About
Founder-Led.
Globally Connected.
Decades of combined IR excellence throughout our team of experts. One firm that stays with you from the first private discussion through every quarter that follows.
Matthew Abenante
FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
- M.S. Investor Relations, Fordham University
- B.B.A. Finance, Baruch College (CUNY)
- IRC Charterholder
- NIRI 40 Under 40
Leadership
20 Years in the Trenches of
Micro- and Small-Cap IR.
Matthew Abenante has spent two decades in the micro- and small-cap IR space, founding Strategic Investor Relations LLC in 2020. He has seen every version of how these transactions go right and how they go wrong.
He currently provides active IR counsel to a portfolio of public companies across Nasdaq, NYSE, and OTC. That daily market intelligence is what separates SLA's readiness work from theoretical frameworks — every engagement is informed by what's actually happening in the secondary market, right now.
Matthew is the lead architect of the SLA practice and quarterbacks every engagement personally. There is no junior staff delegation. When you work with SLA, you work with Matthew — from the first diagnostic call through every quarterly earnings cycle that follows.
His view on the advisory business is straightforward: most companies get the order of operations wrong, or they hire the wrong people. A banker will structure a deal for the banker to succeed. A lawyer won't go into the minutia of finding the right partners. SLA's job is to get the right people in the right seats, in the right sequence — and stay accountable for the outcome.
2020
Founded SIR
Numerous
Active Retainers
20+
Years in IR
Aligned. Transparent. Durable.
Our Compensation Model.
No Transaction Fees. No Conflicts.
I
Monthly Retainer
PRE-LISTING SCOPE
A fixed monthly retainer covering SLA quarterbacking and the full SIR team. Set below a standard post-IPO IR retainer, recognizing the project shape of pre-listing work and easing the company into the discipline of a recurring IR cost line.
II
Listing-Event Equity
ACHIEVEMENT-BASED
A negotiated warrant or restricted stock grant tied to the company successfully achieving a senior exchange listing. Aligns SLA with the outcome that matters most — a successful, durable public listing — without entering transaction-based compensation territory.
III
Post-Listing Conversion
LONG-TAIL ALIGNMENT
On listing day, the retainer steps up to a standard SIR Core, Growth, or Premium IR retainer. The equity component vests over the IR relationship period, tying SLA economics to the company's long-term capital markets performance — not a transactional moment.
Important: We do not charge success fees on capital raised, and we do not introduce specific investors for compensation. Our equity component is tied to listing achievement only — structured to sit cleanly outside FINRA broker-dealer registration requirements.
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