Most IROs expect the majority of investor events in future to be held in person. When asked what they think the mix of virtual and in-person events will be, the median response for roadshows, investor days and investor conferences is a ratio of 65 percent to 90 percent in person to 10 percent to 35 percent virtual. More than six in 10 think at least 90 percent of site visits will be held in person.
Although there is a clear majority who think most events will be in person, more than a quarter of IR professionals believe there will be a rough mix of 35 percent to 65 percent for each format with roadshows, investor days and conferences.
Few IR professionals believe a clear majority of events will be held virtually, the highest number being the 16 percent who think the virtual format will account for at least 65 percent of all roadshows.
The view that the clear majority of roadshows will be in person is less commonly found in Europe than the other two regions, with one in five expecting future roadshows to be at least two to one virtual/in person.
But it is also European IROs who are more certain about the future dominance of in-person site visits, with 88 percent thinking they will be 66 percent to 100 percent in person.
While views among North American and European IROs are broadly similar on the future of investor days and conferences, Asian IROs are less sure about the degree to which these events will be held in person in the future. As many Asian IROs think there will be a roughly even mix of in-person and virtual conferences as think they will be mostly in person.
IRO views on the future mix of in-person site visits and roadshows are similarly held across cap sizes, with only slightly lower agreement among IROs at large-cap companies.
Small-cap IROs are less sure than IROs at other cap sizes about the future dominance of in-person investor days. While the majority of small-cap IROs think future conferences will be mostly in-person events, just under a quarter think there will be a roughly even split between virtual and in person and one in five thinks future investor conferences will be mostly virtual.
The general view among investors is that there will be more in-person than virtual events in the future, although not to the same extent that IROs view this to be the case.
The median response for every event type except site visits is that there will a roughly 35 percent to 65 percent mix of both, but more investors think future events will be at least 65 percent in person than think they will be at least 65 percent virtual.
As with IROs, a clear majority of investors think future site visits will be at least 90 percent in person. The most mixed view about future events is for investor conferences. Although 41 percent of investors think future conferences will be mostly in-person events, almost four in 10 (38 percent) think there will be a reasonably even mix of in person and virtual, while 21 percent think future conferences will be at least 65 percent virtual.
