Last week I posted a survey on the subject of securities lending conferences. I wanted to get a feel for peoples thoughts, views and experiences. I have summarised the results below. There were 28 people that took the time to complete the survey, so while it is not scientifically accurate, I think it is representative of the comments I hear directly from people. Thanks to everyone that took part.
Respondent Locations
People from 11 different countries responded with UK and US each posting 9 answers, 2 from the Netherlands and 1 respondent each from 8 other countries.
How many conferences have you attended in the past two years?
Most people fit into the one conference per annum category, and it seems that the majority will keep it at that level. An equal number plan on attending more conferences in the future as there are people planning on going to fewer events.
Rank in order the reasons why you attend conferences.
People clearly attend conferences for the opportunity to meet and greet counterparties and prospective counterparties. 61% of the respondents looked at general networking opportunities as the top priority in attending conferences. 38% told us that centralised sales and relationship meetings were the main reason they attended. Interestingly, content was important, but not the primary driver for showing up at conferences. I’m not surprised. I’ve always said that you can always get more information about specific subjects directly from one on one meetings than you will find out about at a panel session. However, I firmly believe that the events can be useful for identifying the key issues for the industry. Properly constructed, they can highlight the important topics of the day.
One person made the comment that “filling the diary” is an issue. The feeling is that too many people feel compelled to have a full schedule before getting to a conference and that this reduces the opportunity to have ad-hoc meetings and discussions. I concur with this thought. This conference was one of the best ISLA/RMA conferences I’ve been to, and it has certainly been the least structured for me. The lesson: leave yourself some slots for unplanned meetings.
Prioritise the issues conference organisers should focus on when putting together events.
Approximately 70% of respondents said that keeping abreast of industry trends was their top priority or an important reason for attending conferences. It is therefore not surprising that 58% said that Subject Content was the most important issue for conference planners to think about. Given the current economic environment it is also no shock that the Cost of Attendance was either the top or second most important factor for 76% of attendees, similar to the combined top and second priority score for Subject Content.
Other comments
Some interesting views came from the audience. There was a consistent commentary that people wanted to see a wider range of topics and products covered, rather than updates on the “same old subjects”. There were a couple of recommendations for fewer but more in depth sessions. There is a feeling from these people that a combination of more detailed sessions with more open networking time would be a winner. One of the reasons why some have asked for a different group of speakers is that the major players are often the leading conference contributors but aren’t necessarily representative of the industry as a whole. Virtually everyone that left a comment was positive about the networking aspect of the ISLA/RMA conference with 92% saying that the conference was either Very Good or Satisfactory value for money.
Thanks again to everyone that took the time to respond to the survey. I will take your comments into account when I am contributing to future conferences.
