IR Playbook
Capital markets day
Insights from analysts, investors and IR professionals
Investor days – or capital market days (CMDs) as they are increasingly known – are a staple of the IR calendar: a crucial opportunity for companies to showcase their vision, strategy and leadership to the investment community. But how much of what's presented actually resonates with investors and analysts? And, more importantly, what do they wish companies would do differently?
In this playbook, we go straight to the source – investors and analysts from North America, Europe and Asia – to uncover what they really think about investor days. We explore the formats and timing they prefer, the content that keeps them engaged (or turns them off) and their expectations around Q&As, accessibility and follow-up conversations with IR teams. With regional insights spanning the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and Singapore, we break down how investor priorities differ and what best practices can help IROs maximize post-event engagement with their audiences.
This guide will help you to replace any guesswork around your investor day process with real investor feedback, helping IR teams refine their approach with confidence. Whether it’s ESG, innovation or long-term strategy, understanding what investors truly value can transform capital market days from routine presentations into impactful, strategic conversations.
In this playbook, written in association with Lumi Global, you will learn:
When to plan your investor day, based on the timings that analysts and investors prefer
What the investment community wants in terms of content, and how regional preferences differ
What your audience will expect around Q&A, accessibility and follow-up conversations
Best practices for post-event engagement around the world
Why investors and analysts disengage from earnings days – and how to keep them interested.
Every analyst and investor appreciates an opportunity to dive under the hood of their investee companies. For those we spoke to for this playbook, that resonates particularly strongly.
Stefanie Mollin, an independent global portfolio manager based in London, says that it is all about ‘the opportunity to get a really full picture of the company and its strategy’. A large part of that is having the opportunity to hear from senior management and divisional heads for a deeper dive into industries and sub-industries – for both a top-down perspective and that granular detail.
‘The analogy I use – since I’m a rower – is that you want to hear things that support the idea that everyone's pulling the oars in the same direction, and that each of these little pieces of the investor day tie into the boat – or the company – moving forward with momentum,’ says Thad Pollock, executive vice president, head of equities at Mutual of America, who is based in New York.
‘So how are those pieces working together? How are these people working together to achieve the common goal? At the end of the day, investors are trying to get conviction in the company.’
For Tyler Mixter, vice president, equity research at Mutual of America, who works alongside Pollock, CMDs represent an opportunity for a company to build a bridge between their strategy and their numbers. ‘I think at the end of the day, what an investor is trying to do is tie all of that back to the financials,’ he explains, adding that he often will use investor days and accompanying materials as a resource after the fact.
‘What I've seen more companies do now is have what they call an investor presentation that's really like the 101 – something that you can look to immediately,’ Mixter adds. ‘I think that’s actually a great way of providing evergreen content while not repeating the same thing in every presentation,’ Mixter adds, referencing investor day materials that are made available after the event.
Joshua Lee, head of portfolio management for the Singapore office of Swiss banking group Lombard Odier, agrees. ‘The number one use for an investor day is to understand the company deeper,’ he says. ‘Generally what we expect is senior management to be there and for the company to showcase their best offerings, whether it’s in terms of how you grow earnings or how strong your balance sheet is. It’s also a great opportunity to talk to their employees on the ground.’
When is the best time to hold your investor day? Opinions vary, but for most investors and analysts there is a sense that more often is better, though that they expect such events to be held when the company has something to update its audience about.
Lee says that for him, there are many factors at play to determine the ideal regularity, but it should not be dictated by an annual schedule. ‘If the company doesn't have a lot of things to showcase, or it’s just the same thing that they talked about during earnings, it could be a waste of time,’ he says. ‘However, those that really showcase a company’s plans going forward or change in strategy, are helpful for us. I think it's not very useful unless there’s something new to bring to the table.’ He adds that planning around a large sell-side conference or similar events is a good way ‘to get good traction’.
‘I find it surprising that a lot of companies don't hold them more frequently,’ says Pollock. ‘The timing could be driven by any sort of meaningful structural change in the business. So, it could be that there's a new management team – people want to hear from leadership at the senior level. It could be that there's a three-year plan and the company is now entering a new phase. It could be a shift in thinking at the company – a new direction they want to clearly communicate.’
Mixter agrees. ‘It’s just the nature of business – things change,’ he says. ‘So the investor day would then address what is topical at that point in time, and that can be a whole host of things.’ However, he adds that it is probably ‘not worthwhile’ to hold an investor day just for a corporate transaction – unless it’s ‘transformational’. ‘Content delivered as an update on a more regular cadence is more helpful than having a six-hour investor day every five years that gets a little long in the tooth,’ he notes.
For Mollin, the ideal cadence is once per year in most cases. ‘For me, if it happens once a year, that’s great – it's a valuable option to check in, because there’s no other way to access that wide range of management,’ she explains. ‘It probably also depends on the size and complexity of the business. If it’s a highly complex business, then once a year is probably important – there are a lot of moving parts. If it’s smaller and less complex, maybe it’s not essential.’
Investor and analyst preferences for format and content vary in many ways, but all of those IR Impact spoke to agree that everything should be aligned to enable a deeper understanding of the company and its ongoing strategy.
‘What I want is to walk away with a feel for the culture, a sense of the strategy – especially at a more granular level,’ explains Mollin. ‘If they’re not giving me any numbers, sometimes I’m left thinking: how am I supposed to plug this into my model and quantify what just happened.’ As a portfolio manager with a particular focus on ESG, she also wants access to this data and narrative in some form. ‘The sustainability side is very important… if it’s something they really focus on and it’s a core driver of the business, they should either weave it through or have a separate section,’ she adds.
Presentations are a core part of the experience, and Mixter says he often returns to investor day materials to inform his analysis some time after the event. ‘Presentations that can stand on their own merit are very helpful to me in understanding What does this company do? How should I think about the market? What are their products?’ he explains. ‘For product demos, it’s sector specific. I’ve been to oil and gas investor days and they’ll have actual product displays, or industrials – and having product displays is very helpful to make it tangible. With software, it’s a little bit trickier: you need context from an expert to understand the use cases.’ He adds that information around the customer or client journey can be very informative.
Pollock recognizes that investor days need to suit a variety of audiences. ‘You’re trying to educate people for whom this might be their first exposure to the company – but also to educate and advance the thinking for more sophisticated market participants,’ he notes. He and Mixter agree that having ‘free-flowing Q&A’ – particularly with specific business leaders – is crucial, while presentations can be ‘slimmed down’ to their key messages.
‘Having some back-and-forth around the assumptions, what’s in the numbers, what’s not, is also important,’ Pollock adds. ‘And I think having a Q&A that includes the sell side is expected – most investor days have the covering analysts asking questions – but there’s often an opportunity now for investors to anonymously submit questions digitally. That’s a nice feature that’s emerged through technology.’
Lee agrees, adding that what really adds value for him are ‘nuances rather than the prepared remarks’. He describes the ideal format as: ‘It’s good to have a primer followed by really going down in depth.’
Though many IR teams consistently impress their investment community, some consistent themes come up as reasons for investors and analysts to disengage from capital markets days:
Pollock criticizes the ‘quest for perfection’ where everything is overly scripted and polished. He believes this can detract from authenticity and prefers more unscripted, human interactions.
All our investors and analysts say that making investor days accessible is crucial. Having the ability access materials online or after the event is crucial and Mollin notes that if investor days are too infrequent, investors may miss them entirely, especially if they’re global and can’t travel.
Attending in-person is also a priority for all our interviewees. ‘It’s good for companies to engage investors physically so they don’t get distracted,’ Lee explains. ‘If we’ve got multiple screens, mobile phones or iPads nearby, to be honest it’s easy to get lost.’
Transparency is a key word for investors and analysts. For Mixter, that means being able to relate everything back to the financials so that he can model accurately; for Mollin and Lee, it means being able to speak around presentations or Q&As to give them the chance to dive deeper into topics of interest.
Another of Mixter’s bugbears is a six-hour investor day ‘that tries to cover everything at once’. Companies should focus on shorter, modular content where possible, he says.
Both Mollin and Pollock agree that it should be easy for them to pass on feedback to IR teams, both about the event and about the company’s strategy. They dislike open-ended or cumbersome surveys and prefer quick, structured formats.
Preferences around feedback vary. For Lee, the best time to give feedback ‘is on the day itself’, either with a handy QR code or a form to fill out. ‘Investors have a lot of things to do,’ he jokes. ‘You’re not going to get a lot of traction a long time after the event.’
Pollock and Mixter say that they usually expect an email survey after the event and consider it a ‘good way to collect feedback’. Pollock adds that ‘from an IR perspective, having something short and sweet is best – I would say the key is that any survey just needs to be very easy to click through’. In terms of following up, both say that reaching out to analysts and investors with whom you have a close relationship and gathering candid comments that way is a good route.
‘I don’t think that IR needs to go out to everybody who attended the investor day to see if they have any questions or want to schedule follow-ups,’ says Mixter. ‘I think that can be more of an organic process.’
Mollin agrees. ‘What I think works best is making it as easy as possible,’ she says. ‘Surveys – rather than open-ended questions where I have to type out long answers – are more effective. Sending one out via email – maybe with 10 or 20 quick questions, with an option to add comments if you like – probably works best. In a way, it’s like an anonymous channel for me. I’m assuming that, because it’s an analyst or investor day, it’s the investor relations team that’s gathering the information.’
The Moldovan and Romanian wine producer’s investor day, which was held at the picturesque Château Purcari in the Moldovan countryside, was nominated for the ‘best investor event’ award at the IR Impact Awards – Europe 2025.
First of all, it shouldn’t just be annual by default – it should happen once every two or three years and you need to have something meaningful to share with your investors.
In our case, we presented our midterm strategy. You should also align your calendar with that of the brokers and the stock market where you’re listed, since there’s some seasonality to consider. It’s important to pick the right moment. For us, as a listed wine company, September or October is ideal. That way, we can hit two goals at once: communicate our strategy and show off our facilities, how the grapes are processed and how the machinery works.
We brought our entire senior management team – technically divisional managers – all 13 of them, along with the full board of directors, an additional seven people. This meant that every investor who attended had access to at least one manager from our company.
Our first priority was reach – getting as many investors and stakeholders as possible to attend our event. Media coverage also mattered. Lastly, we looked at feedback from institutional investors and analysts.
For us, timing and location were both critical. As a micro-cap company, we don’t have the luxury of being a household name where stakeholders are eager to attend every event.
We tried to create synergies with other events happening in Moldova. We’re the only listed company from the Republic of Moldova, and we’re listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange, which is 400 km away. So we aligned our event with Moldovan Wine Days – think of it like Oktoberfest in Germany and the Chisinau Marathon. On top of that, we coordinated with a Moldovan bank planning to go public, which hosted an investor brunch after our event. So we attracted stakeholders by offering a kind of bundle – not just for our company, but for three events in one. It gave people a reason to come, explore Moldova and engage more deeply.
We chose to bring people to our château – with a heritage dating back to 1827 – to show them more than just slides and numbers. In our business, it’s important to show the passion behind the numbers, and the best way to do that is in person.
So the location was essential – though, of course, very specific to our industry. From a logistics perspective, it’s not a problem to deliver our wines around the world – we export to 40 countries. But to make a real impact on stakeholders, you have to bring them to the roots – to where the magic happens, where we make our wine.
Of course, there’s also value in the personal touches. When they receive something tangible – a corkscrew, for example – it creates a connection. Later, when they see your company’s name on a Bloomberg terminal or elsewhere, they won’t just think of numbers. They’ll remember the experience, the people, the story behind the business.
The German medical technology company has been nominated for the best investor event trophy twice at the IR Impact Awards – Europe. Its last investor day was held in 2021 following the €16 bn ($19 bn) acquisition of Varian, but Marc Koebernick is currently planning the next to update investors the firm’s developing strategy.
We differentiate on purpose between the setup of events we host. What we’ve done so far is one big capital markets day and, in between, we’ve held so-called ‘meet the management’ events. These focus more on segment management and products. We try to include a product show.
The last CMD was in 2021, triggered by a large acquisition. We wanted to make sure everyone understood how to think about our equity story in an integrated way with this new asset.
That horizon lasted until 2025. Now, we’ve reached a logical point where the phase of strategy implementation – called ‘New Ambition’ back then – is coming to an end. It’s time to revisit and give investors a clear view of our current perspective for the coming years in terms of strategy development.
On one hand, this will be broken down by segment – they’ll have a chance to speak at the event, along with the board and senior management. On the other hand, there will be discussion around financial targets. It’s still undecided how granular we’ll go, and whether we’ll put a hard number on it.
In preparing for this, we’ve just completed a large perception study. We’ll use this to readjust, reconfirm and reinforce certain messages, especially at the upcoming event.
This time, the format is designed to be efficient – we’re trying not to take up too much of people’s time. That’s also why we’re going to London. In this case, it’ll be speeches, Q&A and PowerPoint – no big product demos or added ‘sexiness’. Our aim is to keep it to no more than half a day.
We’re aligning our CMD with the largest European healthcare conference – the Jefferies Conference – which takes place at the same time. We hope this timing will incentivize US investors to come over. It’s a strategy we use often – timing our events around major conferences – and it tends to work well.
When it comes to investors in the UK or the US, I think expectations are very much aligned.
There may be some differences when you look at continental Europe – especially in France. Discussions there often focus more heavily on one specific business: diagnostics. That was a major topic during the IPO, and we ended up disappointing the market with that story.
If I had a magic wand, I’d want the ability to be on-site – giving people the chance to visit one of our largest diagnostics installations in the US, and maybe also to see where the core of our radiation therapy technology is developed. But on the other hand, you also want to be close to our key stakeholders – the sell-side analysts and major buy-side investors – and for that, London is a better place to be. Combining both would be ideal, but it’s difficult.
□ Consider the timing carefully: what has triggered this investor day and how can you maximize the opportunity ahead of you?
□ Identify the purpose of your investor day: what do you want to achieve through this event? □ Make sure your structure aligns with your intent: focus presentations, spotlight appropriate business leaders and always tie it back to the financials. □ Offer value to all attendees: whether through ensuring any hybrid elements work well or giving your audience the opportunity to dive into detail with divisional experts. □ Make sure your feedback process is up to scratch: keep it short, sweet and with the option to offer comments.
Joshua Lee is a multi-asset portfolio manager at Lombard Odier. He has over 15 years of institutional investment experience in both fixed income and equity asset classes. He has also served as a judge for the IR Impact Awards – South East Asia for several years.
Prior to joining Lombard Odier, Lee was a senior portfolio manager at Bank of Singapore, an equity research analyst at Deutsche Bank, as well as a portfolio manager at several hedge funds. Joshua was also a director in Equinix, one of the world’s largest independent data center companies.
Lee holds a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Accountancy with a second major in Law from Singapore Management University. He is also a CFA charterholder, a Fellow Chartered Accountant of Singapore and an ASEAN CPA..
Stefanie Mollin is an independent global portfolio manager based in London. She has over 25 years of experience across several financial institutions including GIB Asset Management, Allianz Global Investors, JP Morgan-Cazenove, Société Générale, ING-Barings, San Paolo-IMI and Oppenheimer. She also served as a judge for the IR Impact Awards – Europe.
Mollin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania where she was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar. She completed the advanced development program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, is a CFA charter holder and has been awarded the CFA Certificate in Climate Investing and CFA Certificate in ESG Investing. She is also a member of the CFA Climate Change Content working group which she chaired from 2021-2023.
Thad Pollock serves as head of equities, managing the equity research investment team at Mutual of America Capital Management. Prior to joining Mutual of America in 2023, he spent over 20 years as a portfolio manager and analyst at Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, a value investment manager specializing in small to mid capitalization equities. He has served as a judge for the IR Impact Awards – US for several years.
Beginning in 2003, he served as one of the firm’s principle investors first as a senior analyst with responsibility over US small- and mid-cap equity markets as well as new issues and international opportunities. In 2008 he was promoted to vice president with coverage of healthcare, industrials, consumer and business services sectors. He took on additional responsibilities managing equity portfolios beginning in 2008 as portfolio manager managing the Mid-Cap Value and the Small-Mid Cap Value strategies. Over his tenure, the Mid Cap and Small-Mid Cap Value funds ranked in the top quartile or better versus peers, with recognition from The Wall Street Journal and Lipper. He also headed the firm’s sustainable investing efforts over his tenure, including active engagement with portfolio investments. Prior to Cramer Rosenthal, he worked in corporate finance and M&A at Lehman Brothers.
He holds Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and Certified Management Accountant designations. He also holds the FSA Credential from the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board and is a member of the CFA Society of New York. In addition, he served in board and advisory roles for non-profit foundations, private companies and venture capital groups as well as being a panel judge of Accelerate Yale venture competitions.
Pollock is a 2000 graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics. While at Yale he was captain of the Lightweight Crew team, which was the winner of the national championship and Temple Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta.
Tyler Mixter joined Capital Management in 2024 and has 13 years of experience in the financial services industry. Mixter covers the technology, media, telecom and utilities sectors.
Prior to joining Mutual of America, Mixter was most recently a portfolio manager at Douglass Winthrop Advisors, a boutique wealth management firm. Before that, he spent 10 years at Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn as a vice president and senior research analyst covering a variety of different sectors including technology, media, telecom, consumer, industrials, energy and utilities. Prior to Cramer Rosenthal McGlynn, Mixter was an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse in the technology, media and telecom practice.
Mixter is a graduate of Amherst College and received his MBA from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
