IPO communications are becoming more complex as companies face a broader mix of institutional, retail, and international investors across increasingly fragmented media environments, according to a new report from NorthStar Insights. The report argues that while financial media, press releases, and investor roadshows remain important, companies also need to account for digital channels, different levels of financial knowledge, and market-specific expectations when preparing for a listing.
Earning the Market’s Trust: How Communication Strategies Are Shaping Modern IPO Success examines IPO communications across North America, North Africa, East Asia, India, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The September 2026 report draws on the firm's advisory work across five markets, including the GCC perspective authored by Arth Malani, with further perspectives from Senior Advisor Mark Jackson on Hong Kong, and Director Seth Gagahina on creative storytelling. Market contributions come from Pranav Kumar of Alkimyx Global, Richard Mahony of KRG Advisors, and Sara Gad of Moharram & Partners. The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) backs the research, with contributions from its President, Farzana Baduel.
Its central finding is that there is no single communications model that works across every IPO market. Investor profiles, media environments, regulation, and cultural expectations all influence how a company needs to communicate before and during a listing.
Retail participation is widening the IPO audience
The report cites estimates that retail investors account for around 20 to 35 per cent of daily equity trading volume in the US, UK, and South Korea, rising to around 40 to 50 per cent in India and Mainland China.
It also cites data showing that around 10 percentage points of US equity trading volume shifted from institutional to retail investors between 2010 and 2025.
According to the report, this means companies increasingly need to communicate their business models, growth strategies, competitive strengths, and long-term vision to investors with different levels of financial knowledge and different information needs.
Investor allocation structures can also differ significantly between markets. The report notes that retail investors typically receive around five to 10 per cent of IPO allocations in the US, while India's mainboard IPO framework requires a minimum 35 per cent reservation for retail individual investors in applicable offerings.
NorthStar Insights says these differences affect both the information companies provide and the channels they use to reach investors.
Digital channels are expanding alongside traditional financial communications
The report says financial media, analyst reports, press releases, and roadshows remain important, but now operate alongside social media, executive channels, podcasts, video, and other digital formats.
It cites US investor research showing that 75 per cent of investors rely on brokerage or investment firms for information, while 29 per cent report relying on social media. YouTube is used by 30 per cent of investors overall, and 61 per cent of investors under 35.
At the same time, only 40 per cent of investors surveyed said they were confident in their ability to assess the accuracy of financial information they encounter. NorthStar Insights says this makes clarity and accessibility increasingly important as IPO information reaches investors through a wider range of channels.
The report also cites academic research linking greater media exposure and online investor attention with IPO outcomes.
Companies receiving three or more pieces of media coverage in the month before their IPO had, on average, 206 per cent more analyst coverage and 127 per cent more institutional investors in their first year after listing than companies in the bottom third of media coverage. Separately, research cited in the report found that IPOs with high abnormal online search activity in the week before listing recorded average first-day returns of 17.64 per cent, compared with 11.73 per cent for IPOs with low search activity.
The report presents these studies as evidence of the relationship between the information environment, investor attention, and IPO outcomes.
IPO communications remain highly market-specific
NorthStar Insights says the expansion of communications channels has not produced a single global approach.
In North America, digital platforms are becoming more prominent alongside traditional financial media and investor communications. The report says this can help companies reach wider audiences, including retail investors, while also increasing the likelihood that company messages will be summarised, discussed, and redistributed outside official channels.
Morocco presents a different communications environment. The report says French is mainly used to communicate with local institutional investors, regulators, and business media, while English is used for international investors and regional funds. Direct engagement, including institutional roadshows, one-to-one meetings, and small-group briefings, also remains important.
In India, the report says the sizeable retail investor base has encouraged IPO-bound companies to use more accessible formats such as short explainers, podcasts, infographics, and dedicated microsites alongside formal IPO documents.
For mainland Chinese companies listing in Hong Kong, communications may need to address international institutional investors who are less familiar with the company and assessing it in a different regulatory and geopolitical environment.
What makes an IPO story credible differs by market
The report says companies need a clear and credible investment story that explains their business model, growth strategy, financial fundamentals, and long-term direction. However, the factors underpinning credibility differ depending on the company, market and investor group.
In North America, the report highlights clarity and simplicity when explaining complex businesses. It cites the 2026 IPO of AI infrastructure company Cerebras Systems, whose investment proposition focused on its AI infrastructure and relationships with OpenAI and AWS. The report notes that the offering priced above its range and was more than 20 times oversubscribed.
In Morocco, credibility for family-owned businesses can place greater emphasis on continuity, governance after listing, ownership structure and minority shareholder protection.
For newer companies in India, NorthStar Insights says IPO narratives have shifted towards financial performance and a path to profitability. It says more recent communications place greater emphasis on metrics such as positive cash flow, profitability, EBITDA expansion, and capital efficiency, with some companies beginning pre-IPO communications 12 to 18 months before filing their draft prospectus.
For mainland Chinese companies listing in Hong Kong, the report says communications need to build credibility with international investors while accounting for different regulatory environments and geopolitical scrutiny.
Cross-border communications require consistency and adaptation
NorthStar Insights identifies cross-border communication as another challenge for companies preparing to list. The report says companies need to maintain a consistent core investment story while adapting language, tone, and communications practices to different markets.
Cultural expectations, media environments and regulatory requirements can affect how the same message is interpreted. If investors and media receive or interpret different messages about a company, the report says this can create confusion and reputational risk.
The report points to Morocco's bilingual financial environment and mainland Chinese companies listing in Hong Kong as examples of how messages may need to be adapted for different domestic and international audiences without changing the underlying investment story.
Preparation needs to begin before the public phase
The CIPR contribution recommends identifying potential communications risks, difficult questions, and hostile narratives in advance. Monitoring, rapid-response and rebuttal arrangements should already be in place, with supporting facts, approved responses, and clear escalation routes available for high-stakes situations.
It also warns that communications teams can be under pressure for extended periods during IPOs and other high-stakes events, making adequate resourcing and access to decision-makers important.
NorthStar Insights says the objective is not simply to prepare material for the listing itself, but to build a communications approach that can continue once the company enters the public markets.
What communications professionals need to know
The report identifies consistency and adaptability as the central challenge for IPO communications. Companies need a clear investment story, but the way that story is communicated may need to change according to investor group, media environment, language, regulatory structure, and market.
Traditional financial communications remain important, but the report says they increasingly need to sit alongside digital and public-facing channels. The widening investor base also means complex business and financial information may need to be made accessible to audiences with different levels of financial knowledge.
NorthStar Insights also stresses that credibility is not built in the same way everywhere. Depending on the market, investors may place greater weight on financial performance, governance and ownership, international credibility, or the broader economic context surrounding a listing.
Preparation is another recurring theme. The report recommends starting communications work before the public phase, identifying risks and difficult questions in advance, and putting monitoring and response arrangements in place before they are needed.
Finally, the report is explicit about the limits of communications. A clear investment story can help investors understand a company and its proposition, but communications cannot replace strong business fundamentals or the execution of the strategy presented at listing. NorthStar Insights therefore describes an IPO as the beginning of a longer relationship with public markets rather than the end of the communications process.
