Investor days have gone through many changes over the last five years. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, most events focused on the in-person experience, with less thought for remote viewers. But all that changed during lockdown, when investor days, like other IR activities, needed to go fully virtual.
Today, many companies want to return to face-to-face interaction, while also making sure the online audience feels involved and engaged with proceedings. For others, virtual-only events are still viewed as the most effective way to meet their IR objectives.
These shifts have altered the way companies approach investor days. Whether adopting a hybrid or virtual-only format, they need to make sure the online aspect maintains the attention and interest of investors and analysts connecting from their desks.
At the same time, companies need to work extra hard to convince time-strapped stakeholders to physically attend their event. The agenda and content must be carefully crafted so in-person attendees walk away feeling they have really benefited from the trip.
In this playbook, written in association with Lumi, we investigate the changing nature of investor days. The report includes a poll of IR professionals to help benchmark your approach, covering areas such as investor-day challenges, tactics for preparing for Q&A and how to measure success. It also includes advice from experienced IR and communications professionals about their own recent events.
Key findings
- IROs say the biggest challenge when putting on investor days is preparing speakers for Q&A, followed by maximizing attendance.
- More than four in 10 poll respondents put on investor days only once every three years or less frequently.
- Some digital elements, such as video content and hybrid Q&As, are now used by more than half of IR teams.
- Post-event feedback surveys are viewed as the best way to measure the success of an event, with quality of analyst notes second.
- In an open question, IR professionals explain how they have adapted their own investor days over the last three years.
