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The wealth manager has been unable to post its annual report and the notice of its annual meeting to all shareholders due to Covid-19.
Quilter plc plans to go ahead with its annual general meeting next month despite logistical issues caused by Covid-19. The wealth manager says it has been unable to post its annual report to many of its shareholders due to the closure of postal services in a number of countries, including South Africa.
Quilter said it was working to deliver copies of the report and the Notice of Meeting as soon as possible and was investigating other steps to deliver those materials to shareholders on its SA register who asked to receive them. It said it would post them to SA shareholders if the South African Post Office re-opened at least six clear days before the AGM, which is scheduled for 14 May. However, it said the Notice of Meeting was available online.
Its board had also agreed that the AGM would meet the legal requirements in the UK but no more. Shareholders could submit questions to its board of directors about the business of the meeting on the AGM hub on its website: quilter.com/agm.
Shareholders are strongly advised not to attend in person and we will keep this under review in light of the advice issued by the UK government,” Quilter said. “We strongly encourage shareholders to appoint a proxy or register a voting instruction in advance of the meeting.”
Meanwhile, given the closure of postal services due to Covid-19, Quilter said it had made special arrangements for odd-lot holders who wished to retain their shares to elect to do so by telephone. It announced the odd-lot offer last month to reduce the number of small shareholders on its register and give them a cost-effective way to sell their shares. It said the move would cost it up to £30m and would likely halve its shareholder numbers.
Shareholders with fewer than 100 shares would be included in the offer to repurchase their stock at a 5% premium to the market price. They would also be entitled to its final dividend provided they still held their shares on the dividend record date on 3 April.
Quilter, previously called Old Mutual Wealth Management, was unbundled and listed on the London Stock Exchange by Old Mutual plc in 2018 as part of the managed separation of its component businesses. Its shares were distributed to Old Mutual shareholders, many of whom were policyholders who received their shares as part of the insurance group’s demutualisation in 1999. Nedbank conducted a similar odd-lot offer in December 2018.
