Source page: McKinsey & Company
Commentary
Get your story straight
Investing | Corporate finance
March 25, 2024 – Before companies embark on an initial public offering they should develop a compelling story to tell investors, find partner Jamie Koenig and colleagues. Seventy-three percent of global institutional investors surveyed by McKinsey said that an unattractive story poses the greatest risk to the success of an IPO. In addition, 69 percent of investors ranked the track record of top management as the most important component of that story, followed closely by a long-term plan for value creation (65 percent). Click through the interactive to see more.
Interactive
To read the article, see “The equity story you need for the long-term investors you want,” February 22, 2024.
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Visual form
Step-through investor survey bar-chart sequence.
Layout / body structure
The visual is organized as a short sequence of survey-result frames. One frame focuses on IPO-success risks, and another focuses on the elements investors want in a credible equity story.
What is being compared
It compares global institutional investors’ survey responses about what can hurt an IPO and what makes a company’s long-term story convincing.
Measurement system
The unit is percent of surveyed investors. Each result is read as a share selecting a risk or story component, with the leading answers labeled directly.
Visible structure inside the graphic
The story starts with the risk that an unattractive company story can undermine an IPO, then shifts to the proof points investors look for: top-management track record and a long-term value creation plan.
Main takeaway from the visual
The visual shows that IPO readiness depends heavily on narrative credibility. Investors are not only judging the transaction; they are judging whether management can explain a durable path to value.
Key standout values or extremes
Seventy-three percent of surveyed investors identify an unattractive story as the greatest risk to IPO success. Sixty-nine percent rank top-management track record as the most important story component, followed by 65 percent for a long-term value creation plan.
Controls / sequence, when applicable
The reader steps through the survey frames to move from IPO-risk responses to equity-story component responses.
Companion media, when applicable
There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart is the full visual on this page.