Conferences were the most common form of engagement before the pandemic
Investor conferences are the in-person events IR teams most frequently participate in. From Q3 2019 to Q2 2020, IR teams attended an average of 5.6 investor conferences, with just 8 percent of teams not attending investor conferences in this time.
Roadshows are the next most common in-person event for investor relations teams, which were held an average 4.4 times over the relevant period. Slightly more than eight in 10 teams went on the road, fewer than in previous years.
Investor days are the least common investor event for IR teams. Because just over a third of companies held an investor day in the past year, the average number being held by each team is only 0.6.
North American IR teams typically participated in fewer in-person investor events of any type than the global norm. Just over one in five North American companies held an investor day during this time. European IR teams participated in more in-person roadshows than investor conferences.
It is common for in-person event participation to increase with company size. The notable exception to this rule is that small-cap companies held the most investor days during the past year. The big jump in participation is typically found between large-cap and mega-cap companies.
The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic upon in-person investor events is clearly identified by looking at the events calendar for the year Q3 2019 to Q2 2020. The overwhelming majority during this time were held in the second half of 2019, ranging from 72 percent of in-person roadshows to 86 percent of in-person site visits.
Just under a quarter of in-person investor conferences were held in the first quarter of 2020, while virtually no in-person events were held from April onwards in that year.
Roadshows are the in-person investor event IROs prefer, with more than a third finding them to be the most rewarding event, compared with less than a quarter for investor conferences and investor days and under a fifth for site visits. Roadshows top the list as the most rewarding event in every region, with 48 percent of Asian IROs finding them particularly popular.
Roadshows appear less popular with mega-cap IROs than with IROs at other companies, while relative appreciation for investor conferences tends to diminish as company size increases. Mega-cap IROs favor site visits more than IROs at other companies do, while appreciation for investor days increases with company size, making them the most rewarding in-person investor event for mega-caps.
Investors participated in more roadshows than any other in-person investor event, having attended an average of two more roadshows than investor conferences in the past year as well as nearly double the number of site visits and more than twice the number of investor days.
The buy side participated in considerably more in-person investor events than the sell side, attending an average of 10 in-person roadshows and five or more of each of the other events. North American investors tend to participate in fewer events than investors in other regions, while investor conferences are the most frequently attended event for Asian investors, which participated in an average of 14.3 in the past year.
Investors rate their experience of in-person site visits higher than any other in-person event. On a scale of zero to 10, nearly two thirds give site visits a rating of eight or higher, while 23 percent give a perfect score of 10. Site visits also score below five with 14 percent of investors, more than with any other event.
Investor days are the only in-person event where the buy side has a more positive view than the sell side (by giving them a score of eight or more). Although 23 percent of buy-siders give site visits a perfect score, more than two thirds give investor days a score of eight or above, making investor days the most highly rated events with the buy side. More than eight in 10 sell-siders rate in-person roadshows at eight or above, compared with just under half of the buy side.
