IR Magazine Global Roadshow Report 2022
IR Magazine’s 13th annual research report into the who, where, how and why of corporate roadshow activity
Global Roadshow Report 2022
<I>IR Magazine</I>’s 13th annual research report into the who, where, how and why of corporate roadshow activity
<sup>Sponsored by</sup>
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Contents
The IR Magazine Global Roadshow Report 2022 is our 13th annual research report into corporate roadshow activity. This is the third roadshow report to deal with the impact of Covid-19 and covers a period that has seen the gradual lifting of the travel restrictions imposed to combat the pandemic.
This report continues on from the past two years’ reports in looking at both in-person and virtual roadshows. As travel restrictions have lifted during the period covered by this report, in-person roadshow activity has gradually returned. As a result, this report has equal focus on virtual and in-person roadshow activity, covering frequency and duration, brokers used and cities visited. Comparison in these areas is made between current roadshow activity, pre-pandemic in-person activity and mid-pandemic virtual activity.
The report further covers the relative satisfaction IROs have with in-person and virtual roadshows, and we revisit questions posed to IROs throughout the Covid-19 pandemic about the permanence of change to roadshow activity and the future prominence of topic-related roadshows.
Findings in this report are taken from the latest round of IR Magazine’s Global IR Survey, carried out in Q3 2022. This report covers the year from Q3 2021 up to Q3 2022 and any references in this report are for this time period unless stated otherwise.
These report findings are based on responses from roadshow participants only, meaning data for both in-person and virtual roadshows includes only participants in that particular type of roadshow. Most of the findings in this report have been split by geographical region and company market capitalization. For the purposes of this study the key regions examined are North America, Europe and Asia, while the categories for market cap are defined as follows:
Small cap <$1 bn
Mid-cap $1 bn-$5 bn
Large cap $5 bn-$30 bn
Mega-cap >$30 bn
Respondents
Total respondents: 768
Editor
Lloyd Bevan
Research
Ash Govender, Maria Lovati
Chief copy editor
Kathleen Hennessy
Art & design
James Noden
Companies holding roadshows
During the 12 months from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022, more than three quarters (77 percent) of companies held a roadshow of some sort. This is higher than the 61 percent that held virtual roadshows the previous year, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but is lower than the 93 percent that went on in-person roadshows in 2019, the last year of reporting before the pandemic hit.
Regionally, the proportion of companies holding roadshows is higher in North America and Europe than in Asia, where just 54 percent of companies have held roadshows from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022. More large and mega-cap companies have held roadshows in this time than have small and mid-cap companies.
Among companies that held roadshows during this period, the average number held was just under six. European and Asian companies that held roadshows typically held more than North American companies, while the typical number of roadshows held increases with cap size.
In-person/virtual roadshow split
Companies holding roadshows, by format
Percentage split of total roadshows held, by format
While the period Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 saw a return to the road as pandemic travel restrictions were lifted, virtual roadshows remain the predominant format. The majority of companies holding roadshows held a mixture of both virtual and in-person events. But three in 10 held only virtual roadshows, compared with just 14 percent that held only in-person roadshows.
A greater proportion of small and mid-cap companies held only virtual roadshows, while for larger companies as many were holding only in-person roadshows as were holding just virtual roadshows. More than half of Asian firms held only virtual roadshows.
Across the board, the ratio of virtual to in-person roadshows held was broadly two to one. The only notable difference is that small and mid-cap companies held a slightly lower proportion of in-person roadshows than did large and mega-cap companies and so were slightly more dependent on the virtual format.
Companies going on in-person roadshows
Globally, 54 percent of companies held in-person roadshows in the 12 months from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022. This shows a return to the road as Covid-19 restrictions were lifted, representing nearly eight times the 7 percent of companies that went on in-person roadshows the previous year during the middle of the pandemic.
This return to the road is not resumed at the same level in all regions and company sizes, however. While approaching two thirds of European companies resumed in-person roadshows, just a quarter of companies in Asia went back out on the road. And while 45 percent of small caps and 46 percent of mid-cap companies went on in-person roadshows in this time, this figure rises to three quarters among mega-cap companies.
Number of in-person roadshows
Average number of in-person roadshows
Among the 54 percent of companies globally that went on the road, the average number of in-person roadshows held was 2.7. North American companies that traveled typically went on the fewest roadshows, while the quarter of Asian companies that went on the road held an average of 5.5 roadshows in this time.
Not only are larger companies more likely to go on the road, but when they do they are likely to go on more roadshows. Mega-cap companies that went on the road from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 typically went on more than twice as many in-person roadshows as small and mid-cap companies.
Companies going on in-person roadshows in the year from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 on average spent more than five days on the road. European companies that held in-person roadshows spent approaching twice the number of days on the road as their North American counterparts. The quarter of Asian companies that went on in-person roadshows spent more than eight days on the road, on average.
Mega-cap companies that traveled spent twice as many days on the road as small caps, while large-cap firms spent the fewest number of days on in-person roadshows.
Brokers for in-person roadshows
Average number of brokers used for in-person roadshows
Companies holding in-person roadshows used an average of 2.6 brokers for these roadshows in the year Q3 2021 to Q3 2022. North American companies used notably fewer brokers for their in-person roadshows at 1.7, compared with the 3.6 brokers used by European companies and the 4.4 used by Asian firms.
The number of brokers used for in-person roadshows increases with company size. Both small and mid-cap companies used an average of 2.3 brokers for in-person roadshows in this time. This rises to an average of 4.2 used by mega-cap companies.
Companies going on virtual roadshows
Just over two thirds of companies held virtual roadshows in the year from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022. This includes more than two thirds of North American firms and 78 percent of European firms, though only half of Asian companies held virtual roadshows in this time.
There is little variation in the number of companies holding virtual roadshows according to cap size: just under two thirds of small caps, mid-caps and mega-cap companies held virtual roadshows. The only notable difference is among large-cap companies, of which 73 percent held roadshows in this period.
Number of virtual roadshows
Average number of virtual roadshows
The average number of virtual roadshows held in the 12 months from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 was 4.6. This is fewer than the number of virtual roadshows held in the previous year as companies gradually returned to in-person roadshows. European companies held the highest number of virtual roadshows, at 6.1 each, compared with 3.4 among North American companies.
The number of virtual roadshows held increases with cap size. The 66 percent of small-cap companies engaging in virtual roadshows held an average of 3.7 such events, while the 65 percent of mega-cap companies held an average of 10.4.
Average days spent on virtual roadshows
Companies that held virtual roadshows spent an average of 9.4 days on them, which is more than four more days than was typically spent on in-person roadshows in this period. Far fewer days were spent on virtual roadshows by North American companies than by European or Asian firms.
The number of days spent on virtual roadshows rises with company size. Mega-cap companies spent more than 11 more days on virtual roadshows from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 than small-cap companies spent.
Brokers for virtual roadshows
Average number of brokers used for virtual roadshows
Companies holding virtual roadshows during the year Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 used an average of four brokers for the purpose. North American companies typically used fewer brokers for virtual roadshows than their European and Asian peers.
The number of brokers used for virtual roadshows increases with company size. Small-cap firms that engaged in virtual roadshows used an average of 2.7 brokers. This increases steadily to an average of six brokers among mega-cap companies.
In-person/virtual roadshow satisfaction
Overall, there is a greater degree of satisfaction with in-person roadshows during this time than there is with virtual roadshows. Just under three quarters of IROs who have been on in-person roadshows over the relevant period give a high satisfaction rating of 8+/10, with a quarter giving a perfect 10 score. This compares with the 42 percent of IROs holding virtual roadshows who give a high satisfaction rating to this format, with just 8 percent giving a perfect score.
Satisfaction with in-person roadshows from the 54 percent of IROs who went on them during the year Q3 2021 to Q3 2022 has increased from the satisfaction experienced by the just 7 percent who went on the road the previous year. In the year to Q3 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, 50 percent of those on the road gave a high satisfaction rating.
With virtual roadshows, satisfaction has decreased from the pandemic’s height. Of those who held roadshows in the year to Q3 2021, 88 percent expressed satisfaction with this format, giving a positive rating of 6+/10, compared with 79 percent this year. Similarly, half expressed high satisfaction with the format, compared with 42 percent this year.
The experience of Covid-19 will lead to a permanent change in roadshow activity
The view that the experience of Covid-19 will lead to a permanent change in roadshow activity is down only slightly from the views of IROs over the previous two years.
Currently, 79 percent of IROs agree with this statement, with 27 percent strongly agreeing. This compares with four in five agreeing in 2021 and 35 percent in strong agreement. Just 11 percent disagree with the statement this year, the same as last year.
Strong net agreement with this statement is found in every region and across all cap sizes. Among North American IROs, 83 percent are in agreement, while among mega-cap IROs 89 percent agree, with 42 percent strongly agreeing.
Issue-focused roadshows (such as ESG) will become more common in the future
Despite a decline since last year in IROs agreeing that issue-focused roadshows will become more common in future, there still remains strong net agreement with this statement.
Even though the number agreeing is down from 75 percent to 63 percent and those disagreeing up from 8 percent to 13 percent, this still represents a net agreement level of 50 percentage points.
Regionally, agreement is highest among Asian IROs and lowest in Europe. According to company size, 73 percent of large-cap IROs agree and 22 percent of mega-cap IROs disagree that issue-focused roadshows will become more common in future.
Top brokers for in-person roadshows
As companies return to in-person roadshows, JPMorgan Chase is the most-used broker to go on the road with, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the joint-second most-used. These two brokers were also the most-used brokers for in-person roadshows in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit and temporarily put paid to going on the road.
In general, there is little movement in the list of most-used brokers post-pandemic from the pre-pandemic broker table. Morgan Stanley and Barclays Capital have improved from their 2020 positions while Credit Suisse and UBS have fallen lower in the top 10. Cowen is a new entry into the top 20 this year as the joint-15th most-used broker for in-person roadshows.
Top brokers for virtual roadshows
JPMorgan Chase is also the most-used broker for virtual roadshows, up from second place in the same list last year. Citi is also up one place from its 2021 position to take second place.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS form the remainder of the top five. These are the same five brokers that formed the top five for virtual roadshows in 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The top four brokers also feature in the top five most-used brokers for in-person roadshows.
Top in-person roadshow brokers
Top virtual roadshow brokers
JPMorgan Chase remains the most-used broker for in-person roadshows by North American firms, as it was in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Joint-second-placed Barclays Capital and Raymond James are up from fourth and fifth, respectively, in 2020.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is in fourth place, up five places from its pre-pandemic position. Jefferies and Cowen, in joint-fifth place, are both new entrants to the top five most-used brokers for in-person roadshows by North American companies.
Stifel is the most-used broker for virtual roadshows among North American companies, up from sixth place last year. JPMorgan Chase and Royal Bank of Canada swap places in this year’s poll, having ranked third and second, respectively, for virtual roadshows in 2021.
Top in-person roadshow brokers
Top virtual roadshow brokers
Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the most-used broker for in-person roadshows by European companies. This is up from third place in the pre-Covid in-person table for European firms.
Four companies share second place: Berenberg and JPMorgan Chase were both in joint-seventh place in the 2020 list, while Morgan Stanley held sixth spot. Kepler Cheuvreux is down one place, having been the most-used broker by European companies before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kepler Cheuvreux is the most-used broker by European companies for virtual roadshows, up from fifth spot in 2021. Last year’s joint poll-toppers, JPMorgan Chase and Berenberg, now hold second and joint-fifth place, respectively.
Top in-person roadshow brokers
Top virtual roadshow brokers
JPMorgan Chase is the most-used broker for in-person roadshows by Asian companies, having held sixth place in the pre-pandemic 2020 list. Citi and Credit Suisse hold joint-second place, a position they also both held in 2020.
HSBC and Morgan Stanley are in joint-fourth place, up from eighth and sixth, respectively. The other broker to share the fourth spot is UBS, which was the most-used broker by Asian companies for in-person roadshows before the Covid-19 pandemic.
UBS is the most-used broker by Asian companies for virtual roadshows, rising from fourth place in the same list the previous year. Credit Suisse, which was out of the top five in 2021, now finds itself the joint-second most-used broker for virtual roadshows by Asian companies.
Most-visited cities for roadshows
New York was the most-visited city for in-person roadshows during the year from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022, with London the second-most-visited city and Boston third. These three cities were regularly the top three most-visited cities for in-person roadshows before Covid-19 cut travel opportunities.
But travel to these cities has not returned to pre-pandemic levels. The last full year of in-person roadshow travel was 2019, during which time seven in 10 companies on the road visited New York, 63 percent visited London and six in 10 visited Boston.
Of the 54 percent who went on the road from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022, just over 55 percent visited New York, just under 43 percent visited London and almost three in 10 went to Boston.
Paris, Toronto and Stockholm are high climbers in the table for most-visited cities since the last poll in 2020. This may suggest that resuming travel for roadshows in 2022 has included more localized travel. The tighter travel restrictions in place across Asia has seen perennial roadshow destinations Hong Kong and Singapore drop out of the list this year.
New York and Boston remain the most popular cities to visit for North American companies, with Toronto and London climbing into the top five from the last list in 2020. London, New York and Paris are still the most commonly visited cities for European companies.
Singapore remains the most-visited city for roadshows by Asian companies. Beijing and Shanghai are new to the top four, suggesting a concentration on domestic travel for Chinese companies.
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