This year’s Company Z annual general meeting (AGM) was the first physical meeting I attended since the pandemic. The crowd was huge when I arrived, and it took me 15 minutes of queuing to enter.

When I attended the AGM, I wanted to learn more about the impact of the macroeconomic environment had on the company and the management’s direction forward to handle the challenges. I was also interested in the management’s perspective on interest rates and how they will take the company forward for the rest of the year.

I think the AGM was important as I got to hear first hand from the CEO on his insights into Company Z’s position in the industry and its outlook for the near future.

One highlight was that in July, the The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will disclose the implementation date of the Basel 4 framework for local banks. The CEO mentioned that Company Z is likely to gain from the transition to Basel 4, given the company’s cautious method in calculating capital. With the adoption of Basel 4, this will enable the company to have more leeway in returning capital to its shareholders and the CEO is optimistic that Basel 4 standards will be advantageous for the company.

I believe that AGMs can be more helpful for retail investors with the way that it is conducted, where companies can obtain more funding from SIAS to have a better environment for holding the AGM, or even support with the planning of AGM as it is alot of work. I truly believe that AGM is necessary for shareholders like myself to learn from the leaders before deciding whether we want to put our hard-earned money into the share.