One of the perennial challenges for IR teams is ensuring the right management team members meet with the right investors in the right venues. The solution for Paul Butcher, CN’s vice president of investor relations, is decreasing the number of conferences and increasing the number of non-deal roadshows the company participates in.
In 2017, CN attended 14 sell-side conferences and 11 roadshows – including an investor day, a site tour and in-house meetings. In 2016, CN attended 19 sell-side conferences.
Speaking at the IR Magazine Awards – Canada, where CN won the award for best IR in the industrials sector, Butcher says the appeal of non-deal roadshows ‘is really the opportunity, especially when you’re bringing your management with you, to be able to meet the right investors. Sometimes when you go to a conference, you meet the investors that are attending the conference.’
Butcher said conferences are still very important to CN, but that the company has become more interested in striking a balance between conferences and roadshows. Having a better understanding of which investors will be attending each meeting helps Butcher determine which member of his management team will be involved, he adds.
'We’ve decided to say we’ll bring the CEO [only] to a roadshow…to make sure he meets with the right investors,’ he tells IR Magazine. ‘Then I have my CFO and CMO to go to any roadshows and also conferences. And my COO will probably be more attuned to when I do a tour.’
Click here to watch the full video interview, where Butcher also discusses how he keeps investor meetings fresh and engaging.
