AGMs should be a proper opportunity to engage with investors, instead they have become a pointless compliance exercise. Time to look again, says Emma Burdett

So another “AGM season” passes us by with nothing achieved other than a mountain of regulatory work wasting valuable corporate resources. In an ever changing world the conformity of the AGM format over the years is in many ways astonishing. Time has stood still in AGM land, and yet in every other aspect of business life, progress has been immense. How has such a potentially important route to engaging with retail (and indeed all) shareholders been allowed to dwindle into such a useless format that adds little value to anybody and yet still seems to be a ridiculous burden of regulation and work for companies (Investor Relations and Company Secretary) to coordinate.

How can we be at a place where the biggest discussion among the Board ahead of the AGM may be a competition as to who gets the most votes against them and a sweepstake on the length of the AGM – with no one going above five minutes? It’s not just the ludicrous waste of time, money and energy in going ahead with a futile event, but the vast missed opportunity AGM’s have become.

The AGM should allow investors to have a vote on important issues and to provide a proper engagement opportunity. And what........

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