OTC Markets Group to launch its first virtual investor conference
On June 4 the over-the-counter financial marketplace is conducting an investor event at which eight US community and regional banking CEOs will present their strategy from the comfort of their own desk. Executive vice president Jason Paltrowitz explains how this next-generation roadshow gets to the forefront of solving the challenges of corporate access by helping clients engage with the investment community ‘during the 355 days they’re not on the road in the US.’
How did OTCQX come up with the idea of virtual investor conferences?
We can’t take the credit! We have a partnership with PR Newswire, which has been doing these for a while with BetterInvesting. We try to figure out how to increase our issuers’ visibility and get them additional exposure here in the States.
What we always find when speaking with companies is that it’s the constant struggle of trying to get to investors: you have only a limited amount of time and you can’t take your senior management on the road every day of the year. And when you go on a roadshow with the sell side, you’re always seeing the same institutions. For some of the smaller QX companies this is all new, so they need a cost-effective way to get to as many people as possible.
These virtual investor conferences allow us to get our issuers in front of as many people as possible in a time-efficient, cost-effective way. That’s what our company is about: using technology and efficient, elegant solutions to get results.
Why did you choose banking firms for your first event?
We launched our QX for banks products a year ago. Community banks and regional banks are a bit underserved by the larger sell-side firms. There’s a lot of investor interest but it’s usually from second or third-tier investors. And they have a difficult time by nature of their businesses when it comes to doing these long elaborate roadshows. So the new event is part of highlighting the success we’ve had, with 70 banks having joined in the first year. We thought this was a good way to have that one-year anniversary as well as kick off our first conference. We plan to do two or three more over the coming year, highlighting other segments.
We also have plans to do an ADR event, so we’ll try to get some global companies to do the same thing. This is a way for them to get to the States without having to get on a plane – and it’s also very carbon-friendly. We’ll probably do a Canadian event, splitting that out into minerals and mining, and possibly biotech. We’re looking to get to as many of our constituents as possible and provide them with this opportunity.
In terms of practicalities, how does it work?
PR Newswire has created virtual conference rooms where a company can provide a 20 to 25-minute presentation, and the investor will see the slides and listen to the presenter. The investors can ask questions, either by typing them in or asking them on the phone. When that company’s time slot is up, it moves out of the main presentation room into a virtual one-on-one space, where the investor and the CEO or CFO can engage in a Q&A, while the next slideshow goes on in the presentation room. The company gets access to all the people who dial in. It gets their email addresses so it can put them in its IR target lists and continue those conversations.
That entire process will have eight banks, and that’s the optimal number, as it’s about an eight-hour day. The whole event will be recorded and then redistributed so that potential investors who couldn’t make the call can at least listen in and get the contact information of the person presenting for follow-up. It’s a way to do a one-on-one or a bit of a roadshow – but a lasting one, as it goes onto both our website and the companies’.
How many investors are expected?
It’s an all-US distribution list. PR Newswire and BetterInvesting have about 20,000 people on their list and we’ve supplemented that with a number of our investors we know are interested in regional and community banks. We don’t have the number of RSVPs yet. An advantage is that you don’t have to listen in to the whole thing: if you’re interested in a company, you’ll know what time it’s going to present.
Will IROs be involved as well as CEOs?
The main presenters will be from the C-suite. The interview is done in the CEO’s office, so he or she is virtually sitting in the office, on the phone, with a laptop feeding in. Typically it will be the CEO or CFO, and they may have the company secretary or IRO sitting with them in case there are questions.
Candice de Monts-Petit
Candice de Monts-Petit joined IR Magazine as a senior editor in 2012. Prior to this, she worked in investor relations, first as an IRO for oil and gas firms in Paris and Moscow and subsequently as an IR consultant in London. She graduated in business...
