Investor Conferences, Firm Visibility, and Stock Liquidity

We examine the influence of investor conferences on firms' stock liquidity. We find that firms participating in conferences experience a 1.4% to 2.8% increase in stock liquidity compared to non-conference firms. Consistent with investor conferences improving firm visibility, the increase in liquidity is larger for firms with low pre-conference visibility and varies predictably with conference characteristics that affect the ability of investors to revise their beliefs about the firm. However, for firms with a large investor base and high visibility, conference participation is associated with a decline in stock liquidity, consistent with investor conferences exacerbating the information asymmetry among investors