Corporate access thoughts from the investment community

As part of our research for the IR Magazine Awards – Europe 2015, we conducted extensive research into European buy-side and sell-side perspectives on a range of issues, including what they want from corporate access.

The almost 800 European portfolio managers and analysts who responded offered thoughts and advice on their likes and dislikes when it comes to investor relations, senior management and meetings, providing useful tips and insight that can help IR teams support their key external stakeholders.

Below, we’ve pulled out 10 examples.

1. ‘Face-to-face contact is always the Holy Grail for us’ – UK, sell side

2. ‘A meeting offers an opportunity to get deeper insight into different parts of the business. I can discuss segments and divisions that are not of overall importance and don’t always get an airing’ – Denmark, sell side

3. ‘Companies can’t say anything new at meetings but they can drill down a bit into the detail’ – Denmark, sell side

4. ‘We get a better understanding of the business and its long-term prospects and can compare tone and topics with previous meetings’ – Norway, buy side

5. ‘I want answers to questions and, if it’s a group meeting, hearing other investors’ questions is always interesting. When we’ve met executives a few times, it becomes useful to see how they react to certain events and to watch their body language’ – France, buy side

6. ‘Management provides more in-depth information on technology, business development and market trends in meetings. None of these can be dealt with extensively in press releases’ – Netherlands, sell side

7. ‘I like to meet operational managers as well as senior management so I can see how the company works’ – Belgium, buy side

8. ‘Talking to board members can provide additional information and explanation. A lot of companies are reluctant to give added information and stick to the book. I prefer the ones that know how to go off-book’ – Germany, buy side

9. ‘In meetings, management should be open to discovering what its audience needs and not come with a fixed message. Obviously executives can’t discuss price-sensitive issues but they can instill confidence through body language and let us drill into the background of any issues’ – UK, sell side

10. ‘I want to find out what keeps them awake at night’ – UK, buy side

The 100+ page report features a comprehensive directory and analysis of the best-performing companies in Europe, verbatim comments from analysts and investors about the top-ranked companies, and profiles of the best-performing IR practitioners. Click here for more information or to download the IR Magazine Investor Perception Study – Europe 2015.