I was just reading an interesting story from the Anora thread about their annual general meeting (AGM), and it sparked the idea that there would be a place on the forums for a thread discussing AGMs as public events. Now that the AGM season is coming to an end, we could collectively recall the best or at least the most memorable experiences from AGMs this year, and why not from years past.
I would now gladly hear other forum members’ experiences from AGMs, freely or for example through the following topics:
- Which company’s AGMs are the best?
- Where are the best refreshments?
- What is your most memorable AGM experience?
I haven’t really attended many AGMs myself and cannot yet answer these questions. I did go to this year’s Fortum AGM to observe, and I came to the conclusion that more buzzing around at AGMs is in store, as long as my schedule allows it.
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For a working person, the challenge is the start time of meetings, which is often in the middle of the day. Points to Inderes for starting the shareholder meeting at 5 PM, so even a worker could make it.
Many meetings of small companies have been quite useless in my experience. Nothing new has come out, and it almost causes confusion among company representatives that some small investor shows up. The catering has been at the level of coffee and a pastry from the bake-off section.
In larger companies, the catering is better, but I wouldn’t bother to attend a meeting just for coffee and a piece of cake. At least Olvi and Noho distribute good real dividends.
I have never experienced anything revolutionary at a meeting, but it is a good opportunity to ask the company’s management questions that concern you and possibly get to know the company you own better.
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Good points. The challenge caused by the schedule was clearly visible in Fortum’s general meeting as well, where the average age was quite high. Of course, pensioners generally have more time and interest in participating in such events than the average person.
In general meetings, I think one can test the waters a bit with questions – how ready the CEO or the company’s management is to answer even challenging questions, and what kind of expertise these specific individuals possess.
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My annual general meeting (AGM) season kicked off yesterday with Fondia’s AGM. The meeting was held at the company’s office, and there were probably about fifty shareholders present. Fondia’s office was quite different from what one is used to in other large law firms. The office was noticeably more vibrant and “bolder” than its counterparts - certainly a conscious branding choice.
The AGM itself had a warm atmosphere, and the CEO’s review, presented by @timolappi, was quite informal compared to the “usual,” but the presentation was excellent, and the essential points were made clear. I was a bit bothered by how the CEO got to tell the AGM audience about his Ironman achievement. This caused a feeling of envy because I haven’t reached that level yet, and I can’t figure out where I’ll find a similar audience to tell about my own tough achievement when I eventually rise to that level. Perhaps at some future Fondia AGM, I could casually mention it when exercising my right as a shareholder to ask questions.
The AGM was followed by Fondia’s Open House event, before which I got to enjoy even better real dividends than the initial coffee service. There were two speakers at the Open House. First was Risto EJ Penttilä’s presentation, which pondered the geopolitical situation through potential scenarios - very interesting. This was followed by a rather humorous presentation by Claude Sonnet 4.6 (speaker @Juha_Kinnunen) on how artificial intelligence will change the legal field.
Fondia’s AGM gets a strong recommendation from me. I hope to be able to attend next year as well.
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