AGM Information • Jun 18, 2024
AGM Information
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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the first Annual General Meeting of Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets Trust plc (the "Company") will be held at 10.00 a.m. on Tuesday, 16 July 2024 at the offices of JTC (UK) Limited, The Scalpel, 18th Floor, 52 Lime Street, London EC3M 7AF (the "Annual General Meeting" or "AGM") for the transaction of the following business.
To consider and, if thought fit, pass the following resolutions, of which resolutions 1 to 10 (inclusive) are proposed as ordinary resolutions and resolutions 11 to 13 (inclusive) are proposed as special resolutions:
Special Business, including the grant of authority to issue ordinary shares (resolution 10), the dis-application of pre-emption rights (resolution 11), the grant of authority to re-purchase ordinary shares (resolution 12) and the grant of authority to call a General Meeting on 14 clear days' notice (resolution 13).
any time prior to the expiry of such authority, make an offer or enter into an agreement which would or might require the allotment of shares in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if such authority had not expired, and the Directors may allot the relevant shares in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if such authority had not expired;
| 13. That a general meeting of the Company other than an Annual General Meeting may be called on not less than General Meeting after the date of the passing of this resolution. Susan Fadil For and on behalf of JTC (UK) Limited Company Secretary 17 June 2024 18th Floor, The Scalpel, 52 Lime Street, London, |
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| 14 clear days' notice, provided that this authority shall expire at the conclusion of the Company's next Annual | |
| United Kingdom, EC3M 7AF | |
To change your proxy instructions, you may return a new proxy appointment as set out above. Where you have appointed a proxy using the hard copy Form of Proxy and would like to change the instructions using another hard copy Form of Proxy, please contact Computershare. The deadline for receipt of proxy appointments (see above) also applies in relation to amended instructions. Where two or more valid separate appointments of proxy are received in respect of the same share in respect of the same meeting, the one which is last received shall be treated as replacing and revoking the other or others.

Your main point of contact in terms of your investment in the Company remains the Relevant Member (or perhaps your custodian or broker) and you should continue to contact them (and not the Company) regarding any changes or queries relating to your personal details and your interest in the Company (including any administrative matters). The only exception to this is where the Company expressly requests a response from you.
(g) CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so by using the procedures described in the CREST manual (available via www.euroclear.com). CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those CREST members who have appointed a voting service provider(s), should refer to their CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf.
In order for a proxy appointment or instruction made using the CREST service to be valid, the appropriate CREST message ("CREST Proxy Instruction") must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK & International Limited's ("EUI") specifications and must contain the information required for such instructions, as described in the CREST manual. The message, regardless of whether it constitutes the appointment of a proxy or an amendment to the instruction given to a previously appointed proxy must, in order to be valid, be transmitted so as to be received by the issuer's agent Computershare Investor Services PLC (under CREST ID number 3RA50), no later than 10.00 a.m. on 12 July 2024, or, if the Annual General Meeting is adjourned, not less than 48 hours (excluding any part of a day which is not a working day) prior to the adjourned meeting.
For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied to the message by the CREST applications host) from which the issuer's agent is able to retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
After this time any change of instructions to proxies appointed through CREST should be communicated to the appointee through other means. CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should note that EUI does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages. Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service provider(s), to procure that his or her CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by the CREST system by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service provider(s) are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings. The Group may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.
If you are an institutional investor, you may be able to appoint a proxy electronically via the Proxymity platform, a process which has been agreed by the Company and approved by the registrar. For further information regarding Proxymity, please go to www.proxymity.io. Your proxy must be lodged by 10.00 a.m. on 12 July 2024 in order to be considered valid. Before you can appoint a proxy via this process you will need to have agreed to Proxymity's associated terms and conditions. It is important that you read these carefully as you will be bound by them and they will govern the electronic appointment of your proxy.
(k) A vote withheld is not a vote in law, which means that the vote will not be counted in the calculation of votes for or against the resolution. If no voting indication is given, the proxy will vote or abstain from voting at his or her discretion. The proxy will vote (or abstain from voting) as he or she thinks fit in relation to any other matter which is put before the Annual General Meeting.

Resolutions 1 to 10 (inclusive) will be proposed as ordinary resolutions, which require more than 50% of the votes cast in order to be passed.
The Companies Act requires the directors of a public company to lay before the company in general meeting copies of the annual report, directors' reports and its auditor's report in respect of each financial year. These are contained in the Company's annual report and financial statements for the financial period ended 31 March 2024 (the "2024 Annual Report"). Accordingly, a resolution to receive the 2024 Annual Report is included as an ordinary resolution.
The Directors' remuneration report (other than the part containing the Directors' remuneration policy) can be found on pages 53 to 57 of the 2024 Annual Report and is subject to an advisory vote by Shareholders, which is proposed as an ordinary resolution. It details the payments that have been made to Directors during the year, in accordance with the remuneration policy that is being put to Shareholders for approval in resolution 3. The remuneration report will be presented to Shareholders on an annual basis.
The Board is required to put forward for Shareholder approval at its first AGM, and on a triennial basis thereafter, a remuneration policy. Accordingly, the remuneration policy as can be found at page 53 of the 2024 Annual Report is being proposed to Shareholders via an ordinary resolution. If the requisite Shareholder approval is obtained, the provisions set out in the remuneration policy will apply from the date of the Annual General Meeting and would next be submitted for Shareholder approval at the Company's upcoming AGM in 2027.
Resolution 4 relates to the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's Auditor to hold office until the conclusion of the next general meeting of the Company at which the accounts and reports of the Directors and Auditor are laid. This resolution is recommended by the Company's Audit Committee and endorsed by the Board. Accordingly, it is proposed, as an ordinary resolution, to appoint Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's Auditor. Resolution 5 authorises the Directors, upon recommendation from the Company's Audit Committee, to fix the Auditor's remuneration.
The Directors note that no non-audit services were provided to the Company for the period ended 31 March 2024.
The Company's articles of association (the "Articles") specify that at each annual general meeting, there shall retire from office any Director who shall have been a Director at each of the two preceding annual general meetings and who was not appointed or re-elected by the Company in General Meeting at, or since, either such Annual General Meeting. However, to comply with good governance practice each Director will retire from office at the Company's first Annual General Meeting and be subject to election by Shareholders. Thereafter, each Director will also be subject to annual re-election by Shareholders.
Accordingly, each of the existing Directors will retire from office with effect from the conclusion of this Annual General Meeting and Martin Shenfield, Howard Pearce and Tanit Curry will stand for election by the Shareholders.
Biographies of each member of the Board standing for election can be found on pages 37 and 38 of the 2024 Annual Report.
The Directors believe that the Board has an appropriate balance of skills, experience, independence and knowledge of the Company and the sector in which it operates to enable it to provide effective strategic leadership and proper guidance of the Company. The Board confirms that, following the evaluation process set out in the Corporate Governance Report on page 43 of the 2024 Annual Report, the performance of each of the Directors is, and continues to be, effective and demonstrates their respective commitment to the role. The Board believes, therefore, that it is in the interests of Shareholders that Martin Shenfield, Howard Pearce and Tanit Curry be elected.
Resolution 9 concerns the approval of the Company's dividend policy which is to manage the Company's affairs to achieve Shareholder returns primarily through capital growth rather than income. Any income derived from the Company's operations would normally, in the first instance, be used to cover operating expenses. Therefore, it should not be expected that the Company will pay a significant annual dividend, if any.
Regulation 19 of the Investment Trust (Approved Company) (Tax) Regulations 2011 provides that, subject to certain exceptions, an investment trust may not retain more than 15% of its income (as calculated for tax purposes) in respect of each accounting period. Accordingly, the Company may declare an annual dividend from time to time for the purpose of seeking to maintain its status as an investment trust.
This resolution deals with the Directors authority (in addition to any existing authorities) to allot Ordinary Shares generally and unconditionally in accordance with section 551 of the Companies Act up to an aggregate of 6,566,359 Ordinary Shares of £0.01 each in the capital of the Company (equivalent to 20% of the Ordinary Shares in issue at the date of this notice of Annual General Meeting), such authority to expire (unless previously varied, revoked or renewed by the Company in general meeting) at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2025 or, if earlier, on the expiry of 15 months from the passing of this resolution.
Resolution 10 along with Special Resolution 11 as described below, intends to authorise the Board to allot shares in the capital of the Company and to grant rights to subscribe to, or to convert any security into shares on a non-preemptive basis.
Resolutions 11 to 13 (inclusive) will be proposed as special resolutions, which require a majority of at least 75% to be passed.
This resolution seeks to provide the Directors with the power (in addition to any existing power) to allot Ordinary Shares and to sell Ordinary Shares from treasury for cash pursuant to the authority referred to in Resolution 10 above on a non-pre-emptive basis, such power to expire (unless previously varied, revoked or renewed by the Company in general meeting) at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held in 2025 or, if earlier, on the expiry of 15 months from the passing of this resolution.
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This resolution seeks authority for the Company to make market purchases of its own Ordinary Shares and is proposed as a special resolution. If passed, the resolution gives authority for the Company to purchase up to 4,921,486 of its Ordinary Shares, being approximately 14.99% of the Company's issued Ordinary Share capital as at 12 June 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice).
The resolution specifies the minimum and maximum prices which may be paid for any Ordinary Shares purchased under this authority. The authority will expire on the earlier of 15 months from the passing of the resolution and the Company's next annual general meeting.
The Directors believe that it is prudent to obtain the flexibility that this resolution provides; and will only exercise the authority to purchase Ordinary Shares where they consider that such purchases will be in the best interests of Shareholders generally and will result in an increase in earnings per Ordinary Share.
The Company may either cancel any Ordinary Shares it purchases under this authority or transfer them into treasury (and subsequently sell or transfer them out of treasury or cancel them). The Directors currently intend to cancel all shares purchased under this authority.
As at 12 June 2024, there are no outstanding options or warrants to subscribe for Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company.
Resolution 13 is to be proposed as a special resolution to allow the Company to hold general meetings (other than annual general meetings) on at least 14 clear days' notice.
The minimum notice period for general meetings of listed companies is 21 clear days, but companies may reduce this period to 14 days (other than for annual general meetings) provided that two conditions are met. The first condition is that the Company offers a facility for Shareholders to vote by electronic means. This condition is met if the Company offers a facility, accessible to all Shareholders, to appoint a proxy by means of a website. The second condition is that there is an annual resolution of Shareholders approving the reduction of the minimum notice period from 21 clear days to 14 clear days.
If approved, the resolution will be effective until the end of the Company's next Annual General Meeting, when it is intended that the approval be renewed. The Board will consider on a case-by-case basis whether the use of the flexibility offered by the shorter notice period is merited, taking into account the circumstances, including whether the business of the meeting is time sensitive.
The Board is of the opinion that all resolutions being proposed at the upcoming Annual General Meeting are in the best interests of the Company and its Shareholders and therefore unanimously recommends that you vote in favour of resolutions 1 to 13 (inclusive).
The Directors intend to vote in favour of these resolutions in respect of all shares in respect of which they have voting control, which amount in aggregate to 80,000 Ordinary Shares representing approximately 0.24% of the existing
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issued Ordinary Share capital of the Company as at 12 June 2024 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this Notice).
Shareholders are strongly advised to vote on the resolutions to be proposed at the Annual General Meeting in advance. To do this, you can appoint a proxy by using one of the methods set out in the notes to the Notice of Annual General Meeting on pages 104 to 107 of this document.
Shareholders who hold their shares through an investment platform or other nominee service are encouraged to contact their investment platform provider or nominee as soon as possible to arrange for votes to be lodged on their behalf.
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