Investor Relations - A Practical Guide - Investis

Round table debates and conferences
Typically organised by investment banks, round
table debates and sector conferences can be a
good introduction to investors. This is particularly
the case if you are invited to attend a conference
other than your house brokers’ as you could be in
front of a new set of contacts. These can either
take the form of a series of presentations by
individual companies, or a more generic discussion
on a theme.
Meeting collateral
Presentations used at meetings should contain
information about the company’s operations, the
management team, the financials, the market
drivers for the business and the competitive
landscape. These are the areas that the
investment community will be most interested in,
and will give its members an insight into the
business’s investment proposition.
It is often helpful to also take any marketing
materials, such as a company brochure, as this
gives an indication of the quality of the product or
service, and also indicates the sort of customer
that the company is targeting.
The secret of getting your message
across to fund managers is to keep it
simple. What I want to understand is
what are the inputs that go into a
company and what affects them in
terms of price and supply.
It is then important to understand what a
company does to those inputs and how what it
produces in terms of products and services is
then sold. The better a fund manager
understands your business, the more support
your company is likely to have in the market.
We like companies which under promise and
over deliver. Too many companies feel they have
to over promise and then stretch to try and
make the numbers. Do not resort to a succession
of company announcements in an effort to try
and sustain your share price.
Fund management is a worldwide business with
thousands of eyes keeping a look out for
opportunities. If you keep producing attractive
profit growth then someone will find you and
when they do they will want a clear and concise
message.
Andy Brough
Co-Head of Pan-European Small Companies,
Schroders
50
Building the Investor Relations Programme