Sun Life Financial was recently crowned winner of the best investor meeting category at the IR Magazine Awards – Canada 2018. This mini-profile, taken from the Award-Winning IR – Canada 2018 report, outlines why Sun Life Financial’s team took home the prize.
Sun Life Financial’s IR team was extremely busy during 2017, meeting with more than 200 firms in 13 cities around the world, including hosting 65 one-on-one meetings and participating in several conferences and investor roadshows. But what stands out is how intentional the IR team was in building its calendar for the year.
The company wanted to position itself as an early adopter of technology. The IR team picked the locations of its investor meetings very carefully. In March 2017 Sun Life hosted an investor day in the MaRS Discovery District, North America’s largest innovation hub. More than one third of the company’s institutional investor base attended the event to see demonstrations of how the company was using mobile technology, big data and machine learning to power its customer experience.
In June 2017 the company presented at the RBC Technology Conference in Toronto – the only life insurance company to do so. Throughout this event and all investor meetings, the Sun Life team found new ways to demonstrate the power of its mobile app, including customizing the demonstrations based on where the team was in the world.
In addition to having a clearly stated message that is consistent on what the company presents and where the company presents, the IR team has also set out to improve the quality of investor meetings for its executives. The IR team now requests questions in advance of most meetings, so that senior management can be adequately prepared.
