Q & A with Chris Helm

My career has been focused on commercial financial management of music publishing and recorded music rights. I have worked across the music industry including at Universal Music Group, BMG Music, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Music Publishing, PRS for Music and, currently, Hipgnosis Song Management.

Since 2018, I have been Chief Financial Officer for Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the first and largest listed Song investment vehicle. Our Initial Public Offering was in July 2018 and we subsequently raised over £1 billion in additional equity, all of which has been invested in iconic Song catalogues created by people like Debbie Harry (Blondie), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shakira and Neil Young.

In this role, I am responsible for financial controls, financial reporting, financial systems, corporate finance, banking relationships and investor relations including fund raising.

I qualified at The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in 2002.

I joined the music Industry In 1999 - although we did not know it at the time, this was the end of 20 years of sustained, strong revenue growth. The following decade and a half would see industry revenue fall 50% In real terms, as file sharing effectively made paying for music voluntary.

It is true in most Industries that it is in the tough times that the strategic Importance of the finance team is really appreciated. Making sure that revenues are collected efficiently, that costs are properly controlled, and that available cash Is being deployed where it Is going to generate a return.

As a result, throughout my career, finance has been a key strategic driver of the businesses that I have worked in which, I think, is good for the business, but also makes life much more interesting for those of us working in this area.

The biggest change I have seen over the last two decades Is the availability of and our ability to use data to Inform decisions and understand what we are seeing. Back In 1999, there was little solid data as to who had been into HVM to buy a particular record, less still how often they listened to It - today the industry knows what Songs are being listened in real time. The majority of the work we do centres on understanding the available data and using It to help us deliver for our Shareholders. 

Our IPO was highly successful, and we subsequently had a number of further fundraises. We raised more money than anyone else in the market during that period.

There is no doubt that a new asset class is exciting and there is a certain buzz to it which helps to get investors’ attention. However, as a management team we have to work doubly hard to help investors to understand the economics. If you are an Investor in real estate or an oil company, you have decades of data showing how those assets have performed. Not the case when you invest in a new asset class.

With the exception of the "Bowie bonds" in the 1990s (which whilst frequently maligned did fully pay out to investors), until we appeared on the market, if you wanted to have investment exposure to music your choices were limited to some record labels with all the volatility that came with that. Spotify's IPO was only a few months before we joined the market.

We were the only people offering investors a pure-play exposure to Songs and associated musical intellectual property rights, so it was (and remains) our job to help investors to understand where our revenues come from, why we are confident that they are robust and growing and how to value the underlying assets.

The most important thing is to make sure that you build systems which are scalable. In the early days, it is very easy to fall into a trap where it's quicker and simpler to run things off a spreadsheet - but this Is a false economy if you're planning to grow.

We continue to invest heavily to create IT systems capable of ingesting all the data, statements, and other royalty Information that we get from the people who collect and distribute music royalties. You will not always get It right first time and the music Industry has a notoriously poor track record on data which makes the task harder. But It Is certainly worth the time and effort that we put in.

Yes, it is one of the key reasons I took this role. We raised around £1.3 billion for a new asset class in quite a short period of time. For investors to commit their clients' money you need to demonstrate both the vision and the economics. You cannot expect people to commit money unless they buy into both these strands of an investment case.

As I mentioned earlier, key to this is our role in helping potential investors understand the benefits of the asset class, where the revenues come from and why they are high quality and uncorrelated to macro-economic conditions - people listen to music In good times, bad times and in between; with streaming services and social media we get paid every time our music Is heard; and people listen to musical greats all around the world.

Work with and listen to your advisors. They are your eyes and ears in the market - they are talking to a large number of market participant and most importantly they have done it many times before. Absolutely challenge them and hold them to account - but make sure you are taking full advantage of their knowledge and that you fully engage them in the process. They can only deliver for you if they are truly part of an integrated team.

Engaging with investors can be one of the most satisfying parts of the job. Talking though the investment case, building trust and then welcoming them onto the share register is a core part of the role for a listed company's CFO. If you do not like this part of the job, then it is probably not the right role for you!

As I said in a different context, making sure your advisors are part of the team is crucial to success - and it is no different with Partner Executive.

You have helped us with recruitment for several key roles in the Finance team. I use David as a well-informed, trusted sounding board to help make sure we are looking for the right skills and hiring the right people for tomorrow rather than yesterday!

Most importantly, I know from my experience that the candidates you present are going to be high calibre individuals who can add value to my team.