Small-cap IR by the numbers

What does small-cap IR look like? It’s perhaps harder to define than other company size, given the range of approaches taken to investor relations activities by smaller companies. Many do not even have a dedicated IR professional.

To start to get a handle on small-cap IR programs, IR Magazine has pulled some of the figures from the IR Magazine Global Practice Report 2016, released at the end of last year.

The research report classifies small-cap companies as those under $1 bn in market capitalization. Of the roughly 1,300 IR professionals who took part in the survey, 24 percent said they work at small-cap companies.

The numbers are likely to be influenced by the fact that people who chose to respond to the survey are more likely to have a robust IR program in place, given that they were happy to take part in a survey from IR Magazine. Still, the figures are a good starting point for understanding IR at smaller companies.

According to the results, the average small-cap company IR looks like this:
Team size: 1.6 people
Reporting to the CFO: 50%
Number of analysts: 5.6
IR budget: $224,000, with $78,000 spent on external services
Median IRO salary: $150,000-$199,000
One-on-one meetings per year: 87
Percentage of one-on-one meetings with senior management: 56%
Total days spent on IR by senior management: 52

Find out more about the IR Magazine Global Practice Report 2016 here.