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Online communication is essential today to increase the reach of your messaging and to meet the needs of busy stakeholders, who might not have the time to travel to a physical location. Allowing remote attendance to key events is expected for a wide range of activities, which is why the virtual Capital Markets Day (CMD) has become a staple of many organisations’ investor relations calendars.
As a key outreach opportunity to the investment community, engagement is essential and webcasting your CMD brings numerous advantages to guide market sentiment. Here are two examples:
- Bpost – the Belgian postal group had 26 people physically attend a recent CMD, with a further 166 watching online.
- BESI – The Dutch multinational specialising in semiconductor equipment required a solution to run an end-to-end service, from the organisation of the CMD to the delivery of the event. The company reported a “positive and enthusiastic” response from attendees for a professional and glitch-free viewing experience.
Read this article to find out the benefits of holding a virtual Capital Markets Day, the different formats available, and how to organise a successful online CMD.
Why organise a virtual Capital Markets Day
There are a host of benefits to organising a virtual Capital Markets Day, but here are some of the most important.
Increased attendance
By offering the chance for investors, analysts, journalists and employees to watch the event online, you can reach more people than with an in-person event. Attendees don’t have to take time off work, travel to the event or book accommodation. They can access the webcast at home, in the office or anywhere else they like. If they don’t catch the presentations live, they can watch them on demand later to view the video in their own time.
Indeed, online access to the CMD has become the norm rather than the exception in recent years. FTI Consulting’s 2024 research showed that only a third (34%) of issuers opted for in-person only Capital Markets Days. The majority (58%) were held in a hybrid format, mixing in-person attendance with remote access, and 8% were virtual-only. Attendees expect to be able to attend online and, by not offering this option, you could lose their investment.
Improved global reach
Not only can a virtual CMD help reach more people within your home country, but it can also increase your reach across the world. There are no barriers to global investors engaging with your event and you can further endear them if you use a webcasting platform that allows for real-time translations. Enabling investors to listen in their preferred language can stabilise your position in countries in which you have a significant number of prospective shareholders.
A webcast maximises the ROI of your CMD as it exposes more potential investors to your IR message.
Reveal more about the business
Your investors may have access to your CFO and CEO at roadshows and other events, but the CMD is the opportunity to introduce them to more members of your management team who can pass on relevant information about their roles and projects.
6 steps to organise virtual Capital Markets Days
1. Choose the format
There are three different ways to create a virtual Capital Markets Day. You should choose the format that works best for you and the individual requirements of your organisation. Here are the options:
|
Format |
Definition |
|
On-demand only |
The CMD takes place at a venue during the day with in-person attendees and the video of the event is published online afterwards for on-demand viewing. This allows more people to find out what happens, but they have to wait until after the physical attendees have heard the update before receiving the information themselves. Your virtual attendees cannot engage with the event panel. |
|
Online only |
The CMD is held at a location of the organisation’s choosing. If you’re using EngageStream, the event can also be streamed from one of our state-of-the-art studios, with attendees joining remotely. |
|
Hybrid |
The CMD is held at a specific venue where investors and analysts can attend in person. There is also a live webcast of the event that people can access remotely at the time. Furthermore, by embedding the video into your IR website, attendees can catch up on the event at a later date |
2. Decide on the structure of the event
A CMD is your opportunity to detail your strategy, show investors and potential investors how you will add value to their shareholding and allow them to meet management figures that they might not otherwise get to know at other events.
You should carefully structure which information you want to share, who will speak and if there is a theme you would like to explore for the event.
You might have, for example, a section where you analyse recent performance, another to discuss goals and targets, and yet another to go over the strategy for achieving them. You should also allow time for questions and answers so your online audience can interact with you.
3. Inviting analysts and investors
Send analysts and investors your invitation, detailing when the event will take place and how to access it, whether that is physical or virtual.
Make sure you give them an idea of the content of the presentations that will take place on the day of the event, as well as the theme or message that you want to explore during proceedings. You should also add details of how they can sign up to attend either the in-person event or online.
Send this information out to the analysts and investors you are targeting or want to engage. In addition, post the information to your IR website and business social media to increase the chances of reaching those who might be interested in your CMD.
4. Make registration easy
The CMD is your opportunity to present your story, successes and strategies to your current and potential shareholders as well as to sell-side analysts. The platform you use for your virtual CMD should be easy to use and register with so that you can engage as many people as possible.
5. Issue a press release
You can explore the main points of the CMD in a press release that you issue just before the event. It tells the industry and financial media more about what you are going to discuss and announce in the presentation, pulling out the most noteworthy points and highlighting them.
You should also include quotes from relevant members of your team to help journalists add colour to their stories. Provide access to the webcast for the press so that they can find out more from the presentation itself and ask questions to clarify any points.
Send this to all the relevant journalists in your industry press to make sure you have the best chance of earning coverage for your event.
6. Measure the impact
The final step is to evaluate the effect of your online CMD. Was it a success? Did the audience have the chance to participate? Did it have a positive effect on analysts’ perceptions? Did it attract more investors? Carry out investor perception studies before and after to quantify the effectiveness of your CMD.
There are many questions to ask at this point and answering them depends entirely on the solution you have chosen.
