Banks start to up their game on the virtual AGM circuit
Lloyds and NatWest are holding virtual shareholder engagement events before their AGMs.
29th March 2021 17:12
by Myron Jobson from interactive investor
Lloyds and NatWest are holding virtual shareholder engagement events before their AGMs.
With company AGMs behind closed doors for the second year in a row, in normal times Lloyds (LSE:LLOY) and NatWest (LSE:NWG), would have been among the best attended on the circuit.
Several FTSE 100 companies have set dates for their Annual General Meetings (AGMs) over the past week or so, giving shareholders the chance to plan how they will vote or engage.
The Lloyds AGM is due to be held at the company's Edinburgh offices on 20 May, but, with Covid-19 restrictions still in place, for the first time the company is also holding a virtual shareholder engagement event the week before. NatWest is doing the same a week before its AGM on 28 April.
Lee Wild, Head of Equity Strategy, interactive investor says: “These might seem like small steps, but after a year in which retail investors were locked out of shareholder meetings, Lloyds and Natwest shareholders can now access the same information as institutions before they decide how to vote, and before getting their proxy votes in ahead of the AGMs a week later.
“If you want to put management through their paces, you can prepare by reading the annual reports - Lloyds has been on its website since 12 March and has details of the remuneration package for outgoing CEO Antonio Horta-Osorio (as well as the arrangements for new boss Charlie Nunn, who comes on board in August).”
How to vote
interactive investor is running an ongoing campaign to encourage shareholder engagement.
While there is a very long way to go, interactive investor customers are among the most engaged in the country. They can participate in shareholder votes via their interactive investor accounts.
How interactive investor customers can vote
Customers can switch on the voting service by going into the ‘Personal details & preferences’ section of their account. For those who have switched on the ii voting service, there is a Voting Mailbox in their online account (under ‘account’ at the top-right of the page). Here they will receive notifications for all the UK-listed companies they own shares in. Where available, they will see links to view an event or place a vote.
The other AGM dates announced in recent days by FTSE 100 companies are Aviva (LSE:AV.) (6 May), Admiral (LSE:ADM) (30 April), Pearson (LSE:PSON) (30 April), HSBC (LSE:HSBA) (28 May) and Unilever (LSE:ULVR) (5 May). In the FTSE 250, those announced this week include ITV (LSE:ITV) (29 April), Travis Perkins (LSE:TPK) (27 April), Plus500 (LSE:PLUS) (4 May).
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