Investor Relations

IMPLEMENTING BEST PRACTICES IN INVESTOR RELATIONS 137These roadshows may last several weeks. When a financial transactionis being planned, the program is organized by investment banks and mayinclude presentations specifically for their sales teams. Nondeal roadshows. These tend to be scheduled for just a few daysbut on a regular basis. They can be used to present past year’s earnings, strategy,and future plans of a company. Issuers can handle logistics themselves orentrust this task to brokers, depending on their objectives and resources.3.6.13.2 To go solo or to use a bankIR departments should also know when and how to avoid going throughbrokers. Here are a few suggestions to help you decide which route to go: If you decide to rely on a broker, make sure you take the lead indeciding who to see on roadshows. Banks and brokers are extremely efficientat steering you toward prolific traders such as hedge funds at the expenseof longer-term investors. You should, therefore, select them very carefully.While not exactly a frequent (or popular) process, call for tenders can helpeliminate proposals with little value added. IROs will make their selectionbased on criteria such as the composition of the brokers’ client portfolios,their geographic coverage, their trading market share in your stock, thequality of their equity research, and post-roadshow feedback. They mayalso look at the track record from previous roadshows in terms of profilingand smoothness of logistics. To be efficient, different brokers should be brought on board and usedmore than once, so that you can make you own judgment. What’s more, comparingtheir opinions on which investors your company should meet in whichcity will provide you with free advice while also helping to spot potential bias. From a budget standpoint, this is the least-costly solution for the issuer.That said, it will send a different signal, and executives may well get a warmerwelcome from investors and particularly large shareholders, if it is the listedcompany that takes the initiative to arrange and organize meetings. In thisrespect, an independent Investor Relations consultancy will assist you in targetingshareholders outside of your home country or region. Market informationdatabases can offer a second opinion on investment banks’ recommendations.3.6.13.3 Roadshow participantsDepending on the type of roadshow, the IRO will travel with one or more ofthe following executives:The chairman;The CEO;