Unlocking Value: How Strategic IR Can Revitalise Singapore’s Public Markets
A Credible, Evidence-Based Investment Story Will Help Ensure Investors Pay Attention
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July 13, 2026
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Despite positive momentum in Singapore’s equity market — with the Straits Times Index delivering a 5.6% total return in 1Q26 and pushing past the 5,000-point mark for the first time — too many SGX-listed companies continue to trade at a discount to book value.1,2,3 The fundamentals are there, but the market isn’t buying the story. Compounding the issue is a frustratingly narrow investor spotlight on the same familiar banks and REITs, while a trove of homegrown gems in technology, industrials, healthcare and other emerging sectors sits undervalued.
The gap: strategic storytelling — and no, not the rocket-to-the-moon kind that disregards valuations (that’s an entirely different article). Across our work with listed companies in Singapore and the region, we see firsthand what’s missing from the conversation with investors: investment narratives backed by sound financials and performance. Companies are struggling to distil their business model, financial performance and growth prospects into a narrative that’s simple to understand yet genuinely exciting for investors.
At its core, the solution lies in elevating investor relations (‘IR’) from a tactical, calendar-driven function to a clear driver of shareholder value. As an industry, IR officers (‘IROs’) must move beyond routine quarterly reporting, annual reports and AGMs, and focus on formulating and communicating longer-term strategy, explaining complex business models in clear and accessible language and consistently deploying a defensible and forward-looking equity narrative across every stakeholder engagement.
Performance Alone Is Not Enough
Singapore’s public markets have shown encouraging progress, and much credit must be given to the recent Equity Market Development Programme (‘EQDP’) and Value Unlock initiative by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and Singapore Exchange.4,5 Today, more than 100 stocks regularly achieve over SGD1 million in average daily turnover, reflecting broader investor interest beyond the benchmark names.6 Yet valuation discounts remain stubborn for many listed companies.
The root cause is rarely operational weakness, or at least, not solely. More often than not, it stems from communication shortfalls. Management teams frequently see communications as an afterthought and adopt a “We do the work and the market will notice” mentality. That may have worked in the past, but in today’s increasingly noisy environment, it is no longer sufficient. Furthermore, traditional IR practices remain heavily anchored to the financial calendar, comprising a series of activities conducted to signal compliance rather than to create conviction.
Especially in a market with diverse investors, regional exposures and rising ESG scrutiny, one-dimensional disclosures leave stakeholders unclear about long-term strategy, competitive moats and sustainable value creation. This creates a cycle of information asymmetry and undervaluation.
Create Value by Communicating Value
Forward-looking IROs understand that compliance is table stakes, not the whole game. The real value opportunity is a fundamental evolution from tactical execution to strategic leadership. This means prioritising three things that actually move the needle:
- Formulating and clearly communicating longer-term strategy – Move beyond what your organisation is doing today to where it is headed over the next three to five years. A clear and compelling roadmap for the future can help attract longer-term investors who will not panic over short-term blips in quarterly reporting.
- Explaining the business model accessibly – While it may be more precise (and, honestly, quite satisfying) to speak in technical terms and acronyms, great IROs translate complex operations, revenue drivers and competitive moats into terms that resonate with non-specialist audiences like retail investors and broader stakeholders, while remaining cognizant of the tailwinds and risks that the business and industry faces.
- Deploying one consistent narrative across engagement – Roadshows, results briefings, reports, employee townhalls and regulator dialogues should all reinforce the same coherent story. One consistent set of messaging, customised to address the individual stakeholder’s concerns and pain points, is the way to go.
When done well, IR transforms from a cost centre into a value-creation engine, actively shaping how investors understand their investment.
Know Your Shareholders
Critical to doing these things well is conducting rigorous shareholder analysis. Too many companies engage investors without fully understanding the audiences they are speaking to. As a result, management teams can spend significant time communicating, yet still fail to address the concerns and priorities that ultimately drive investment decisions. In many cases, valuation gaps persist not because investors disagree with the facts, but because management and investors prioritise different value drivers.
Look beyond who owns the stock to understand why they own it, what they expect and where the blocks and blind spots sit. This means mapping concentration risk, aligning internally on the preferred balance between long-term anchors and shorter-term players and identifying perception gaps between key holders and management’s view of value drivers. In Singapore’s market, with its mix of family offices, institutional investors, sovereign-linked entities and growing retail participation, this intelligence is especially powerful.
Done right, shareholder analysis turns passive holders into advocates, helps anticipate tough questions, prevents activist attacks and ensures your equity narrative speaks directly to audiences that matter.
Strategic IR Doesn’t Work Alone
IR today extends far beyond analysts and institutional funds. It demands genuine multistakeholder dialogue with investors, regulators, employees, media, partners, suppliers and the wider public. Truly effective IROs do not just simply communicate quarterly financial and operational performance; they understand sector dynamics, operational levers, risk scenarios and the long-term drivers of value creation, and then translate them into a credible equity story.
Transparency, when rooted in substance and pursued deliberately rather than treated as a box-ticking exercise, becomes a powerful strategic asset that reduces volatility and, more importantly, attracts patient capital.
For Singapore-listed companies, this matters. The city-state has the regulatory credibility, institutional depth and geopolitical stability to set a regional benchmark for a high-quality and dynamic public market. Indeed, Singapore’s right to win as a leading financial hub is even clearer amid heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainties elsewhere in the region. That said, for international investors to fully appreciate the opportunity, companies here must make the case more clearly, consistently and confidently.
That begins with identifying gaps between business reality and market perception; understanding priority stakeholders and tailoring engagement while maintaining one coherent core narrative; developing a clear and consistent refreshed equity narrative that clearly communicates the company’s strategy, performance and long-term ambition across all channels; and regularly refining the approach based on measuring meaningful metrics such as analyst coverage, trading liquidity, investor sentiment, media visibility and market feedback.
Companies that treat investor relations as an ongoing strategic discipline, rather than a periodic disclosure exercise, will be better placed to close the gap between intrinsic value and market perception. In doing so, they can not only unlock sustainable shareholder value, but also help define the next era of Singapore’s capital markets as a more dynamic, diverse and compelling listing destination.
Footnotes:
1: Xuan, Koh Kim, “Technology, industrial sectors lift STI Q1 total returns to 5.6%,” The Business Times (3 April 2026).
2: “Straits Times Index crosses 5,000 mark for the first time,” The Straits Times (12 February 2026).
3: Yuit, Chor Kheing, “$30m boost for Singapore-listed firms’ investor relations will help unlock value: Market watchers,” The Straits Times (19 December 2025).
4: “Equity Market Development Programme (EQDP),” Monetary Authority of Singapore (21 February 2025).
5: Chakraborty, Ranamita, “‘Value Unlock’ programme will help companies bridge gap with investors: industry players,” The Business Times (20 November 2025).
6: Chern, Kang Wan, “Liquidity returns to Singapore market as rally spreads beyond blue chips,” The Straits Times (3 February 2026).
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Published
July 13, 2026
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