Planning an Investor Day

I’ve had the pleasure of working with manufacturing companies, medical companies and tech companies as their Project Director and Event Planner for their investor days—also known as analyst days or market capital days. There are a few things I’ve learned through those experiences, and I’d like to share 5 high-level insights with you to help your investor day event planning process go smoothly.

Before we delve into best practices and event planning tips for your investor day, let’s discuss the purpose and expectations of these programs. Investor days are programmed events that provide public companies the opportunity to speak directly to their shareholders, analysts and potential shareholders. The aim is to instill confidence in the company’s ability to execute the goals they outline in their presentations. American Investor Days are typically held at the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ and Convene. Common results of investor days include financial articles (in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), heightened attention on a company’s stock and increased stock purchases over a set period of time.

While the name “investor day” or “analyst day” suggests a full-day affair, since the pandemic investor days have been significantly reduced in their run time. Instead of 6 hours of presentations from the C-suite (Chief Executive Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Financial Officer) and business sector leads (vertical leads), investor days are typically 2-2.5 hours of prepared presentations and 1 hour of Q&A. Another significant change the pandemic ushered in is the industry norm of hosting hybrid investor days. Hybrid Investor Days allow the public and analysts to watch the event and ask questions from home or work.

Analysts attend a countless number of investor days each week. Since they cover a plethora of market capital days, analysts have certain expectations when they attend investor days, whether in-person or online. First, they expect a seamless experience from registering online to listening to the presentations in-person or remotely. Second, both shareholders and analysts expect a cohesive message and corporate strategy. Third, there’s an expectation that all event logistics will be thought through and executed flawlessly. Lastly, they expect visually appealing content, collateral and swag.

Below are 5 key tips to help you plan your investor day for planning your investor day.

1. Timelines are your best friend. They help your team visualize tasks, due dates and milestones. This is vital when getting your C-suite and the executive admin team’s buy-in when committing to the process for your investor day. Remember that publicly traded companies have a responsibility of disclosure to the public and are greatly propelled by shareholders. Thus, it’s crucial to have an appropriate message substantiated with accurate corporate data and knowledgeable speakers. Timelines assist in this process by holding everyone accountable and making the investor day a priority rather than an afterthought.

2. Clear and legible collateral is crucial. The bitter truth about planning investor days is that most people don’t recognize the indescribable amount of work it takes. Unfortunately, attendees will not be forgiving of presentations with typos or collateral that’s hard to read. To avoid attendees becoming distracted by colors or fonts or too much text and thus uninterested in straining their eyes to understand your collateral, make sure your marketing team and copywriters have plenty of time to polish your presentation decks. Their contributions will help create materials that boost confidence in your company’s ability and a better understanding of your message. 

3. Swag is not critical to the success of your investor day. Buyers and analysts are not attending your investor day in-person for the knickknacks you give them. They won’t be more inclined to write about your company because of your free giveaways. It’s a nice touch if the swag you’re giving is unique, aligns with your investor day message and is useful. No one wants a book bag. Do you want a book bag from a random company? You probably don’t. Ralph Lauren has given their candles as investor day collateral, thus providing the analysts an opportunity to experience the brand (that was discussed during the presentations) and thus gain a deeper connection with the day’s message. The candles are mindful, on-brand and useful.

4. Your branding and messaging should extend throughout the event. As an event director and event designer, nothing irks me more than lost opportunities. When companies only think of creating branded presentations for their investor days, they lose the opportunity to create a stand-out program by extending their branding throughout the event’s design. For instance, the breakfast and lunch menus should have some nod towards the investor day event branding and your company brand. Opting for black text printed on ivory paper is a missed opportunity. Find creative ways to use your products during the event. If your company has a soap line, make sure the soap in the bathroom is replaced and clearly labeled with your product. If your company creates containers, trade the china in for custom bento boxes that attendees can take home with them. NASDAQ has monitors in the structural columns. Have transitional silent videos or static images with the day’s tagline and your company branding. These small details leave a lasting impression on guests, many of whom attend 3-5 investor day events at that location each week.

5. Rehearse. Rehearse. Rehearse. Full team rehearsals of the presentations and the Q&A session are a must. With all events, there’s probably something that will go awry. Typically, guests will not notice the pivot if the team is well prepared because the “show” will go on. For instance, at one investor day I worked on, the CEO caught COVID the day before the event. Since we rehearsed roughly 5 times, the team was able to seamlessly pivot between the speakers on stage and the CEO who joined virtually through a screen. While we acknowledged the change, the program flowed so well that no one could tell that we didn’t have a chance to do a full rehearsal with the CEO in the remote space.

These 5 tips should help you as you work through your upcoming investor day and help convince your team to prioritize preparing for this event. Please leave your comments and helpful tips you’ve learned planning investor days at your company. If you need a professional event planner or designer, contact Rielle Events, LLC.