Optimizing Investor Day Engagement: How to drive in-person Investor Day attendance

Increasing Investor Day Attendance

• You picked a date and you secured a venue.
• You conducted a pre-event perception study to ensure you address all important topics and issues.
• You prepared your executives for expected questions and rehearsed the appropriate responses.
• You sent invitations and proactive reminders to stay front-of-mind with your investment community.

But, you cannot get over the nagging concern that you have no control over how many investors and analysts will actually show up to your Investor Day in person.

We know the feeling…

Given the significant time and resources that go into planning a successful Investor Day, it is critical to understand the key factors that investors and analysts evaluate when deciding whether to attend an event in-person, rely on the online webcast, or skip an Investor Day entirely. IHS Markit's Perception Analytics and Corporate Advisory teams recently gathered feedback from more than 300 IR professionals, 40 buy-side investment managers (with $4.0T EAUM) and 20 sell-side research analysts to uncover the factors driving these decisions.

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Key Findings:

54% of investors and analysts indicate that the opportunity to interact with C-suite executives and other business leaders in intimate, private settings is the most valuable factor that would require them to attend an Investor Day in-person.

"If I have access to content or people by attending in person that I would otherwise not have access to, then I would attend in person. If the Investor Day consists entirely of presentation and Q&A, both of which are available via webcast or provided in written form, then it does not make a whole lot of sense to travel to attend the event." North America mutual-fund ($24B EAUM)

Solution: Facilitate management access throughout the event by providing opportunities for formal Q&A after each presentation, rotating C-suite executives around the room for more intimate engagement, including lower-level executives and operational leaders in product demonstrations and breakout sessions, and hosting pre- and post-event get-togethers to allow for one-on-one interactions between executives and investors.

36% of investors and analysts indicate that the factor that would most incline them to skip an Investor Day is the belief that the event will provide a general and redundant update with no meaningful insight into the company's growth prospects, strategic vision, or financial positioning.

"I attend Investor Days based on the information I get. If there is information provided that I would not ordinarily receive, then I would attend. Is the company going to tell me anything I cannot get from reaching out to IR or management? Not all information can be derived from presentations. Sometimes we need more clarity on numbers and the communicated strategy." European mutual fund ($48B EAUM)

Solution: Produce an agenda ahead of the event that details the expected speakers, critical topics of discussion, as well as unique aspects of the event format that will maximize the value of the event for in-person attendees (facility tours and site visits, product demonstrations, asset- or segment-specific breakout sessions, Q&A opportunities, and management engagement).

Authors: Preston Gelman, Michael Miller
Preston Gelman is a Director of Research and Analytics within IHS Markit Corporate Solutions.
Michael Miller is a Director of Investor Relations Advisory within IHS Markit Corporate Solutions.

Posted 24 February 2020 by Michael Miller, Executive Director, Investor Relations Advisory, S&P Global Market Intelligence

S&P Global provides industry-leading data, software and technology platforms and managed services to tackle some of the most difficult challenges in financial markets. We help our customers better understand complicated markets, reduce risk, operate more efficiently and comply with financial regulation.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.