REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER MISS THE AGM
Many people don’t know the importance of attending, Annual General Meetings, below are reasons why you should never miss the AGM
An annual general meeting (AGM) is a meeting of the general membership of an organization. An organization may conduct its business at the annual general meeting. The business may include electing a board of directors, making important decisions regarding the organization, and informing the members of previous and future activities. At this meeting, the shareholders and partners may receive copies of the company’s accounts, review fiscal information for the past year, and ask any questions regarding the directions the business will take in the future.
You get an unfair advantage on information
By talking to the company’s insiders (CEO, CFO, Chairman, auditors, etc), I get access to a lot of information not yet written in the annual report, any press release or analyst report.
During the meeting, shareholders pose questions to the board in front of other
Shareholders. Usually, the answers given are more politically correct. Post meeting is the best time when shareholders can ask more sensitive questions and, from my personal experience, most management are willing to give you candid answers. As a matter of fact, directors tend to share more sensitive information about their company one-on-one and face-to-face when it wouldn’t be wise for them to share publicly.
You get to find out if management is aligned with your interests
By observing their body language and candor (or lack of), you can tell if the directors are being truthful and ultimately aligned with your interests.
Though observation can be subjective from person to person, it is still better meeting and interacting with the management to get a gut feel for yourself rather than not know at all the people who are supposed to be growing your hard-earned money for you
You get to meet like-minded investors
By talking to other investors, you get to learn fresh perspectives why other investors invest in the same business as you. You might discover new distinctions that might improve your research and analysis as an investor.
Sometimes, if you are really hit it off, they might invite you to their private mastermind group for discussion of investment ideas. You wouldn’t know such a group exists until you get invited to one.
Look management in the eyes
To a large degree, investing in a company involves the placement of trust in the people running the firm. As a shareholder of a company, we are entrusting our capital to the firm’s management team, in the hopes that they would treat us fairly and run the company with integrity.
Attending an AGM allows us to meet a company’s management team face to face and gives us the chance to size them up personally
