10 questions asked at 2021 Platinum Asset Management AGM
December 11, 2021
Text of 10 questions asked at 2021 Platinum Asset Management AGM.
1. Which of the proxy advisers or independent shareholders specifically raised issues about the CEO's LTI grant and couldn't it have been passed anyway by the Neilson interests. Were the Neilsons not intending to vote on this item?
2. In future years, could Platinum adopt a conventional AGM model where the chair and CEO first deliver formal addresses, after which we move to general Q&A and then deal with each resolution sequentially. Like some other companies, we could then have another session of general questions at the end. One of the problems with the current format is that the CEO's "informal" address is not lodged with the ASX.
3. Could new chair Guy Strapp and founder Kerr Neilson please outline the full history of their relationship. Did they work together at BT? Are they friends? Was a head hunter used for the selection process and were any other candidates considered? Normal best practice in these situations is that a new chair is chosen from someone who has been on the board for at least 2 years. Why didn't this happen at Platinum?
4. Well done for not seeking any funds from the widely rorted JobKeeper scheme when other fund managers such as Pinnacle and Moelis joined in the feeding frenzy and suffered negative publicity. Did we consider applying for JobKeeper and would we have qualified under the rules of the scheme if we did?
5. Given the interesting discussions across a range of topics today, could the chair undertake to make an archived copy of the webcast plus a full transcript of proceedings available on the company's website. Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello, who appreciates the benefit of a parliamentary hansard transcript where MPs don't have to scroll through old videos to find out what was said, made this change last week and had a full transcript of Nine AGM online before the end of the day.
6. Judith Neilson sold 16.6% of the company for $292 million when the shares were near a record low in October. She now owns less than 5%. Was the board or any of the directors aware this was going to happen before it did. Could Kerr Neilson please comment on whether he has any intention of also selling down his stake.
7. Platinum was one of the first fund managers to list on the ASX and is today capitalised at $1.66 billion. Rival fund manager GQG recently listed on the ASX and has a market capitalisation of $5.75 billion. Does Andrew Clifford believes that the availability of rival fund managers on the ASX is contributing to the drag on our share price and why is GQG more than 3 times as valuable as Platinum?
8. We were an early believer and investor in the China story. Could both Kerr Neilson and Andrew Clifford please comment on the risks they currently see from the increasingly belligerent and authoritarian positions being taken by the Chinese Government, including the recent attacks on various billionaires and privately owned sectors of the economy, such as independent education providers.
9. When disclosing the outcome of all resolutions today, will you publicly disclose how many shareholders voted for and against each item, similar to what happens with a scheme of arrangement? This will provide a better gauge of retail shareholder sentiment on all resolutions and was a disclosure initiative recently adopted by Metcash and Southern Cross Media after their AGMs. Could you please also disclose the proxies on resolution 5, seeing it was withdrawn after proxy voting had closed. This is no different to many companies disclosing the proxies on various contingent ESG resolutions, even when the earlier constitutional change resolution is defeated.
10. Did any of the 5 main proxy advisers in the Australian market - ACSI, ASA, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis and ISS - recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions. Has their been a material proxy protest vote against any of today's resolutions? Will you disclose the proxy votes before the debate on today's resolutions so shareholders can ask questions if there have been any protest votes?
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