Between January and May 2022, Computershare managed over 1500 AGMs globally. In Australia, 144 clients held their AGM during this time. The following insights cover these meetings.

  

Meeting format

Companies consider several factors when determining the format of their AGM (in-person, virtual or hybrid), with register size appearing to play a significant role in the decision-making process. Throughout the first half of 2022, companies with less than 20,000 shareholders have been more likely to hold an ’in-person meeting.

In 2022, we’ve seen a 7% increase in the number of hybrid meetings, and an associated reduction in the number of both physical and virtual meetings.


83% of clients chose the same meeting format in 2021 and 2022

97% of our Australian clients used Computershare’s virtual meeting platform to run their meeting. Companies included: Sydney Airport, AusNet services, Cimic Group, Scentre Group, QBE Insurance and AMP


Attendance

  • Largest AGM in mini-peak: Woodside, with 1372 attendees
  • Shareholder attendance for the meetings held during the mini season has remained comparable with 2021
  • For companies that held hybrid meetings, shareholder participation has been primarily online with in-person attendance ranging between 10 and 60 shareholders
  • Companies who experienced a significant event or challenge throughout the year saw a spike in both physical and virtual attendance. For example, due to their merger with BHP Petroleum, Woodside saw a 417% increase in attendance in 2022
  • Two thirds of all in-person meetings had 10 or less attendees and most of our clients did not use an RSVP process to monitor in-person attendee numbers

Shareholder communication

  • Companies have made good use of the legislative changes regarding the Notice of Meeting, with many opting to send a Notice of Access, where a shareholder election for the full notice was not in place
  • The method of collecting shareholder questions prior to the meeting varied by company. Some companies leveraged physical mail packs and included a specific question form, while others used their proxy form or online voting site to gather questions instead
  • Only a small number of companies used an RSVP form in their mail pack to ascertain in-person attendance numbers
  • We recommend including a QR code on your proxy form to make it simple for shareholders to access the voting site and easily lodge their proxy votes


More than 1.9 million proxy forms were distributed

Our focus now turns to the remainder of the year, and helping to set our clients up for AGM success.

Computershare can work with you to achieve positive meeting outcomes by providing expertise, market insights and support throughout the entire meeting process.

To find out how, get in touch with our team today.

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