Ask a Question at AGM

During the Annual General Meeting Shareholders have the right to ask questions of the company’s leadership.

 

In the venue where the AGM is taking place there will be a booth where Shareholders who wish to ask questions will be requested to announce themselves, show proof of their shareholdings.

 

Some companies want Shareholders to fill out a form with their name, the point in the agenda they would like to address, and the question they would like to ask.

 

You need to decide if you want to publicise your question before asking it live in front of the audience.

 

The issue is this: some Companies have at the AGM an army of legal, communication, finance, HR, compensation experts who are present primarily to compose an answer in advance to these questions posed. Though it may appear that the person on the stage answering the question is knowledgeable on the answer, they in fact are just reading the canned answer, composed by an expert in the back office, polished by a communications expert, sanitised by a legal employee, before being beamed forward to the Teleprompter on the stage.

 

SUISHARE is of the opinion that to gain an idea of the competence of company leadership, more spontaneous answers should be elicited. Therefore we would recommend that if asked; DO NOT REVEAL WHAT THE QUESTION IS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASK.

 

Tips on Questions

Be bright and be brief, preferably ask only 1 question at a time.

Though companies allow generally about 5 minutes per question, a good question should be asked in less than 60 seconds. Stay factual and ensure that you know the facts. If you ask 5 questions all at once you will be thanked for your input, and it may happen that the easiest question will be answered and the others sidelined. Ensure that you are allowed to rebut any answer that is not correct. If you need to return to the podium multiple times to ask additional questions, then so be it.