On the morning of September 28, 2023, the second New Investment Expo of Frost & Sullivan (Frost & Sullivan, abbreviated as: FSS) and the 17th Frost & Sullivan Global Growth, Innovation and Leadership Summit (abbreviated as "FSS New Investment Conference") - a sub-forum on high-quality development of listed companies - was grandly held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai. The forum was co-hosted by Frost & Sullivan, TradeGo, Roadshow China, and LeadLeo.
The forum has invited more than a dozen heavyweight guests and industry experts, bringing together specialists from various fields such as sponsors, law firms, accountants, market research consultants, and investors. They will provide the latest market interpretations for listed and pre-listed companies, discussing the successful paths for enterprises in the capital market.
Lu Jing, Partner and Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan Greater China
At this forum, Lu Jing, Partner and Managing Director of Frost & Sullivan Greater China, shared the company's expectations during the IPO phase and key research topics. The presentation mainly covered three parts: how to shape and present investment stories, how to support company valuation, and how to identify and highlight competitive advantages.
01How to shape and present investment stories
Lu Jing proposed that listed companies or those planning to go public should always maintain a keen insight into the capital market. They need to tell their company's investment story using the logic and language of the capital market in order to better attract investors' attention and win the trust of regulatory authorities. In this process, companies need to fully demonstrate their business priorities and highlights so that investors and regulatory authorities can have a deeper understanding of the company, thereby better evaluating the company's investment value. Lu Jing suggested that designing an investment story requires companies to fully consider four aspects: strategy, advantages, brand, and fundraising management, in order to generate a comprehensive business resonance.
Firstly, strategy is the cornerstone of a company's development, determining its future direction and goals. Therefore, a company needs to formulate a clear strategic plan and fully reflect its importance in the investment narrative, so as to instill confidence in investors and regulatory authorities about the company's development prospects.
Secondly, strengths are one of the key factors for a company's success. The company needs to deeply explore its strengths and translate them into specific action plans and outcomes. In investment stories, companies need to demonstrate these strengths to investors and regulatory authorities so that they can understand the company's core competitiveness.
Furthermore, the brand is an important component of a company's image and can bring more business opportunities and customer trust to the company. Therefore, companies need to focus on brand building and emphasize the value and influence of the brand in their investment narratives.
Finally, fundraising management is an indispensable part of a company's development process. The company needs to formulate reasonable fundraising plans and management strategies in order to make full use of the resources of the capital market and provide strong support for the company's development.
02How to support the company's valuation
Valuation, as a key link in the investment and financing market, is no longer merely a simple yardstick for measuring a company's current performance but is increasingly regarded as an important consideration in assessing future growth potential. Lu Jing emphasizes that companies need to demonstrate their value from multiple perspectives and dimensions. Investors are not only concerned with a company's financial data but also with its future development potential. Therefore, companies need to integrate their future growth stories into current investment and financing hotspots, allowing investors to see the company's sustainable development capabilities.
To achieve this goal, enterprises need to combine the current market environment with their own business characteristics to present an investment story suitable for the company. This investment story not only needs to be consistent with the investment logic but also has sufficient appeal to resonate with investors. In this way, enterprises can not only better demonstrate their own value but also guide investors to have an accurate and more objective understanding of the company's future.
03How to mine and highlight competitive advantages
Lu Jing pointed out that industry research should delve into and sort out a company's competitive advantages from multiple dimensions and perspectives. He advocates for a refined research method that not only requires a comprehensive grasp of the company's overall situation but also an in-depth analysis of every key link, thereby uncovering those details that possess advantageous highlights. Such industry research not only helps clients, investors, or regulatory authorities better understand the company's current status but also provides a fair and objective endorsement of its leading position in its industry.
In terms of industry comparison dimensions, industry reports need to be analyzed in detail according to the characteristics of different industries. Taking retail as an example, dozens of indicators such as business turnover, profit margin, monthly active users (MAU), daily active users (DAU), store count, city coverage rate, and per capita payment can be considered for comparison. By identifying the company's competitive advantages in the industry, it can showcase its leading position in the sector to investors.
