Investor relations manages communication between a public company and the financial community and carries securities-law compliance, while public relations manages reputation with media, customers, employees and the public. The two overlap on earnings, M&A and crises. The DraftKings Regulation FD case shows what happens when a PR firm acts without investor relations and legal sign-off.
This article is communications guidance, not legal advice.
What is the difference between investor relations and public relations?
Investor relations is a strategic management responsibility that integrates finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance, according to the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). NIRI says its purpose is two-way communication between a company and the financial community that contributes to the company's securities achieving fair valuation. Public relations has a wider brief, which is the company's reputation with every audience that affects it.
The table below summarizes the practical split. The NIRI definition is quoted from the NIRI website, and the other rows are EPR's summary.
| Dimension | Investor relations | Public relations |
|---|
| Main audience | Institutional and retail investors, analysts and proxy advisers | Media, customers, employees, regulators and the public |
| Goal | Fair valuation of the company's securities | Reputation and trust across audiences |
| Governing rules | Securities-law disclosure rules, including Regulation FD | Regulation FD whenever a message contains material non-public information |
| Typical owner | Chief financial officer or investor relations officer | Chief communications officer |
| Core channels | Earnings calls, filings, investor days and the IR website | Press, social media, events and owned content |
For a fuller definition of the discipline and the firms that practice it, see what investor relations is and the top investor relations firms.
Where do investor relations and public relations overlap?
Investor relations and public relations overlap whenever a message can move a stock and also shape a reputation. Four situations produce most of the overlap.
What did the DraftKings case show about the boundary?
The DraftKings case showed that a public company answers for what its PR firm posts. On July 27, 2023, DraftKings' outside PR firm, with authorization, posted on the CEO's personal X and LinkedIn accounts that the company was "still seeing really strong growth in existing states," about a week before the planned Q2 earnings release.
Neither account was a designated channel for investor disclosure. DraftKings' communications team noticed within about half an hour and had the posts removed, but the company did not disclose the information to all investors until the earnings release seven days later. In its September 26, 2024 order, the SEC imposed a $200,000 civil penalty, a cease-and-desist order and Regulation FD training for communications staff, and DraftKings neither admitted nor denied the findings.
The full account, with the BCLP and Covington analyses, is in the DraftKings Regulation FD case. The boundary lesson is that a message about growth belongs to investor relations and legal as well as to the team that publishes it.
Who should own which decisions?
Each decision needs one owner and a named reviewer, because shared ownership is how a post goes out unreviewed. The table is EPR's suggested split, and each company should set its own with securities counsel.
| Decision | Lead | Must review |
|---|
| Earnings release and call script | Investor relations and the CFO | Legal, with PR consulted on headline and tone |
| Any post by an executive about business performance | Investor relations | Legal, before it goes out |
| Press interview during a quiet period | Legal | Investor relations and PR |
| Crisis statement | Public relations | Investor relations and legal, if the facts could be material |
| Activist response | Investor relations with outside counsel | PR and the financial communications firm |
How should the two teams work together?
The two teams should share one calendar, one approval path and one set of agency contract terms. Four steps put that in place.
- Build a shared calendar that marks earnings dates, quiet periods and filing dates, so PR knows when nothing financial can be posted.
- Designate the disclosure channels. The SEC's 2013 social media guidance says investors must be told in advance which outlets will carry key information.
- Require legal and investor relations pre-clearance for every executive-account post.
- Write Regulation FD obligations into every PR firm and agency-of-record contract.
Why it works. The SEC held DraftKings responsible even though an authorized agency made the post, so the controls have to sit with the issuer and reach the agency by contract. The mechanism is described in the SEC order as summarized by BCLP and Covington, not in controlled research.
One more shared task is checking what AI engines say about the company, because investors now ask engines before they read the filing. See why investor relations is becoming AI relations and how to draft AI-readable disclosures.
