Think creatively, strategically and measurably
Summarizing how his firm's methods in targeting retail investors has developed, Ian Selig says: ‘Safehold’s thesis is that there is more than $25 tn in institutional hands and every public company is competing for those dollars. Meanwhile, there are also trillions of dollars in retail investors’ hands and we’d be one of the few public companies proactively targeting this demographic.
‘Concurrent with our IPO, therefore, senior management brought in an IRO to focus exclusively on retail investors. With no clear playbook for targeting strategies and measuring success in retail, we needed to be willing to take chances, think creatively and employ a ‘fail-fast’ approach. Six years later, we’ve found several successful strategies – as well as some that were not so effective – and we have inevitably forged a path toward productive retail outreach.’
Adding his perspective, M&S’ Fraser Ramzan comments: ‘Not only do we have a higher proportion of retail investors than the average for a FTSE company, but at M&S we also understand this investment extends beyond the financial and that our retail holders are some of our most loyal customers, too.
This investment extends beyond the financial and our retail holders are some of our most loyal customers, too
‘M&S has invested in engaging regularly with its retail shareholders through better digital communications. For example, shareholders who hold in their own name and have registered for e-comms receive direct, personalized updates from M&S relevant to retail investors. We know they value these communications as our open rates on them consistently achieve above 60 percent. We put time and resources into engaging with retail investors who hold in their own name and want to extend this to those who hold in nominee accounts, too.’
