INVESTOR RELATIONS & CAPITAL FORMATION STRATEGY
Steadying the course for capital formation
Keel IR Advisors was founded by veteran IR executives to help a select group of private equity and venture capital firms manage relationships with limited partners, sharpen brand and story, plan fundraising strategy, and stay organized through every raise.
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Partner-level, always
You work with Susan and Philippe throughout, maximizing their four decades of hands-on IR and capital formation leadership.
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Institutional perspective
Deep relationships and direct experience with institutional investors and sophisticated family offices across global markets.
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One integrated discipline
LP relationships, brand and story, capital formation strategy, and fundraising readiness working together.
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Proven at scale
Billions raised and experience supporting 15+ firms, including multiple platforms with $1B+ in AUM.
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Steady throughout cycle
Senior support at all stages of your fund raise, including annual meeting planning and interim IR coverage when your team needs it most.
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We take on the day-to-day weight of fundraising strategy and client management so your senior team's time goes back to working with portfolio companies and running the firm.
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We build a single, differentiated narrative that connects your strategy, your results, and your people, so every LP conversation reinforces the same story.
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We bring structure to outreach, follow-up, and relationship tracking, so institutional knowledge about your LP base doesn't live in one person's inbox or head.
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We build the communication cadence, quarterly letters, and portfolio updates that keep LPs engaged between raises, so your next fundraise starts from a warm relationship instead of cold ground.
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We help design annual meetings that reinforce your story, add value to your LPs, and deepen relationships.
Some of the questions we hear most frequently:
WHAT WE DO
Four disciplines, working together.
LP Communication
The strongest relationships are built in the quiet months between raises.
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LP Communication
Relationships
Engagement strategy · Messaging · Relationship tracking
Investor experience
Quarterly letters · Capital calls & distributions · Portfolio updates · Annual meeting
Consistency & credibility
Outreach processes · Cadence · Follow-up · Leadership communications
Marketing & Brand Strategy
The story behind the numbers is the difference between a meeting and a commitment.
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Marketing & Brand Strategy
Positioning
Firm and fund positioning · Messaging · Differentiation
Narrative
Investment strategy · Team · Track record · Fund story
Consistency
Pitch decks · Website · LP materials · Visual identity
Leadership
LP-meeting preparation · Presentation coaching
Capital Formation Strategy
Before you talk to a single LP, you need a plan.
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Capital Formation Strategy
Fundraising arc
Strategy · Go-to-market planning · Timeline · Milestones
LP strategy
Investor profiles · Targeting · Prioritization
Market positioning
Competitive context · Differentiation · Market testing
Fund design
Fund structuring input · Pre-launch feedback
Fundraising Management
Once a raise is underway, staying organized and consistent matters as much as the pitch itself.
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Fundraising Management
Materials
Decks · PPMs · DDQs · Data rooms · Version control
Process
Outreach sequencing · Scheduling · Follow-up · Tracking
Momentum
Milestones · Pipeline management · Leadership reporting
Readiness
LP meetings · Q&A preparation · Team coaching
WHO WE ARE
The Keel Crew
Keel IR Advisors was founded by senior IR executives with decades of hands-on experience raising capital, managing LP relationships, and building the strategies that make institutional fundraising successful.
Susan is a Founding Partner at Keel IR Advisors, with two decades of experience in investor relations and capital formation working with private equity and venture capital firms and their institutional investors. She has built and led IR functions inside investment firms, advised GPs on capital formation and strategic positioning, and developed relationships with institutional investors across North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
Most recently, Susan served as Head of Investor Relations & Impact at Activate Capital, where she led investor relations and capital formation across the firm’s three-fund, $1B+ platform and managed engagement with more than 50 global institutional investors. She represented fundraising and investor communications, led the firm’s AGM and regional LP engagements, and partnered across investment and finance teams to align performance, messaging, and investor communications.
Earlier, Susan founded and led Stella Advisors, an independent advisory practice providing capital formation, investor relations, and strategic communications support to multiple private equity and venture capital firms. Previously, she served as Principal & Director of Investor Relations and Marketing at fund-of-funds Knightsbridge Advisers and Executive Director of the Thunderbird Global Private Equity Center, where she managed relationships with institutional LPs and GPs worldwide.
She holds an MBA in International Management from Thunderbird School of Global Management, where she received the Barton Kyle Yount Award, and a BA with honors from Drake University.
Susan Stella
Founding Partner
Philippe T. Schenk, CFA
Founding Partner
Philippe is a Founding Partner at Keel IR Advisors, bringing two decades of experience in capital formation and investor relations across venture capital, private equity, and alternative investment strategies. Throughout his career, he has built relationships with institutional investors and family offices globally, working with Limited Partners across the full arc of the investment journey, from first conversation to final distribution.
At several of the firms he has worked with, Philippe was the first person brought in to build in-house IR capabilities from the ground up. He has led all LP-related business, including fundraising, marketing, communications, co-investments and secondary transactions. He also recruited and mentored global IR teams across multiple funds and geographies.
Philippe has led capital formation full-time at buyout, venture and fund-of-funds firms, such as Grove Street Advisors, J.W. Childs / Prospect Hill Growth Partners, and 500 Global. He also advised several other Buyout and VC firms as an independent IR advisor. He began his career at Credit Suisse in Zurich before relocating to New York, where he ultimately led global fundraising and business development for Credit Suisse Alternative Capital’s hedge fund index and alternative beta strategies business.
Philippe is a CFA charterholder. A native of Switzerland, he studied accounting and marketing at the Commercial College of Zurich, and economics and business administration at Zurich University of Applied Sciences Winterthur. He is fluent in English, German, and conversational French.
