Investor Conference Season is in Full Swing Thanks to Technology
Each new year kicks off a new season of investment conferences. This year, despite the pandemic, the conference calendar hasn’t thinned at all. The big change, of course, is that most of the large conferences have gone virtual. For example, earlier this month, the Goldman Sachs Global Energy Conference was held online. The J.P. Morgan Annual Health Care Conference was conducted in a virtual setting last week. The JPM conference overlapped in cyberspace with the Sidoti Virtual Investor Conference; investors could actually cherry-pick from each conference’s schedule and attend both. Next week over 2500 investors are registered to participate in a small and Microcap virtual event, as Noble Capital Markets holds their 17th annual investor conference, NobleCon 17.
In past Winters, NobleCon provided a setting where small and microcap companies presented to investors attending in person providing them with an opportunity to discover small companies with above-average potential. The 2021 virtual format has not changed this ability at all. In fact, it may have improved two factors that were limiting to some; time and money. A major benefit of attending a conference online and at no cost is that money and travel are not barriers. Another benefit is there is no wasted time. This is a plus for many institutional investors, family offices, self-directed investors, financial advisors, research analysts, and even presenting companies. They can all cut their travel time to zero minutes and their cost to near-zero dollars. Very little is lost if the event has solid conference planning and a well-orchestrated online platform. Participants cannot physically shake hands, but they can still meet face to face in real-time with the management and presenting companies — in the case of NobleCon17, over 80 companies.
Virtual Conferences Allow Access
When asked about holding a very “different” NobleCon this year, Mark Pinvidic, Noble’s Managing Partner said this about the popularity, “The mix of companies is as good as we’ve ever had at our 16 previous in-person events, and at press time, we had more than 2,350 registered, with a steady flow of investor registrations coming in each hour.” The acceptance and in many cases embracing the virtual format, as witnessed by Pinvidic, is not surprising, it fits a bigger trend toward access. Over the past few years, the financial markets have seen a number of hurdles disappear, reduced barriers that now allow small individual investors access to many of the same benefits of deeper-pocketed investors. These were also quickly embraced and include; no or low-cost trades, stock filtering and charting software, no cost top-tier equity research on sites such as Channelchek, and now a level playing field access to investor conferences and company management teams.
Looking Forward
The improved access (virtual) may again become more difficult next year. It all depends on whether the online formats continue. Despite the benefits to both investors and presenting companies, some transactions will always be more comfortable and therefore more likely when conducted with someone after you’ve been in their presence, when you’ve looked into their eyes, or after you have shared a cocktail. However, online events are not going away. They were rising in popularity before the pandemic. In the coming years, the “new normal” is more likely to see high acceptance for in-person, virtual, and a hybrid of the two.
Paul Hoffman
Managing Editor, Channelchek
Information on Noble Capital Markets Small and MicroCap Conference (NobleCon):
There is no cost for any investor to attend NobleCon17. The full conference agenda, preview videos, the registration link, and the conference book is available on this webpage: NobleCon17 Investor Tools
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