How investor relations teams can streamline their Q&A preparations

Preparing for Q&A sessions and presentations is one of the most time-consuming parts of an IR professional's role.

It's not just about knowing your company's data inside out but also about staying on top of market trends, peers and investor sentiment. Get it wrong and you're looking at potential misunderstandings, miscommunications and possibly even a drop in investor confidence.

Having been a buy-side analyst myself working on the other side of the table from IROs, I know how much work goes into these preparations and how easy it is to make a misstep. It's a high-stakes game that demands precision and, often, a lot of manual labor.

Leveraging AI for faster insights

IROs and their teams often find themselves knee-deep in earnings calls, transcripts and reports – not just from their own company, but from peers and other players across their industry. It's a time-consuming process of note-taking and anticipating what analysts and investors might throw their way. With the level of detail required, this is no easy task. Things get even more intense when they're working alongside C-level executives, who depend on their IR teams to flag potential concerns or highlight the wins.

So, how can IR teams make this process more efficient? This is where tools like Quartr Pro come in – something I've spent the past four years building with our incredible team.

Quartr Pro is used by several top tier IR teams around the world to stay ahead of market trends, keep an eye on peers and find any data point in seconds. Features like advanced search, AI chat and topics allow IROs to cut down preparation time for Q&A sessions and presentations from days to just a few hours. This means more time for IR teams to focus on crafting solid equity stories about their companies and less time on mere data extraction.

The AI chat in particular is an absolute game changer. IROs can extract any data they want from any event across more than 11,000 public companies just by simply asking for it. Quartr Pro doesn't just make gathering information faster and easier; it helps IROs understand their industry, peers and market trends on a whole new level.

Mitigating risks

Manual preparation doesn't just eat up time – it's risky. The more questions you're addressing, the easier it is to miss that one crucial detail that could have a huge impact. Even more importantly, there's also a risk that IROs accidentally disclose information that's not yet publicly available.

The solution is a streamlined, AI-powered process minimizes the risk of missing key information and helps IR teams stay within best practices. With all relevant data easily accessible, IROs can communicate more effectively, capture nuances, and deliver insights that add real depth to the conversation.

So, how does this all work in the real world? Picture this: you're preparing for an earnings call and you need to dig up key info on a peer or supplier. Normally, you'd be searching through various documents trying to find the right data points. But with Quartr Pro, it's all right there: type in a term, metric, or whatever you're looking for, and you have the information at hand in seconds. No more endless scrolling or second-guessing where to find that crucial bit of info.

And it gets even better. Let's say an analyst throws a question at you and you're not sure if answering it crosses any legal lines. With Quartr Pro, you can quickly pull up your previous IR communications to check for any relevant keywords or metrics, making sure you're staying consistent with what's already publicly available information. It's like having your own safety net whenever you need it. Plus, you can easily point out the exact report or earnings call where the info was originally shared, which only adds to your credibility.

Reflecting on my years on the buy-side, I can say I would've appreciated this kind of clarity and efficiency from IR teams. It not only makes everyone's life easier but also builds trust and transparency.

Crafting narratives, building trust

At the end of the day, investor relations is all about building that 'trust bridge' between the company and shareholders. By leveraging AI tools like Quartr Pro, IR teams are not just saving time; they're increasing trust and transparency in the public markets. With Quartr Pro, already used by IR teams at several Fortune 500 companies, IROs can focus on what truly matters: crafting narratives that resonate with investors and giving them a clearer, more transparent look at the company's path forward.

David Dag is head of corporate relationships and co-founder of Quartr