A Guide to Getting the Buy-Side’s Attention
Summary by Michelle Rivas
Panelists:
Erika Maschmeyer, CFA, Lead Portfolio Manager and Director of Research (U.S.), Columbia Wanger Asset Management
Maneesh Singhal, Vice President, Senior Analyst, CastleArk Management
James Wong, Head of Specialist and Corporate Access Origination, Millennium Management
Moderator: Sandi Meeks, Vice President, Rivel, Inc.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- To build interest among buy-siders who don’t already own your company’s stock, evaluate which banks and brokers cover peer companies but don’t cover you. These are key targets to build relationships and make your case for their attention.
- Hold the broker that’s marketing your stock accountable for setting up meetings with your target buy-siders. Accountability includes making sure the broker gives you feedback on why someone turned down a meeting invitation.
- Don’t send the same executives to buy-side meetings each time. For example, you might expand a meeting to include the head of marketing and CFO to demonstrate your company’s impressive bench depth.
- Obviously, a share price that keeps going up is “80% percent of getting attention” from the buy-side. Absent that type of consistent stock performance, ask your company’s management team to be more strategic about ways to make the company’s strategy and execution more attractive to investors and enhance how your IR team presents those investment appeals to the buy-side.
- Focus on the quality (not quantity) of interactions with the buy-side.
- Don’t avoid meetings with hedge funds – they create more liquidity in your stock’s trading than long-term holders.