As outlined in our white paper published this year “Assessing Capital Markets Communication Challenges for Leveraged Issuers Through the Pandemic”, it is obvious that there has been a shift in the way that the debt community assesses investment opportunities. The importance of Debt Investor Relations has certainly grown in recent times and much of this has to do with the evolving information needs of the investors.
It is clear that, in order to win favour in the debt capital markets, companies should strive to be proactive in their market engagement over and above regular earnings releases. The benefit of this is not only that it reinforces a perception of transparency but, more importantly, it helps to build trust amongst the debt investment community. This is vitally important, particularly in the wake of Covid, for companies where external macroeconomic factors and the competitive landscape bring a degree of volatility to the numbers, as well as issuers who have long reporting deadlines that result in the market having to wait three months or more before receiving an earnings update.
In terms of the most efficient way to cultivate and engage debt investors, we see conferences as being a good lever for existing and new issuers, as well as high beta names that the market is keen to follow on a regular basis. Conferences provide not only a good alternative to non-deal roadshows but also the opportunity to meet key investors and a platform to outline the investment story to a broad audience. Naturally, timing is important, as attending a conference post an earnings release or an M&A/event-driven activity can be a great platform to follow up on market questions or concerns.
As our Debt IR clients prepare their financial calendars for the year ahead, we have listed the highest-profile conferences from an investor and European corporate perspective. This list will be updated throughout the year as the leading leveraged finance brokers publish their conference calendars.
