Nicky, a highly opinionated long-time friend has matured past 40. Far from being her judgemental self as we knew her 10 – 15 years ago, she has mellowed. She knows there’s not much she can do to change the World. Her philosophy now: “It’s not right or wrong it’s just different” she says. This philosophy comes to mind in describing our objectives for the AIC 2010 Online Investor Conference. So what is an online investor conference? Basically it’s the following:-
- A group telephone call where callers listen to a presentation delivered by the CEO. The presentation appears online during this process typically in Powerpoint or similar software. Whilst this is happening anyone on the company’s corporate website can listen to the same conversation.
- Then after the presentation, the floor is opened up to questions from the callers which are answered live by the CEO. Receipt of questions by email is also possible during this time.
- Then the call ends and the audio file of the presentation and the transcript of everything that was said appears online for consumption by the general investment community. Email communications may still be ongoing after the live call.
- Repeat as above for all companies participating to provide a concentrated period within which investors get to hear and understand the investment messages of numerous companies.
Let’s have a closer look at the differences between an online conference and the traditional one-on-one conference:-
| One on one investor conference | Online investor conference | Comment |
| Budget higher | Budget lower | This is very subjective. A CEO’s travels to the UK and US can often be combined with other operational visits so it’s probably not possible to compare apples with apples. Prima facie though, the bang for buck of an online conference is high given the potential outreach. |
| CEO travels | CEO stays | CEOs are notoriously busy and, given that any travel from Africa can take up a least a day either way the one-on-one meeting will take some time. |
| Disclosure limited | Disclosure maximised | What is said in a one-on-one is not broadcast. The investment message in an online conference to a broader community probably needs more effort in its definition and delivery as it’s more holistic. |
| Disclosure sensitive | Less disclosure sensitive | It is not possible to regulate what goes on in a one-on-one situation. The online conference is probably more transparent but the downside is that the investment message needs to be carefully crafted and delivered consistently. Any botch-up to a broader audience is a bigger botch up. |
| Environmentally friendly | Environmentally friendly | I am tempted to mention the environmental impact of jet setting around the world but airplanes will go anyway whether or not there is a CEO on it. No impact. |
| Face to face meetings | Verbal, email interaction | Meeting executives in a one on one situation provides an excellent insight into their management skills and strategy. There’s a premium to looking the CEO in the eye. |
| Highly strategic issues can be raised | Moderated content rules | Assessing investment appetite for say a big capital raise is possible in a one-on-one conference situation but not in a broader forum. |
| Narrow reach | Broader reach | The ability to stream a conference through a website live, and have the transcript ready within hours and the ability to re-listen to the call FOR ALL INVESTORS has to be significant. Most one-on-one investor conference material does not get into the public domain in any form, summary or otherwise. |
| Networking opportunity | Online networking opportunity | The ability to build relationships and understand the thinking behind a management team’s or investors’ strategies is important. LinkedIn networking tools can probably add some value but the opportunity to meet people face to face and share ideas is more valuable than not. |
Both the physical and online conferences enable concentrated communications to a targeted audience. Both offer time and money saving opportunities. It’s only the large market capitalisation companies that can afford global road shows.
Will our 2010 Online Investor Conference be well supported listed companies? Probably not. Why? CEOs and management teams are unaware of the value of technology and generally ignorant of the hardcore benefits of communicating online with their investment communities. Will it be well supported by investors? Yes, absolutely. It’s something refreshing, new and meaningful.
Will our conference be a success? Yes, absolutely. We have seen the value of online communications in everything we have done over the past 5 years. The demand for robust African information straight from the horse’s mouth is high. Those companies that do dip into this new concept are expected to see value well beyond simple one way communication. In fact, we expect our online conference to be a defining time for companies in setting an IR strategy for the remainder of their year. A kind of “let’s get our message sorted for the year as well as all ensure investment data and interactivity availability”. Then they can concentrate on running their business knowing that the conference event has enabled direct introduction to new and existing investors. The decision however rests with the CEO and his team. And that rests on their knowledge of the benefits of online IR within good corporate governance practice. And that message rests with us.
Who should participate in the online conference? Any company with a robust investment message.