NEW YORK – Traditional annual general meetings (AGMs) dominated the 2023 AGM season, with 70% of Computershare's US clients opting for an in-person event, according to Computershare’s inaugural US Annual Meetings Report.
The global financial services provider analyzed more than 1,100 AGMs of its US clients and noted that 28% chose to host virtual meetings, with only 2% choosing hybrid.
Computershare also said that most US issuers prefer to host annual meetings mid-week, at or near the start of the workday and during May.
“In-person meetings were as popular this year as they were before the pandemic, suggesting that many of our US clients have returned to a ‘business as usual’ approach,” said Ann Bowering, CEO of Computershare Issuer Services in the US.
“Nevertheless, virtual meetings still appeal to many: Computershare clients in sectors such as funds, travel and telecommunications preferred hosting all or nearly all their meetings virtually in 2023.”
The annual report filings of S&P 100 companies show that the majority (82) chose to hold a fully remote event.
Computershare’s report also found that mail-in paper ballots were the primary choice (63%) for directly registered shareholders voting at Computershare-hosted US AGMs.
The report also found that e-voting — defined as votes cast before the annual meeting via online or through an interactive voice response phone system — accounted for 37% of votes lodged by directly registered shareholders at US Computershare-run issuer meetings in 2023.
Online voting constituted 30%, whereas phone-based voting saw 7% (percentages that had remained largely unchanged from the previous year).
The report is available at https://www.computershare.com/us/insights/2023-annual-meetings-report.
For any media inquiries
Yin Chang-D'Arcy
Public Relations
+1 (201) 680-3464
Yin.Chang-Darcy@computershare.com
Notes
- The 2023 AGM season begins on July 1, 2022, and ends June 30, 2023.
- For high resolution images of spokespeople, visit http://cpu.vg/spokespeople.
About Computershare Limited
Computershare (ASX: CPU) is a global market leader in transfer agency and share registration, employee equity plans, mortgage servicing, proxy solicitation and stakeholder communications. We also specialize in corporate trust and a range of other diversified financial and governance services.
Founded in 1978, Computershare is renowned for its expertise in high integrity data management, high volume transaction processing and reconciliations, payments and stakeholder engagement. Many of the world’s leading organizations use us to streamline and maximize the value of relationships with their investors, employees, creditors and customers.
Computershare is represented in all major financial markets and has over 14,000 employees worldwide.