DiligenceVault recently sponsored the PEI Investor Relations, Marketing and Communications Forum in New York City, where peers from the industry came together to highlight best practices and trends impacting the Investor Relations landscape in 2024. Dan, Grant, Madison and Ryan from our team attended this event and Dan also spoke at the panel discussion on ‘Integrate Technology For A More Efficient Organization.’
And like always, we bring you the key takeaways from the conference.
1. Use Of AI – Excitement, Progress, Risks
There was a lot of excitement around the use of AI. In talking with firms, AI is in the early adoption phase for some firms, while for a few others, it has been integrated into one or more workflows. Generative AI for Investor Relations teams is great for written content like emails and memos, summarizing documents, answering DDQs, and marketing presentations. However, this also comes with a few risks, especially when sensitive data is being shared with an open-source LLM. Regulations might impact what can or can’t be used, so while IR teams are excited about using AI to save time in various sales/business development activities, there is yet to be a universally adopted set of Gen AI tools.
2. Fundraising
The environment for fundraising has continued to become tougher, but like always, success can vary depending on the firm’s brand, preparedness and type of asset class. Exits within the portfolio continue to suffer, resulting in poor DPI track records. Deal making is also slower, so prior funds are not deploying as fast, affecting the go-to market dates for future fund vintages. Traditional LPs might be maxed out for allocations, or committing a smaller check size than expected. Higher interest rates, geopolitical risks, and regulatory conditions are other headwinds that are potentially further extending the slower cycles of Private Equity fundraising activity. In this environment, success requires a lot more planning, and we share best practices for a successful fundraise from our client interactions.
3. Retail Access / Democratized Alts
With traditional LPs maxed out for allocations, and the wealth segment’s increasing interest in alternatives, the next wave of assets is expected to come from Family Officers, HNW Individuals, and RIAs. Globally, untapped markets like the Middle East are becoming a massive opportunity to raise capital from both institutional and wealth segments. In the United States, RIAs, RIA Aggregators, and Broker Dealers have an appetite for alternatives. For GPs, this typically offers a slightly shorter sales cycle, but might require more asset class education and hand-holding before a subscription document (sub-doc) is signed. Large broker-dealer platforms which are key to wealth distribution tend to have a longer due diligence cycle and have historically favored the mega-funds for their platforms with some platforms favoring boutique firms and nicher strategies.
4. The LP Perspective
Four LPs joined the stage for the most popular panel of the conference. LPs highly value their GP relationships, some noting that it’s unlikely they’ll be adding any new managers and prefer to work with their existing set of managers. In addition, LP preference on meetings has dramatically shifted. One LP is now requiring meeting agendas before agreeing to any in-person meeting. On top of that, they’re declining entertainment or social outings with GPs.. We no longer need face-to-face time as often as we used to. GPs should be thoughtful in their approach to meetings and communication with LPs. In our recent ODD roundtable, there was a discussion around the all important people factor in LP diligence and some of the common people and culture related red flags that LP’s see, and GPs should avoid.
5. Know Your Tech Stack
Tech continues to become more and more important for driving fundraising success and improving LP investor relations. CRMs, Data Rooms, Centralized Content Library, RFP/DDQ automation technologies, and Lead Generation databases are critical to the Investor Relations tech stack. More importantly, together they can help quantify the success and results of the IR team. Many GPs use each tool for a specific purpose and take advantage of the reporting capabilities to reinforce the value each technology provides. For instance, data rooms can help track the number of views or engagement with diligence materials. DiligenceVault can monitor the number of investor questionnaires completed per year and the new assets brought in after completion. If you are looking to strengthen your tech stack, check out our blog on the topic: https://diligencevault.com/what-is-an-investor-relations-technology/
If you’re interested in learning how IR teams at private markets GPs are using DiligenceVault’s software for successful fundraising and investor relations outcomes, please reach out to Dan Sullivan – dan@diligencevault.com
To continue the conversation on LP perspectives, you are invited to join us for our upcoming webinar on Due Diligence in Private Credit Investing – A GP and LP Perspective
