June 18, 2025

What Do Good Investor Meeting Notes Look Like?

Meetings with the financial community are the lifeblood of investor relations. Whether they take place one-on-one or in a group setting, via zoom or in person, at a healthcare investor conference or during a deal- or non-deal roadshow, it’s these meetings that provide institutional investors with the confidence to take a position in a biotech’s stock.

Yes, all the static information an investor needs to make an investment decision can be found in a company’s SEC filings and press releases – nevertheless investor meetings provide vital intangibles like management’s confidence, positive body language, personality, and humility, all of which collectively help to build trust.

Institutions that predominantly base investment decisions on fundamental analysis (versus a passive approach utilizing a computer-driven model) rarely move forward without first meeting management and, more often than not, meeting them on multiple occasions.

It’s good practice for public (and private biotechs) to take notes during these meetings, partly as a record of the interaction and partly as a learning tool to improve future engagement.

But who should be taking those notes, what should they include, and what should be done with the notes once written?

Here are seven quick pointers on what makes good investor meeting notes:

1. Good meeting notes start with a quick profile of the investor you’re meeting with.

Before you meet with any investor, your IRO or external investor relations partner should provide you with an investor “summary.”

From this you should be able to discern if the institution is a holder of your stock, and/or what their potential is for holding your stock, documentation of your prior meeting history, and any holdings they have in your peers.

You should also be aware of the investor’s profile – are they a biotech specialist who is likely to do a deep dive into your science and pipeline, or a generalist, investing predominantly on market trends?

Of equal importance is knowing their investment horizon – are they typically short (high-turn/hedge fund) or long (low-turn, mutual or pension fund), and lastly, what are their equity assets under management available for investment? And how much of that is invested in biotech stocks?

Armed with this information you should be able to make the most of your investor meeting.  Afterwards, meeting notes are key to connecting the dots and ultimately providing value from the time you invested.  

2. Notes should be taken by a second company representative, not the person leading the meeting or giving the company presentation.

It’s not practical for the person leading the meeting – usually the CEO or CFO – to also take notes. Their attention should be focused entirely on investor interaction.

Instead, notes should be taken by a second (or third) company representative (usually an IRO or external IR consultant).

Note: it’s best practice to always have at least two company representatives in every investor meeting for reasons I will go into shortly. It’s also important to record who was in the meeting (and also who was invited, but did not attend – to help you discern the wider team at a given institution).

3. Notes are not meant to be a record of everything that was said.

Investor meeting notes should not be considered a transcript of everything that was said in a meeting.

If there is ever a dispute regarding the content of an investor meeting, the collective recollection of your company representatives is what should determine the basis for an official record.

This is why you have at least two representatives – both of whom can talk to (and corroborate) what was and what wasn’t discussed and/or disclosed.

In short, comprehensive notetaking is not the objective. Do not attempt it. You will only end-up creating an inaccurate – and potentially liability-laden – lengthy and unusable document.   

4. Notes will primarily consist of the questions an investor asks.

Good meeting notes record the line of inquiry that an investor pursues; by noting the questions he or she asks of the company.

Over numerous meetings (across various investors), these questions might be added to a biotech’s Q&A document, if they occur frequently enough or are important enough to warrant it.

If a question repeatedly comes up, or something is continuously misunderstood, revisions to the corporate deck – or the associated commentary – may be in order.  

5. Capture any nuggets of information shared by the investor.

Sometimes an investor will volunteer information to you that you are not yet aware of. Perhaps they recently accumulated a position in your stock that they have not yet had to disclose? Or they may offer opinions on which of your analysts they believe does the best job. They may also have suggestions for improvements to your story or insights into which of your development candidates they believe you should be prioritizing or deprioritizing.

This information is vital to you – as company officers with a fiduciary responsibility – and will be far more useful and detailed than the yay or nay votes you get at annual shareholder meetings.

Investors in smaller or individual meetings are also often more open to disclosing what your competitors are saying about you, what market sentiment is like, what bankers are saying, as well as sharing their views on where the market is heading. All of this should be noted.  

6. Meeting notes should include items for follow-up.

If questions are asked that cannot be answered immediately, or if requests for further information – like copies of scientific posters, etc. – are made, noting these and then following up via email, telephone or a subsequent meeting is appropriate.   

7. After the meeting, key information should be entered into the company’s investor relations portal/platform.

Following the conclusion of an investor meeting, a summary of the notes taken should be added to your meeting tracker (preferably on a formal platform such as IR Insight or Ipreo). These notes will inform your investor communications, strengthen your cumulative meeting history, and guide the direction of future investor interactions.