MZ Group alternatives for microcaps: what MZ offers and what else to consider

01What MZ offers, in its own words

MZ North America is the US division of MZ Group. Its overview page, read on 12 October 2026, describes a one-stop-shop model: investor relations consulting and outreach, SPAC and IPO advisory, public relations, market intelligence through its MZ iQ platform, and technology including investor websites, webcasts, conference call systems and newswires. It lists offices in New York, Connecticut, Tampa, Puerto Rico, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, San Diego, Aliso Viejo, Taipei and São Paulo.

The same page says MZ has represented over 750 public companies over twenty-three years, keeps a proprietary database of over 140,000 investment professionals, and provides clients each year with more than 10,000 direct investor calls, 200 global roadshows, 50 conferences and 4,000 one-on-one meetings. Its outreach page lists press releases with unlimited newswire distribution, earnings call scripts, a two-page corporate profile, presentations, financial and social media outreach, and programs to draw retail investors.

02Who that model suits

A broad program suits a company that wants volume and one vendor for everything: many introductions, a newswire, a website, media and retail reach under a single contract. It also suits companies preparing to list, where MZ's IPO and SPAC practice covers the run-up.

03When a microcap looks elsewhere

A company under $500 million often needs something narrower. Its next holders are usually a short list of specific funds, often ones that already own its closest peers, and its management has time for a limited number of meetings. The measure that matters is whether those funds come onto the register, which is public in 13F filings within 45 days of each quarter end.

Companies tend to look at alternatives when the meeting count is high but the register has not changed, when reports describe activity rather than ownership, or when they want the website and newswire separate from the advisory contract so that leaving one does not mean rebuilding the other.

04What to compare

Put the same questions to MZ and to any alternative, and compare the answers in writing.

• Which funds, by name, and why each one: do they own your peers, did they own you before?
• What the quarterly report shows: meetings held, or holders gained and lost.
• Whether every figure in your materials is tied to a filing with a date.
• Who does the work week to week, and how many other companies that person serves.
• Whether the website, newswire and webcast accounts are in your name, and what happens to them if you leave.
• The notice period, and what you get back at the end.

05The kinds of alternative

There are four broad kinds. Full-service firms like MZ, which bundle advisory, media and technology. Senior-led boutiques that keep a small roster; Elevate IR, for example, describes itself that way. Targeting-led firms that start from ownership data. And doing it in-house, with an investor website vendor, a newswire and a chief financial officer who owns the calendar.

Krypton AI is a targeting-led firm for US public companies under $1 billion. It starts from 13F filings: the funds that own a company's closest peers but not the company, ranked by fit, and the analysts who cover those peers. Each quarter it reports who owns the stock, who added and who left, ties every figure to a filing, and publishes no valuation, price target or recommendation on any company.

You can see the starting point before talking to anyone. At kryptonai.io/investor-view, Krypton AI sends company officers a free report listing the funds whose latest 13F filings hold at least two of your closest peers and none of your stock. The checklist for moving firms is in the guide on how to switch investor relations firms.