In this edition

On 20 March 2020, in response to the challenge of conducting meetings during a pandemic, ASIC issued guidelines to support companies with upcoming AGMs. Subsequently on 6 May 2020, temporary modifications to the Corporations Act 2001 came into effect, enabling companies to hold meetings using virtual technology.

The virtual format enabled companies to provide a safe environment to conduct their meetings. In this edition we observed some fascinating trends during the 2020 season. These changes have challenged traditional thinking on how to manage shareholder meetings. The adoption of electronic communications and new technologies for holding meetings, has been positively received by shareholders, company directors and other industry stakeholders.

In 2021, Link Group expects broad support for a more permanent set of reforms for virtual meetings and the electronic delivery of investor communications.

We hope you enjoy the insights from our Meetings Services team at Link Group.

Voting Voting Read more   Since its inception, online voting volumes have increased steadily each year but have never outperformed paper votes. However in 2020 we saw a change with online votes exceeding paper votes for the first time. Polling and Attendance Polling and Attendance Read more   As a result of the 225 virtual AGMs held for listed entities, polling was high across all indices - 100% in the S&P/ASX100 & 200 and 97.66% in the S&P/ASX201+. Shareholder Interaction Shareholder Interaction Read more   The number of clients offering questions increased in all indices. These questions provide our clients an insight into the topics that may be raised at the AGM and give them a chance to prepare. Remuneration Resolution Remuneration Resolution Read more   This year we looked at the spread of the ‘For' vote for the Remuneration Resolution. Companies in the S&P/ASX 201+ have the most support from their holder base with 78.31% receiving a ‘For' vote of 90%+. Virtual Meeting Stats Virtual Meetings Held Read more   Link Group managed 393 virtual meetings in 2020. 225 of these were AGMs for listed entities. AGM Season Wrap AGM Season Wrap Read more   2020 was a wholly unexpected year, resulting in companies making drastic changes to the way they conducted business and specifically AGMs. Member Meetings Member meetings Read more   In 2019 the Treasury Laws Amendment Bill 2019 set out requirements for superannuation funds to run Annual Member Meetings (AMM). Virtual Meetings Virtual Meetings Read more   In 2020 Link Group supported our clients to meet their regulatory obligations during the Covid-19 pandemic with our proprietary virtual meeting technology, holding fully online and hybrid AGMs for 640 clients globally. We supported 3 clients whose AGMs were ranked in 10 Best AGMs of 2020. Technology Technology Read more   One of the biggest challenges our clients faced in 2020 was how to hold a virtual AGM, and ensure they, their executives and board were all familiar with the technologies available. International AGM Landscape International AGM Landscape Read more   This year we put a spotlight on the AGM landscape in the UK, Germany, India and New Zealand. National Venue List National Venue List Read more   The full list of available national venues are shown here. Organise a venue in your state and join in the conversation, you can even participate online through our virtual meeting platform.