Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (the Society )

Transcription

1 Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited (the Society ) Minutes of the Annual General Meeting ( AGM ) held at the Hilton Hotel, Bournemouth on Tuesday 20 June 2017 at 3.00 pm Present: Mark Austen Richard Rowney James Dean Alan Cook Caroline Burton Philip Moore Stephen Treloar David Neave David Barral Rachel Small Members of the Society i Members of staff Chairman & CEO & Senior Independent & Chair Designate Group Company Secretary ( Members ) Apologies: Cath Keers Ref Minute Action By Introduction The Secretary welcomed everyone to the meeting and declared that a quorum was present. She explained that the meeting would first hear from the Chairman, following which the CEO, Mr Rowney, would open the floor to questions Chairman s Review The Chairman welcomed the Members to the meeting, which he noted was the 176 th AGM of the Society Key Highlights The Chairman highlighted the 159m operating profit (pre Ogden), but remarked that operating profit had been heavily affected by the impact of the reduction in the Ogden discount rate which had hit the insurance industry and also, more importantly, the NHS. A 17m Mutual Bonus has been paid for 2016, which was down from The capital coverage ratio under Solvency II was adequate at 140m. Employee engagement, at 83%, remained best in class, and a healthy return of 14.5% on the With-Profits Fund had been achieved, albeit 1% below the benchmark. General Insurance The General Insurance business had increased its gross

2 written premiums to 1.58 billion with policies in-force increasing by over 250,000 to 5m. The business had continued rebalancing its policies across motor, home, travel and breakdown insurance. LV= had also achieved the coveted award of Insurance Provider of the Year from Which? Magazine Life and Heritage Business The Life business had improved profitability by 10% on 2015 with an operating profit of 45m and highest ever sale of 1.94 billion. The Life business had continued the trend, which had begun in 2015, towards blended solutions, especially within Retirement Solutions. The Life business had also garnered a number of prestigious awards, including, Most Trusted Life Insurer and Most Trusted Insurer, at the Moneywise Customer Service Awards. The Heritage business, consisting of 651,000 policies, had made an operating loss of 35m, largely driven by adverse model and valuation changes. Leadership Changes The Chairman reminded the meeting that Richard Rowney had been appointed by the Board as CEO in July, succeeding Mike Rogers. As the internal candidate and former Life MD Mr Rowney had provided continuity of leadership. Andy Parsons had joined the Society only the previous week from Lloyds Bank and was due to succeed Philip Moore as Group Finance, after a handover period. Finally, he welcomed Alan Cook, who had joined the Board in January as Chairman Designate and would become the new Chairman following the conclusion of the AGM. The Future The Chairman shared the Society s Blueprint, its core purpose strategy and business model which, he promised, would translate into tangible action. Concluding Remarks The Chairman concluded and commented on the Society s outlook. This included both challenges and opportunities the former including various economic uncertainties, such as inflation, as well as uncertainty over the government s policies on personal injury claims, notably whiplash, as well as the possibility of further Ogden discount rate reform. This was offset by opportunities, including continued pricing improvement in motor insurance, developments and innovations in technology and the strength of the brand and reputation for customer service, in particular that provided by the call centres.

3 Questions and Answers led by Richard Rowney Mr Rowney invited questions from the floor. A Member asked, if interest rates were to finally increase, would the bonus rates be adjusted. He suggested the Bank of England may soon follow the US Federal Reserve Bank s lead on interest rates. Mr Moore answered and clarified that he assumed the questioner meant the Mutual Bonus, as opposed to product final bonuses, and explained that the Mutual Bonus was driven by the levels of profits and surplus capital. If these increased then this could see a return to the previous levels of Mutual Bonus. A second question was raised as to whether the Board, in considering the successor to Mr Austen as Chairman, had considered any of the existing non-executive directors to fulfil the position, rather than Mr Cook. The Chairman answered in the affirmative; some internal expressions of interest had been received for the position, however the Board had felt it was better, in this instance, to recruit from outside the Board. A third question from the Members was whether the Society had set itself any ecological targets and, if not, the reasons why. Mr Rowney addressed this question, referring to the 2016 Report and Accounts for the Society s environmental credentials and cited the use of renewable energy and reduction in paper usage as examples. He confirmed the Board took its obligations to both the environment and community very seriously, but admitted that this was not up there at the top of its priorities Resolutions The Secretary explained the voting procedure that would be followed; each Resolution would be put to a show of hands and a poll would only be taken if any vote in the room was at variance with the proxy vote. The Secretary put each of the Resolutions, as set out in the notice of the AGM, to the Members. Each Resolution was approved by a show of hands. The Chairman confirmed that the show of hands was consistent with the proxy vote and, for information purposes only, reported that the proportion of proxy votes in favour of each Resolution was: No. Resolution In Against Abstentions

4 1 To receive the 2016 Report and Accounts 2 To appoint Alan Cook as a director (and Chairman) for a initial term of 1 year 3 To re-appoint David Neave as a director for a 4 To re-appoint Richard Rowney as a director for a 5 To re-appoint Philip Moore as a director for an 6 To approve the 2016 s Remuneration Report 7 To re-appoint PricewaterhouseC oopers LLP as the Society s auditor until the end of the next AGM Favour 98.88% 1.12% 1, % 1.82% % 2.03% % 2.07% % 2.09% % 5.65% 1, % 3.01% Closing The Chairman reiterated that he would, at the close of the meeting, be retiring from the Board as its Chairman, and a director, after 11 years, and that it had been a privilege beyond words to have served as Chairman. He likened the Chairmanship to looking after an exclusive watch, that he was merely keeping it safe to pass onto the next generation. However, he also hoped that he had left the Society stronger and more valuable to its Members. Mr Cook thanked Mr Austen and stated that it was a great pleasure to be the new Chairman and something he was very much looking forward to. The Chairman declared the meeting closed at 3.22 pm.

5 . Chairman Glossary of Abbreviations/Terms Used in Minutes Board: the board of the Society LV=: The Society and its group companies Resolution(s): the ordinary resolution(s) proposed to the Members Solvency II : The EU capital regime for insurers i The meeting was attended in person by 45 members