New IR Impact research digs into the role the format plays in wider ir efforts
How long did you and your IR colleagues spend on the road last year? According to our latest research, you were travelling an average of 12.1 days for in-person roadshows in 2025 and a further 5.4 days on virtual roadshows.
In total, according to our deputy editor Garnet Roach and the IR Impact research department, that means our readers spent a total of 3,520 days travelling for roadshows last year – or, if you like, a total of a decade.
That’s 10 years of meetings between investors and IROs, CFOs, CEOs and other management figures squeezed into just 365 days. We always knew that IR folks were hard working, but this really takes it to another level.
It’s just one of the mind-boggling statistics that becomes apparent when you read this year’s Global Roadshow Report, which we write in partnership with Bank of America.
One of the most obvious data points is the fact that roadshows are still considered a crucial part of the corporate toolkit and that importance is only growing. Looking at the overall data, 88 percent of our respondents – who come from companies across the globe – went on an investor roadshow over the past year, up from 86 percent the year before and continuing a multi-year upward trend.
Another fact that will be clear to many of us on an anecdotal basis is that a mix of formats remains the most popular way of tackling things, perhaps unsurprising given that while the investment community always reports preferring in-person contact, there are many people for whom virtual events provide a touchstone where there would not otherwise be one. With that in mind, we’ve seen the number of virtual-only roadshows actually double to 8 percent last year.
We also asked our IR respondents how satisfied they were with their roadshows last year. A notable drop in satisfaction levels sees just 65 percent of IROs give their in-person roadshows a rating of at least eight out of 10 – a figure that is down from 72 percent in last year’s report. Average satisfaction is down to 7.7 out of 10 – though that is still relatively high, showing that IROs are largely happy with the format.
There’s more to discover in the report itself, including a league table of the most visited and most popular cities to visit on roadshows. I won’t spoil the top rankings here but let’s just say that there’s reason for anyone on the European side of the Atlantic to feel slightly superior to our American cousins.
We also run through the most-used and best-rated brokers that helped IR teams organize last year’s roadshows. This always makes for fascinating reading, not just to see who comes top, but also to see which new entrants made an impact on our readership.
And finally – but by no means least – this year’s report contains first-person experiences from several award-winning IROs and IR experts, revealing their tips for organizing roadshows and their thoughts on what makes the difference between boring investors and keeping them completely engaged. I won’t spoil these either, but you really should read about the management request for an Olympic-sized swimming pool…
You can read the full report for free right here – we just need a few of your details. And if you have any thoughts about the findings or want to tell us how you are handling roadshows, then do let us know: we’ll be following up on the Global Roadshow Report with a series of deep dives into different aspects of its findings.
