AGM attendance soars as shareholders press for change on ESG
The number of shareholders attending annual general meetings has soared in the past year as shareholders look to hold bosses to account on issues like environmental, social and governance (ESG) and pay issues.
Investors going to annual meetings has jumped 134 per cent in the past 12 months, according to data from over 4,700 global meetings analysed by Lumi, which manages the annual meetings for almost all the FTSE 100.
Analysts at Lumi said engagement at the meetings had also reached record levels with the average number of messages being sent in meetings growing 25 per cent compared to the first half of 2021.
Participation has also been boosted by a wave of shareholders looking to hold bosses to account on issues like ESG and pay, Lumi said.
“One of the key drivers for this new group is that they increasingly want their voices heard,” said Kerry Leighton-Bailey, Director of Shareholder Engagement at Lumi.
“The shareholder voice is louder than ever and we’re seeing the highest levels of participation and engagement we’ve ever seen. In particular, we’re pleased to see more retail shareholders and a wider demographic of younger, engaged investors interested in attending AGMs.”
Just under two thirds of AGMs Lumi hosted were done entirely digitally this year, with under a quarter being “hybrid” events and only 15 per cent being fully in-person events.
“Many shareholders might have been excluded from AGMs in the past by the meeting location, the time of day they’re held or even accessibility issues,” Leighton-Bailey said.
“Once you take away the barriers of how people get there, we’re seeing AGMs open up to an even wider demographic that is keen to participate.”