Investor relations takes lead on more investor meetings

IROs are taking the lead in a higher percentage of one-on-one investor meetings, reveals the latest research from IR Magazine.

Globally this year, 44 percent of investor meetings were held with senior management in attendance, down 4 percentage points on 2014, according to the IR Magazine Global Investor Relations Practice Report 2015.

This is seen at each cap size where, in real terms, the number of meetings held with the C-suite has dropped. As a percentage of the total, small-cap companies have seen senior management attend the highest percentage of investor one-on-ones (60 percent), with this number falling as cap size increases to a low of 33 percent at mega-caps.

When it comes to the overall number of investor meetings held by companies globally, calendars expanded slightly as companies added an extra five meetings to their total from 2014. Regionally, European countries have regained the title of most active, upping their game with an extra 10 meetings to an impressive total of 259 meetings held over 12 months.

Interestingly, companies in Asia – last year’s frontrunners – have made quite a large cut to their schedules, with 40 fewer meetings held during 2015. With the average Asian company holding 224 meetings, however, this traditionally very active region remains well ahead of North America where, despite adding an extra five one-on-ones, companies remain the least active for meetings, at 158 across the year.

Celebrating five years of global IR practice research, this year’s report features a special section examining the differences between 2011 and 2015. The Global Practice Report 2015 can be accessed here.