An equity manager's busy autumn
Danske Invest experts are currently travelling the world in search of the best long-term investments.
For Lars Thørs, responsible for European and Global equities at Danske Invest, things are getting busy. Autumn is a busy time for him and his team, given that the next few months could have the most impact on which global equities will be bought up and sold off by investors worldwide.
Autumn is the peak season for industry conferences and quoted companies’ capital markets days. Equity analysts and investors will be travelling far and wide to investigate which companies will prove to be the best investments in future.
“Industry conferences and capital markets days play a very important role in helping us select the best long-term investments. They provide insight and inspiration which one simply can’t obtain by staying at the office,” says Lars Thørs.
He has the overall responsibility for Danske Invest’s European and global equities funds.
“While the knowledge one acquires during these events could subsequently cause you to walk away from a potential investment case, but it could just as easily confirm an interesting case,” he adds.
Forty meetings in five days
Lars Thørs will participate in a conference in Hong Kong, where he will attend more than 40 meetings within five working days.
Emerging markets, with a primary focus on Asia, will be the theme of the conference.
“Several Asian companies will be represented, and some of the most renowned experts in the field will be talking about the markets and macroeconomic situation in Asia,” says Lars Thørs.
Industry conferences and capital markets days will be held across the globe. Capital markets days provide an opportunity for quoted companies to announce their plans for the future, offer some insight into their company's business model and share their vision of the market. Industry conferences bring together many companies within the sector, with experts in the field giving presentations on developments and opportunities, and input provided by other stakeholders.
Both conferences and capital markets days attract a large number of analysts and investors from around the world.
“An industry conference is an opportunity to get new ideas for investments. One gets a sense of what’s going on in the industry: what the way forward is, what you should perhaps steer clear of – furthermore, one gets the opportunity to speak to the greatest experts in the field,” says Lars
Thørs adding:
“Capital markets days provide in-depth insight to what’s going on in a company and a clear view of its future opportunities and challenges.”
Meetings with company management
Typically, both capital markets days and industry conferences provide the opportunity to set up meetings with managers of the companies participating in conferences or hosting a capital markets day.
At the conference in Hong Kong, Lars Thørs will be meeting with both the management of the companies in which he and his team already invest, and with companies currently under consideration. In addition, he has arranged meetings with the management of competing companies and exclusive meetings with a variety of Asia experts.
“Speaking face-to-face with the management gives you a sense about the firm as an investment case. You can get an in depth impression of a company when sitting opposite its management, discussing the company or its competitors. Similarly, you benefit a great deal from talking to industry experts about what’s going on,” says Lars Thørs.
Lars Thørs’s team, consisting of 16 managers and analysts, is set to attend industry conferences and capital markets days over the coming months in locations as diverse as London, Houston, Singapore, New York, Frankfurt and Stockholm.
On their return to Copenhagen, after attending conferences and capital markets days around the world, they face the major task of analysing the information they have gathered.
