Genine Fallon – Managing Director of Capital Formation & Investor Relations.
Fundraising in private equity is no longer just about relationships. It has become a structural challenge. Buyouts Insider reported that average fundraising timelines reached 19 months in 2024. Bain & Company’s 2025 “Global Private Equity Report” found that more than one-third of funds now take two years or longer to close, nearly double the pre-pandemic level. McKinsey highlighted a 24% year-over-year decline in traditional commingled fundraising through 2024. At the same time, nearly $3 trillion in unsold assets remain locked in portfolios, according to Reuters, constraining liquidity and slowing capital recycling.
This mismatch between capital supply and capital demand is forcing firms to re-examine how they resource investor relations (IR). Just as finance normalized fractional CFOs and marketing embraced contract CMOs, firms are beginning to explore fractional investor relations. The concept is simple: deploy senior IR talent on a flexible, time-bound basis rather than embedding it permanently. The more strategic question is whether this model creates true operating leverage in capital formation.
Why Firms Are Considering It
Fractional IR professionals are engaged for specific mandates such as preparing for a raise, refreshing LP communications or building narrative coherence. The appeal rests on four dimensions:
• Capital Efficiency: Access to senior expertise without permanent overhead
• Speed to Market: Experienced operators compress the ramp-up curve
• Strategic Focus: Dedicated bandwidth to refine messaging and manage cadence
• Flexibility: Resourcing that scales with fundraising intensity rather than fixed budgets
The advantage is not cost alone. It is timing. The ability to ignite the right expertise at the right moment can accelerate momentum in ways a fixed structure often cannot.
What Can Go Wrong
Any shift in operating model introduces new risks, and fractional IR is no exception.
Obviously, there are continuity concerns. LPs may question stability if a fractional lead rotates out too soon. You also have to be aware of potential cultural friction, as external operators may not align with the rhythm of deal-driven teams. With professionals serving multiple clients, it can raise reputational concerns without clear governance. And without a disciplined scope, costs can exceed those of a traditional hire.
These are not arguments against the model; rather, they are reminders that it must be designed with rigor.
How To Make It Work
For firms that test this model, success depends less on the individual hired and more on the systems that surround them.
• Define Scope And Metrics: Anchor the role to measurable outcomes such as pipeline velocity, LP engagement depth or narrative alignment.
• Institutionalize Messaging: Keep narrative control centralized so LP updates, decks and conversations reinforce one coherent voice.
• Formalize Conflict Management: Require transparency about concurrent engagements and establish clear boundaries for LP interactions.
• Preserve Knowledge Capital: Store LP data, messaging frameworks and communications in firm systems, not with individuals.
• Pilot Before Scaling: Start with one fundraising cycle or a defined communications reset, then evaluate results before expanding.
Done well, fractional IR becomes not an outsourced stopgap but an embedded lever in a firm’s capital formation system.
Where It Fits In The Larger Shift
Private equity has already normalized fractional CFOs, outsourced fund administration and offshored operating support. Investor relations is the next frontier in this recalibration of firm infrastructure. For some firms, fractional IR offers a precision tool to expand capacity at critical moments. For others, the continuity of an in-house team remains the optimal design.
The sophistication is not in the model itself. It is in knowing when to activate it and when not to.
What This Means For Firms
Fractional IR is not a universal solution. It can create speed, efficiency and credibility but only when paired with clarity of scope, institutionalized processes and disciplined oversight. In a market where capital is constrained, LP expectations are rising and timelines are lengthening, the firms that learn to time their resourcing with precision will be best positioned to adapt. In capital formation, clarity and timing have become as critical as strategy itself.
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