20052005
The Royal London Annual General Meeting 2005 was held at the Waldorf Hotel in central London on 2nd June 2005.
Following a resolution at an Extraordinary General Meeting in November 2004, this was the first AGM at which members not attending the meeting in person could make their views known by registering a proxy vote.
Over 35,000 Royal London members chose to vote by proxy. The vast majority indicating which way they wanted their proxy to vote (rather than leaving their vote to the discretion of the proxy).
A number of members attended the meeting in person and took the opportunity to question the Board on a number of issues including Group strategy, with profits bonus philosophy and directors’ rewards.
The proxy voting process and entry to the meeting on the day was managed by the independent scrutineers, Electoral Reform Services. To ensure that the vote of members present and the proxies were accurately reflected voting at the meeting ERS provided electronic voting consoles.
All resolutions were carried.
Highlights of the AGM
Hubert Reid, Chairman
Hubert Reid opened the meeting by welcoming members and explaining the voting procedures. An independent company, Electoral Reform Services has overseen the proxy voting and the electronic voting process today.
Corporate Governance
December 2004 saw the publication of the Myners Report on governance in financial mutuals.
We welcome the report and its recommendations, many of which are already in place at Royal London – including fair and accessible voting rights for members.
Good corporate governance is important for the effective management of any business – mutual or plc. Good governance is founded on good communication with members and policyholders. Royal London is determined to lead the way in this respect.
Mike Yardley, Group Chief Executive
With Profits Performance
Across the industry with profits bonuses and payout have been falling for several years. Royal London’s with profit fund produced a return of 12% in 2004. This positive performance was nowhere near enough to compensate for the steep market falls of 1999 to 2003. Royal London payouts continue to exceed the underlying returns the investment portfolio has earned.
A 25-year with profits policy has achieved an annual yield of 9.9%.
New Business
- Royal London increased market share in a number of key market sectors in 2004.
- New life & pensions business in 2004 was £216 m – up 7% on 2003.
- Scottish Life’s pension business grew by 7% to £160 million.
- Bright Grey, the Groups specialist protection business, contributed £18.5 of new business to secure nearly 5% of the IFA market.
- There has been a very positive start to 2005 with life and pension business up 20% on the equivalent period in 2004.
Financial Strength
Only by being financially strong can Royal London be flexible enough to invest to achieve the best returns for policyholders.
On both a statutory valuation and the new realistic valuation basis, Royal London is financially strong. Excess assets over liabilities, on a realistic basis went from £865 million at the end of 2003 to £1.1 billion at the end of 2004 – a rise of 20%.
Our purpose – and reason for being – continues to be focussed on delivering enhanced value to the Royal London Group and to its members.
Hubert Reid announced his intention to step down as Chairman at the end of the year. Mike Yardly thanked Hubert Reid for his support and commitment over the past 9 years - the last 6 of which he has been Chairman of Royal London.
More in-depth extracts from the presentations by Hubert Reid and Mike Yardley can be found here.
| Resolution | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution 1 Receive the 2004 Report & Accounts |
For 33,903 98.3% |
Against 572 1.7% |
| Resolution 2 Approval of report on directors’ remuneration |
For 30,775 90.9% |
Against 3,076 9.1% |
| Resolution 3 Reappointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Auditors at remuneration to be fixed by the directors |
For 33,375 96.9% |
Against 1,080 3.1% |
| Resolution 4 Re-election of Tom Ross (a non-executive director) who is retiring by rotation |
For 32,162 94.3% |
Against 1,930 5.7% |
| Resolution 5 Re-election of Mike Yardley (the Group Chief Executive) who is retiring by rotation |
For 32,072 93.9% |
Against 2,068 6.1% |
| Resolution 6 Special Resolution to approve the adoption of new Articles of Association |
For 31,897 94.4% |
Against 1,887 5.6% |
| Resolution 7 Increase the maximum aggregate amount of directors’ fees/ordinary remuneration which can be paid to £450,000 |
For 23,574 71.3% |
Against 9,489 28.7% |