KOSDAQ Firms Must Step Into Spotlight to Shine

Just as a film never seen by critics can hardly become a masterpiece, a pearl buried in the earth cannot reveal its brilliance. The same applies to corporate value. No matter how excellent a company's technology or clear its growth potential, its value cannot be fully recognized without sufficient communication with the market.

Recently, the KOSDAQ market has crossed the 1,000-point threshold, drawing more attention than ever. KOSDAQ companies I meet in the field are also intensively preparing for the future, accelerating research and development and business expansion.

Yet one regrettable reality remains. According to an analysis by the Korea IR Council's Corporate Research Center, only 40.1% of KOSDAQ-listed companies received securities firm reports last year. This means nearly 60% of companies did not receive a single analyst report throughout the entire year.

This is not due to indifference from securities firms or analysts. Within a capital market revenue structure skewed toward large-cap stocks, small-cap research has been consistently pushed aside by cost considerations. As a result, information asymmetry regarding small and venture companies has become structural, and KOSDAQ firms have naturally fallen outside analysts' sight.

Fortunately, encouraging news has emerged this year that many securities firms are steadily increasing their small-cap coverage staff to discover KOSDAQ's hidden gems. The capital market is beginning to stir with positive change. However, there is still a long way to go before resolving the accumulated "market failure" of information imbalance for small and venture companies.

In this environment, it is not easy for companies to handle all communication on their own. Given the reality that small and mid-sized companies struggle to maintain dedicated professional staff, and face increasingly heavy regulatory burdens including disclosure and accounting requirements, conducting systematic investor relations is by no means a light task. The problem lies not in companies' lack of will but in structural constraints.

IR is a process through which companies and investors steadily build trust, and serves as a core foundation for enhancing market transparency and stability. Especially for KOSDAQ companies not covered by securities firm research, IR is a crucial channel to directly prove their value to the market. Therefore, leaving this critical role entirely to companies' voluntary efforts and expenses has clear limitations.

Now is the time to redesign the IR environment from a policy perspective. The structure should not burden companies more as they provide explanations, but rather ensure that more explanation leads to fair evaluation and trust. When bold incentives for companies conducting diligent IR activities, institutional support for regular corporate presentations, and public infrastructure to promote information production and dissemination are considered together, companies can face the market with greater confidence.

Of course, for such an environment to take root, companies themselves must also make painstaking efforts. Only when regular corporate presentations, diligent disclosure, and responsible answers to market questions continue consistently can understanding and trust toward companies deepen. Technology-focused KOSDAQ companies in particular need to make efforts to explain their R&D achievements and business strategies in the language of the market.

If you cannot be seen, you cannot shine. When an environment is created where KOSDAQ companies can fully showcase their respective competitiveness and potential to the market, market valuations will become fairer and sharper. I firmly believe that when policy support, diligent corporate communication, and keen interest from the capital market work together, true value-up for KOSDAQ and a Korea premium will be achieved sooner.