New York first choice for roadshows as three new cities enter top 20

New York remains the prime global investment center as the most-visited roadshow destination in 2017. In fact, New York has been top of the list every year since IR Magazine started its annual Global Roadshow Report in 2010 and is the only city to have always been visited by more than three quarters of survey respondents.

In the 2017 survey, 75.5 percent of the 750 respondents say they visited the East Coast city over the past 12 months – a number that is notably ahead of even its nearest rival.

In second place is Boston, regaining its 2015 spot from London, which slips back to third place with a drop in visitor numbers on 2016. And while not hitting the sort of numbers New York sees, the 63.9 percent and 61.4 percent of visitors to Boston and London, respectively, over the year are far ahead of those making up the rest of the list.

Along with London, which sees a 3.2 percentage-point drop on 2016 numbers, the other two major European financial centers – Frankfurt and Paris – see similar falls in the number of companies visiting them. As a result, Toronto moves up two spots to sixth place in 2017.

Outside the top 10 cities, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Denver all drop out of the full top 20 list, being replaced in 2017 by Tokyo, Philadelphia and Milan. Tokyo even tops Baltimore, though fewer than 14 percent of respondents visited each of these cities.

Regional favorites

Regionally, New York unsurprisingly tops the list for North American firms. London is the only city outside the region to make the top 10 with 45.5 percent of North Americans making the trip in 2017.

Among Europeans, London is the top destination, followed by New York, with Boston and Chicago also making the regional top 10. Again, no Asian cities make it into the regional ranking.

Finally, Hong Kong comes top for Asian firms, followed by Singapore and New York in third place. In fact, Asian companies are the most varied in their roadshow destinations: four of the top 10 most-favored destinations are regional cities, another four are spread across the US, and UK destinations London and Edinburgh also make the cut.