How can you encourage investors from around the world to travel for your capital markets day? That was one of the key challenges facing the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) when it gathered the buy side together last November.
The event, held at the exchange’s HQ in London, had three main goals: introducing new medium-term guidance, emphasizing the company’s shift to a global information services business, and generating demand for shares given Blackstone’s intention to sell its 34 percent stake.
‘In person was critical, because we felt, post-Covid and post a number of management changes, our people weren’t known very well,’ says Peregrine Riviere, LSEG’s head of IR. ‘We wanted to allow our investors and analysts to build personal relationships over the course of 24 hours.’
Thoughtful, long-term planning was crucial to getting investors through the door, especially those who needed to take a lengthy flight. ‘We had capacity for 90-95 people in person, and we wanted to make sure we filled that, so we took a number of steps,’ says Riviere.
‘We did a very advanced, save-the-date warning, which we blasted out to everyone on our distribution list about seven months in advance. There’s quite a lot of competition for dates, so choosing the date and getting it in people’s diaries early was important.
‘We also spread it over more than one day. It started post-close on the first day, with the announcement and senior management presentations, followed by dinner. Then the following day, we had a main divisional plenary, all the breakouts and Q&A at the end. You could come from overseas and it was really worth it, because you weren’t just coming for half a day.’
Another consideration was when the event would take place during the week. ‘Tactically, we put it next to a weekend,’ says Riviere. ‘It was a Thursday evening and then all day on a Friday. Friday is great because you’re not coinciding with results announcements – no one really puts out their results on that day. And secondly, people who want to come from Singapore, Australia or the US can make it more of a trip.’
Most importantly, in-person attendees were rewarded with a rich mix of content, including plenty of informal contact with management and other business leaders. Alongside the formal presentations, LSEG put on several breakout sessions, plus a dinner, breakfast and lunch. In total, more than 20 company representatives were made available to investors across the event.
‘Clearly, you weren’t going to get the opportunity for all that informal interaction online, but you would do in the room,’ says Riviere. ‘And the result was we had people attend from Australia and Singapore, both sides of the US and all over continental Europe, so it was a great global turnout.’
