Exclusive: IG Group gets some investor pushback to Director pay
FNG Exclusive… After reporting fairly impressive Q1-2021 top-line results, UK online brokerage IG Group (LON:IGG) apparently faced some investor pushback at some of the resolutions put forth at its annual general meeting of shareholders regarding director and executive compensation.
IG Group reported its second best quarter ever (based on Revenues) yesterday, with net trading revenue coming in at £209 million for Q1-2021 which covers calendar June-July-August 2020 – second only to the £260 million IG brought in during Q4-2020. The company saw 201,500 total active clients in Q1-2021, up 50% on the prior year.
However FNG has learned via regulatory filings that IG shareholders, asked to vote on a number of board resolutions later in the day, did not view the good results to be a reason to give the company’s directors a blank check when it comes to compensating themselves and IG’s senior management. While all company proposed resolutions did indeed pass (see below), with most resolutions receiving 99%+ approval, three resolutions stood out for receiving much less than unanimous support:
- the proposed Directors’ Remuneration Policy got just 88.1% approval
- the Directors’ Remuneration Report got 96.2% approval
- authorise the Directors to allot shares – 95.3%
These types of resolutions at company AGMs are usually rubber stamp type deals, so the less-than-unanimous vote totals do indicate that certain institutional shareholders are sending a message to company directors.
We’d also note that this type of shareholder activism seems to be picking up, especially in the UK, and especially when it comes to online trading companies. Earlier this week we reported on similar shareholder opposition to certain board resolutions at IG’s main rival in the UK CFD business, Plus500. That opposition led to the board removing a proposed $1.2 million bonus to company CFO Elad Even-Chen from the shareholder vote list.
Earlier this year, shareholders rejected the Director pay policy put forth by Playtech.
Resolutions put forth at the IG Group AGM yesterday included:
|
RESOLUTIONS |
VOTES |
% |
VOTES |
% |
|
To receive the accounts for the year ended 31 May 2020 and accompanying reports |
311,517,244 |
99.80 |
617,414 |
0.20 |
|
To approve the Directors’ Remuneration Policy |
268,201,211 |
88.10 |
36,220,555 |
11.90 |
|
To approve the Directors’ Remuneration Report |
301,681,032 |
96.19 |
11,955,948 |
3.81 |
|
To declare a final dividend of 30.24 pence per share |
313,656,367 |
99.97 |
81,719 |
0.03 |
|
To re-elect June Felix as a Director |
313,704,758 |
99.99 |
29,942 |
0.01 |
|
To re-elect Sally-Ann Hibberd as a Director |
313,635,411 |
99.97 |
99,042 |
0.03 |
|
To re-elect Malcolm Le May as a Director |
292,421,282 |
93.23 |
21,218,524 |
6.77 |
|
To re-elect Bridget Messer as a Director |
313,699,499 |
99.99 |
35,757 |
0.01 |
|
To re-elect Jonathan Moulds as a Director |
313,589,195 |
99.95 |
144,906 |
0.05 |
|
To re-elect Jim Newman as a Director |
293,754,499 |
93.63 |
19,979,954 |
6.37 |
|
To re-elect Jon Noble as a Director |
313,644,470 |
99.97 |
91,088 |
0.03 |
|
To elect Andrew Didham as a Director |
313,669,349 |
99.98 |
66,209 |
0.02 |
|
To elect Mike McTighe as Director |
313,557,426 |
99.94 |
178,132 |
0.06 |
|
To elect Helen Stevenson as a Director |
313,717,160 |
99.99 |
18,398 |
0.01 |
|
To elect Charlie Rozes as a Director |
312,084,173 |
99.47 |
1,651,385 |
0.53 |
|
To elect Rakesh Bhasin as a Director |
313,669,349 |
99.98 |
66,209 |
0.02 |
|
To re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company |
312,346,329 |
99.94 |
180,463 |
0.06 |
|
To authorise the Audit Committee of the Board to determine the auditors’ remuneration |
313,367,751 |
99.88 |
367,455 |
0.12 |
|
To authorise the Directors to allot shares pursuant to section 551 of the Act |
299,026,644 |
95.30 |
14,732,581 |
4.70 |
|
To disapply the statutory pre-emption rights attaching to shares |
304,443,595 |
99.99 |
17,191 |
0.01 |
|
To disapply the statutory pre-emption rights attaching to shares for the purposes of acquisitions or other capital investments |
295,947,642 |
97.20 |
8,513,143 |
2.80 |
|
To authorise the Company to make market purchases of its own shares |
311,610,195 |
99.37 |
1,975,174 |
0.63 |
|
That a general meeting (other than an AGM) may be called on not less than 14 clear days’ notice |
303,583,891 |
96.76 |
10,152,349 |
3,24 |
|
Relevant Dividends rectification and releases |
311,804,403 |
99.42 |
1,830,024 |
0.58 |
