicate to LPs, whether in person or virtually. Creating a content calendar puts structure behind an outreach strategy, and ensures that when team members reach out to LPs it is always with the most up-to-date and relevant content.
3. Relationship management tools play a key role in supporting LP relationships
Across the board, roundtable members observed that LPs are checking in more often and want more regular updates. One participant noted, “The level of education that you need to do with LPs is much more significant now.”
To streamline what can be a time-consuming process of LP management, a quarter of the firms represented at the roundtable are using a relationship management tool. Benefits include the ability to integrate this technology with other parts of a tech stack, such as email marketing, investor portals, and event marketing, to gain a complete picture of the LP relationship.
Using a platform like Affinity, firms can easily keep track of the last touchpoint with an LP and create a firmwide dashboard to standardize ad-hoc outreach. This is a simple but comprehensive way to get the full picture of how engaged (or not) an investor is. From there, you can make informed decisions on the most appropriate communication strategy.
Discover more content on LP communication strategies
- Learn more fundraising best practices in our Fundraising and investor relations masterclass.
- See how Redalpine manages hundreds of LP relationships with Affinity.
- Start maximizing your fundraising efforts using relationship intelligence.
Request a demo to learn how your team can close more deals with Affinity.
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