AGM Information • Apr 26, 2022
AGM Information
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(REGISTERED IN GUERNSEY WITH REGISTRATION NUMBER 45241) (THE 'COMPANY')
THIS DOCUMENT IS IMPORTANT AND REQUIRES YOUR IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. If you are in any doubt about the contents of this document, or the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other independent financial adviser who, if you are taking advice in the United Kingdom, is duly authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.
If you have sold or otherwise transferred all of your Ordinary Shares in the Company, you should send this document, together with the accompanying proxy form, at once to the purchaser or transferee or to the bank, stockbroker or other agent through whom the sale or transfer was effected for delivery to the purchaser or transferee.
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NOTICE is hereby given that the AGM of the Company is to be held at Trafalgar Court, Admiral Park, Les Banques, St Peter Port, Guernsey, at 10:00 am on 25 May 2022.
The Board of Directors is mindful of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the AGM. Whilst the travel restrictions to Guernsey have largely been lifted, shareholders are advised to consult the States of Guernsey's latest travel guidance, as linked here. Shareholders are encouraged to submit proxy forms in respect of the AGM as detailed in the Notes to the Notice of AGM and to appoint the Chair of the AGM as their proxy to cast a vote on the shareholder's behalf. All resolutions proposed at the AGM will be by a poll so all proxy votes will be included in the voting at the AGM.
In addition, the Investment Adviser's presentation on the 2021 results is available on the Company's website (https://www.internationalpublicpartnerships.com/). If any shareholder has any additional questions on this presentation, the Report and Accounts or the resolutions being put to this year's AGM, please email your queries to [email protected]. We will endeavour to answer every shareholder question and responses will be posted on the Company's website after the AGM.
"the number of directors shall not be more than seven."
to:
"the number of directors shall not be subject to a maximum number unless otherwise determined by the Company by Ordinary Resolution."
By order of the Board Ocorian Administration (Guernsey) Limited Company Secretary
26 April 2022
PO Box 286 Floor 2, Trafalgar Court Admiral Park Les Banques St Peter Port Guernsey GY1 4LY
Guernsey-registered companies are not obliged to prepare and publish a Directors' Remuneration Report. However, the Company has included details of its Directors' remuneration within the Annual Report and Accounts and an ordinary resolution will be put to shareholders seeking approval of the Directors' remuneration.
The Company's market capitalisation has grown to £2.9 billion (as at 31 December 2021), with commensurate increases in the responsibilities and time commitment of Directors. During 2021, the independent Board members met formally on 28 occasions (see page 71 of the Annual Report) and this level of commitment reflects the complexity, value and volume of the new investment opportunities that the Board reviews and the ever increasing regulatory and compliance obligations on the Company. In March 2022, the Board engaged an independent, external consultant, Condign Board Consulting Ltd, to provide a director fee review. The directors considered the independent fee review and the below fee increases reflect the recommendations presented by Condign Board Consulting Ltd.
Currently, the gross aggregate Directors fees' are limited to £500,000 per annum, as approved at the AGM held in 2017. The total remuneration for 2021 was £389,400. At the AGM the Company will be asking shareholders to approve an increase in this limit to £700,000 which comfortably exceeds the current or proposed levels of remuneration for the Board and allows scope for the appointment of additional directors which is particularly desirable to facilitate future Board succession planning to allow an overlap between the appointment of any new Directors and the retirement of any outgoing Directors. The increase will enable the Company to ensure that the Board remuneration, composition and succession planning can be sustained for the foreseeable future. In making this request the Board feels it appropriate to detail its intention with regard to the fees payable to Directors with effect from 1st January 2022 and they are as follows:
| Position | Current | Future |
|---|---|---|
| Chair | £87,600 | £96,600 |
| Audit & Risk Chair | £59,800 | £69,500 |
| Non-Executive Directors | £46,400 | £53,500 |
| Senior Independent Director1 | £2,000 | £3,600 |
| Risk Sub-Committee Chair1 | £2,000 | £3,100 |
| Management Engagement Committee Chair1 | £2,000 | £3,100 |
| Nomination and Remuneration Committee Chair1 | £2,000 | £3,100 |
| ESG Committee Chair1,2 | £2,000 | £5,100 |
1 These are additional fees payable to directors chairing a committee.
2 The ESG Committee was formed on 22 March 2021.
The Chair of the Board is paid a higher fee in recognition of additional responsibilities, as are the Chairs of all the Committees of the Board and the Senior Independent Director.
In accordance with the AIC Code, the Board have resolved that all Directors shall offer themselves for re-election on an annual basis. Further, when and if any director shall have been in office (or on re-election would at the end of that term of office) for more than nine years the Company will consider further whether there is a risk that such a director might reasonably be deemed to have lost independence through such long service.
This resolution renews the power, given by the Company's shareholders at the last AGM, for the Board to offer shareholders the right to elect to receive further Ordinary Shares, credited as fully paid, instead of cash in respect of all or any part of any dividend (a scrip dividend). The Board believes that the ability for shareholders to receive future dividends from the Company wholly or partly in the form of new ordinary shares in the Company will be advantageous for the Company as it will benefit from the ability to retain cash which would otherwise be paid as dividends. It may also benefit certain shareholders depending on their tax status.
This resolution renews the share buy-back authority that was given by the Company's shareholders at last year's AGM. Resolution 15 gives the Board authority to make market purchases of the Company's own shares, up to 14.99 per cent of the Company's issued share capital (as at the time immediately following the passing of the resolution) and subject to minimum and maximum purchase prices. This authority will only be invoked if, after taking proper advice, the Directors consider that benefits will accrue to shareholders generally.
This resolution, a standard resolution for investment companies listed under Chapter 15 of the UK Listing Rules, renews the authority given to the Board at last year's AGM to allot Ordinary Shares for cash without first offering them to existing holders on a pro rata basis. The number of shares allotted must be less than 10 per cent of the number of Ordinary Shares admitted to trading on London Stock Exchange plc's main market for listed securities immediately following the passing of this resolution.
The Board does not currently intend to allot shares under this power other than to take advantage of opportunities in the market as they arise, and only if they believe it would be advantageous to the Company's shareholders to do so. The Board also confirms that no allotment of new shares will be made unless the lowest market offer price of the shares is at least a premium to the latest published net asset value.
This resolution removes the limit on the maximum number of directors. Whilst there is no intention to increase the size of the Board, amending this Article provides the Board with flexibility during its succession planning.
Members are requested to submit their votes in respect of all the resolutions proposed in this Notice of AGM. It is the recommendation of the Board that Members vote in favour of each resolution on the basis that the Board considers their passing to be in the best interests of the members as a whole.
Certain of the Board are also members of the Company, each of whom intends to vote in favour of all resolutions proposed in this Notice of AGM. Their holdings as at the date of this notice are as follows:
| Ordinary | ||
|---|---|---|
| Shares of | Percentage of | |
| 0.01p each | total issued | |
| held | share capital | |
| Julia Bond | 72,444 | < 0.01% |
| Sally-Ann David | 30,303 | <0.01% |
| Giles Frost* | 971,676 | 0.06% |
| Mike Gerrard | 159,179 | < 0.01% |
| Meriel Lenfestey | 9,979 | < 0.01% |
| John Le Poidevin | 160,653 | < 0.01% |
| Claire Whittet** | 76,248 | < 0.01% |
| Stephanie Coxon*** | 0 | 0% |
* Directly and through a wholly-owned company.
** Holds shares through a Retirement Annuity Trust Scheme jointly with Ms Whittet's spouse.
*** Joined the Board on 1 January 2022.
CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy or proxies through the CREST electronic proxy appointment service may do so for the AGM and any adjournment(s) thereof by using the procedures, and to the address, described in the CREST manual (available via www.euroclear.com/CREST) subject to the provisions of the articles of incorporation. 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 (a 'CREST Proxy Instruction') must be properly authenticated in accordance with Euroclear UK and Ireland Limited's ('Euroclear') 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 (ID RA10) by 10:00 am on 23 May 2021. For this purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the time stamp 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 provider(s) should note that Euroclear 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 CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of 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 Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in Regulation 34(1) of the Uncertificated Securities (Guernsey) Regulations, 2009.
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