Investor Relations

138INVESTOR RELATIONSThe CFO;The marketing or research and development director when a newproduct is being launched, depending on how technical it is;An operating officer;The CEO of the company being acquired, except of course when thetakeover is hostile;The most experienced IROs can also handle roadshows alone.Targets for roadshows should be selected with care. For instance, it is moreefficient to organize a luncheon between the CEO and several smaller (“tiertwo”) investors together and to save one-on-one meetings for high-potential(“tier one”) portfolio managers.On specific occasions (a transaction, a product launch, a major investment),it may be useful to bring operations manager on board, providingcertain conditions are met:Their participation will bring significant added value and help investorsimprove their understanding of the business;They will be thoroughly briefed on what investors want to know, butalso on what they won’t be able to talk about;They will receive presentation training.3.6.13.4 Ten rules for successfulroadshowsAll roadshows combine public and one-to-one meetings and involve seeingfinancial analysts and institutional investors. Success is achieved by deliveringquality information to the right people and assuring that logistics areplanned down to the minutest detail, especially when two or three teams aretraveling to several countries. In addition to the aforementioned recommendations,the following rules can be applied, including to the selection of abroker if one is used for the roadshow: Rule No. 1. Identify when a roashow is a must and when it is not.There is no need to go on the road unless you’ve got something new to say.A press release and conference call may be enough at regular intervals.