Adapting to remote working
The first question we asked in our survey was: ‘What are the key changes to your working practices since the outbreak of Covid-19?’ We asked this initially as we wanted to get instinctive responses unprompted by any of our subsequent questions.
The overwhelming majority of our panel, both IROs and investors, mention increased and mainly full-time working from home. With this change comes the increased use of technology as remote working necessitates all internal and external meetings to be virtual.
Also commonly mentioned is the lack of travel and the attendance at virtual events to compensate for this. More IROs than investors mention this but it is still a common theme among investors. To a small degree investors tend to have a more negative approach than IROs to the lack of real-space interpersonal contact.
‘Ability to attend more conferences as they’re now virtual, so lower costs involved and less time-consuming’ – fund/portfolio manager, Europe
‘Acceptance of work-from-home arrangements, switching company visits with videoconferences or calls’ – buy-side analyst, Asia
‘Being more forward-looking, focusing more on liquidity and otherwise being more qualitative’ – buy-side analyst, Europe
‘Focusing more on health-related regulatory intensification’ – sell-side analyst, Europe
‘More frequent publication of research to update outlooks and views as new information becomes available’ – sell-side analyst, Canada
‘No lunch & learn meetings with company executives’ – fund/portfolio manager, Canada
‘We are looking at actions being taken by our portfolio companies to ensure the wellbeing of their workers, including in the supply chain. We have been impressed by how our companies with higher ESG ratings have been very resilient during this crisis’ – buy-side analyst, US
‘Working from home, fewer deals, keeping higher levels of cash in case of redemptions’ – fund/ portfolio manager, Asia
‘Working partly from home, have stopped full coverage of some oil-service companies due to drop in market cap/reduced interest from clients. Instead, have taken up coverage of one company within materials sector where interest is higher due to ESG focus’ – sell-side analyst, Europe
‘Everyone working from home. More communications needed and more co-ordination with other communications within the company’ – head of IR, Canada, financials
‘Everything is remote! No more face-to-face meetings, no more travel. Change of focus on what is important for investors to hear and how often, far more frequent reporting on trading conditions, liquidity, and so on’ – head of IR, UK, financials
‘Global population is working from home for now, and doing so fairly effectively. Exploring what the future looks like in terms of office structure and how virtual to go. I expect more virtual meetings to happen in future, which could reduce the number of roadshows every year’ – head of IR, US, consumer discretionary
‘Remote work, only virtual investor interaction, more ad-hoc requests, additional unforeseen projects to handle, limited working time due to home-schooling at same time’ – head of IR, Switzerland, consumer staples
‘Intensification of interaction with investors and targets, and using virtual tools to enhance’ – head of IR, Brazil, consumer discretionary
‘Large funds have reduced investment in the whole oil & gas sector’ – head of IR, China, energy
‘More virtual engagement, additional reporting, less focus on numbers vs trends. Increased volume of incoming interest, from both current and prospective holders, globally’ – IRO, UK, technology
‘Most of team working from home, investor meetings via video or audio conference, analyst briefings via web and audio’ – IRO, Austria, financials
‘Restricted access to information as no presence in office and no conferences with information exchange’ – head of IR, Austria, real estate
‘Trying to stick to a regular schedule and not mix private life and work 24/7’ – IRO, France, technology
‘Working-from-home challenges on quarterly reporting and earnings calls. Virtual meetings and events are not that effective’ – head of IR, US, energy
‘Working from home. The demand has only increased, especially given the increase in video calls/conferences’ – head of IR, US, technology
‘Working from home with technology. It is business as usual otherwise, as have Zoom, Bloomberg and full server access from home’ – head of IR, Singapore, industrials
For many IROs, a key change in their working practices has been the taking on of additional responsibilities. Nearly four in 10 IROs have seen an increase in their non-IR-related responsibilities since the outbreak of Covid-19 and more than four in 10 expect to see an increase in the coming months. No IROs have had their non-IR responsibilities cut.
The taking on of additional responsibilities is most common in North America, where 57 percent of IROs have experienced an increase and 57 percent also expect to gain more responsibilities in the coming months. IROs at smaller companies have seen a greater rise in non-IR responsibilities than those at larger companies, with nearly half (48 percent) of IROs at companies with a less than $5 bn market cap expecting further additional responsibilities in the coming months compared with a third at companies of more than $5 bn in market cap.
More than two thirds of our research panel believe the experience of Covid-19 will have a lasting effect on the way they work. Three quarters of IROs and 64 percent of investors agree with the statement: ‘The Covid-19 pandemic will lead to a permanent change in my working practices’. Nearly a quarter of IROs and 21 percent of investors strongly agreed with this statement, while just 12 percent of the panel disagreed.
The widely held view that we are witnessing a permanent change in working practices for both IROs and investors is consistent across the world. Regionally the level of agreement ranges from 65 percent in North America to 73 percent in Europe. Among IROs, three in 10 at larger companies strongly agree we are seeing a permanent change.
The final question we asked respondents in this survey was: 'What positives, either personal or professional, have you found in the changes to your working practices as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak?' We asked this question in the hope of bringing some light to what we perceived as dark and challenging times.
In fact, of all the open-comment questions we asked, this is the one most enthusiastically answered by our panel. While no one is attempting to downplay the seriousness of these times, there are many positives that both IROs and investors take from the changes to their working practices.
The most common positive is how panel members have adapted to working from home. Many have found this experience as – if not more –productive than office work. Respondents are often impressed with how the technology available to them at home has enabled them to do their job effectively. On a personal level, many comment on how much they have enjoyed the changes to their work/life balance.
Another commonly cited positive is not having to travel, whether commuting day-to-day or more extended time traveling away to meetings and events. Both IROs and investors mention this as a positive outcome, although it is cited more often by IROs because they no longer have to spend so much time on roadshows.
Although panel members are impressed by virtual engagement, the importance of face-to-face interpersonal communication is still mentioned. Investors are somewhat more split on the positives of current working practices. While there are some who feel there are no real positives to take from the current situation, others are very enthusiastic about their new working environment, believing it may change the institutional culture of office presenteeism in the capital markets.
‘More flexibility allowed by employers, higher degree of collaboration among colleagues and greater use of technology’ – buy-side analyst, Asia
‘I love working from home as I have more time to spend with my children and husband. The meetings are shorter than before, and I also have more time to read’ – buy-side analyst, Europe
‘I am personally grateful for having my family near and allowing us to share in simple pleasures. Professionally, our work as ESG investors has gained recognition for the lower risk/higher return potential it offers, as well as the positive impact on society’ – buy-side analyst, US
‘It has broken the myth that working from home is not possible in financial services. I reckon a lot of investment banking does not need late hours in the office. This has blown a hole in the entire Facetime culture the industry seems to pride itself on’ – buy-side analyst, US
‘My younger employees have started to appreciate the fact that no one owes them a living, no matter how smart they are’ – fund/portfolio manager, Asia
‘Staff are actually better connected when forced to do it digitally. Working from home is more practical, productive and more efficient than I thought it would be’ – fund/portfolio manager, Canada
‘The air is visibly clearer, which supports the renewables trend. Risk assessment will be different in the future as the real risks are the ones most investors do not think about’ – fund/portfolio manager, Europe
‘Working from home is a good working model if it’s used in addition to office work’ – fund/portfolio manager, Europe
‘Not many changes, if any at all, because of implementation. Some concepts may be good in the long term, but execution is everything’ – sell-side analyst, Asia
‘Working from home, my entire team is 30 percent more productive and reports being happier’ – sell-side analyst, Europe
‘Been with my kids and family more and am in better physical shape’ – sell-side analyst, US
‘Engaging and co-ordinating with more departments internally’ – head of IR, Canada, financials
‘Everyone is working under the same conditions so there is no easy way to navigate through this: we just have to keep trying various strategies and find something that works’ – head of IR, Canada, consumer discretionary
‘Flexibility and work/life balance: we may be looking at a future world of three to four days in the office and one or two days at home’ – head of IR, US, consumer discretionary
‘Shorter commute time, more ability to be creative. It has reset the bar for market communications in some ways that will hopefully persist’ – IRO, UK, technology
‘Has forced the company to respond to external changes faster and confront old practices that weren’t working’ – head of IR, US, real estate
‘For communication, it’s positive. But for the business itself, it’s negative’ – CEO, China, energy
‘I have largely continued to work in the office so no real change, although less traffic and quieter office have been benefits’ – IRO, Australia, financials
‘Increased interest and alignment with sustainability/ESG’ – head of IR, Philippines, industrials
‘Less travel and working from home enables us to see clearly what really matters’ – head of IR, Germany, materials
‘Working for a subsidiary, my co-workers at headquarters are no longer any better off in terms of proximity to senior management and other teams. We are all equal now’ – IRO, France, technology
‘Seeing my family more. Time working has been the same, but have been able to be at home for mealtimes’ – head of IR, UK, industrials
‘Mobile working and virtual meetings work!’ – head of IR, Switzerland, industrials
‘More public focus on healthcare industry’ – IRO, China, healthcare
‘Investors are looking more closely at the company and its initiatives to deal with the pandemic’ – head of IR, Brazil, consumer discretionary
‘There is nothing positive about this pandemic. People are dying and the economy is in a coma’ – CFO, rest of world, healthcare
‘Working from home will be more acceptable in future due to Covid-19 experience. I’ve enjoyed more time spent with kids and family’ – head of IR, Malaysia, communications
