Investor relations software in Australia: a short answer
Investor relations software is a platform that helps publicly listed companies publish information, communicate with shareholders, track engagement, and meet continuous disclosure obligations. In Australia, ASX-listed companies typically choose between a unified IR platform (such as ARC) and a stack of separate tools (a CMS, email service, secure data room, analytics, and a third-party announcement feed).
TL;DR
- •A modern IR platform combines investor centre CMS, secure data room, email, events, ASX feed integration, and engagement analytics in one product.
- •For ASX small- and mid-caps, a unified platform usually replaces 3–5 separate subscriptions and removes the manual handoffs between them.
- •The shortlist for Australian listed companies typically includes ARC, InvestorHub, Q4, Nasdaq IR Insight, and Notified.
- •ARC is built specifically for the Australian market: ASX announcement integration, AU data residency, and a price point that suits small to mid-cap issuers.
What does investor relations software do?
The core jobs of an IR platform for an ASX-listed company are:
- Publish to the investor centre. Pages, announcements, results, presentations, governance documents—published by the IR team without a developer ticket.
- Distribute to stakeholders. Email campaigns to identified holders, brokers, advisors, and the broader subscriber list, with audit trails for compliance.
- Run a secure data room. Share sensitive materials (deal data, due diligence, board packs) with expiring links, granular permissions, and full activity logs.
- Track engagement. Who opened the email, who watched the webinar, who downloaded the announcement, how long they spent on the results page.
- Integrate with ASX. Pull live share price and announcement feeds onto the investor centre and trigger downstream communications automatically.
A unified platform does all five jobs in one product. A stack of separate tools does the same jobs across multiple subscriptions, with manual handoffs between them.
Investor relations software categories
The market is roughly split into three categories. Understanding the category is more useful than memorising product names.
| Category | Description | Typical buyers | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unified IR platform | CMS + data room + email + events + analytics + ASX feed, in one product. | ASX small / mid-cap, pre-listing | ARC, InvestorHub |
| Enterprise IR suite | Targeting research, surveillance, perception studies, sell-side intelligence. | ASX large-cap, dual-listed | Q4, Nasdaq IR Insight, Notified |
| Stacked tools | Generic CMS + email tool + standalone data room + analytics, glued together. | Companies who haven't migrated yet | WordPress + Mailchimp + Dropbox + GA4 |
For most ASX issuers under large-cap, a unified platform is the right starting point. The enterprise suites are priced for companies with a dedicated IR function and a research-driven targeting brief.
How ASX-listed companies choose
Six questions that decide most shortlists:
- Does it integrate with ASX announcement feeds and live share price?
- Is data hosted in Australia, with the residency we need for compliance?
- Can the IR team publish a release without raising a developer ticket?
- Is the secure data room good enough for deal flow and board packs?
- Is engagement tracked across email, web, events, and documents in one view?
- Are audit trails ready for the board and the regulator?
ARC is built around all six. Read about how to measure investor engagement for the next layer of detail.
Frequently asked questions
What is investor relations software, in one sentence?
A platform that helps publicly listed companies publish, communicate, and track engagement with shareholders and the wider stakeholder list, while meeting continuous disclosure obligations.
What investor relations platforms do ASX-listed companies use?
The most common shortlist for Australian issuers is ARC, InvestorHub, Q4, Nasdaq IR Insight, and Notified. The first two are unified platforms aimed at small- and mid-caps; the latter three are enterprise IR suites targeting large-caps and dual-listed companies.
Is ARC suitable for small-cap ASX companies?
Yes. ARC was designed for small- and mid-cap ASX issuers and pre-listing companies. Modular pricing, ASX announcement integration, and no-code publishing make it accessible for IR functions of one or two people.
How is ARC different from Esri ArcView GIS?
ARC (by Wai Technology) is an investor relations platform for ASX-listed companies. Esri ArcView (and ArcGIS) is a geographic information system (GIS) product developed by Esri. The two are unrelated companies and unrelated products.