Best AGM Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Derek Windham, HPE
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is no stranger to virtual shareholder AGMs and views them as an exercise that goes beyond merely fulfilling regulatory or governance obligations. As our judges noted, the company has proven to be adept at using technology to make its meeting very accessible.
The company’s AGM is focused on shareholder engagement and allows for interaction with executives and the board. A key feature of this desire to maximize accessibility is enabling investors to ask as many questions as possible and at the time they want to.
In 2021 HPE received more than 200 questions, both before and during the AGM, addressing a range of topics on company strategy, performance, governance, workforce and environmental and social issues. HPE has pledged to answer every question that is submitted.
During the live Q&A segment of the AGM, the company addresses as many questions – both submitted live and in advance – as time allows. At the 2021 AGM, the live Q&A segment ran for 25 minutes with questions answered by the board chair, CEO, CFO and chair of the board’s compensation committee. For questions not tackled during the AGM, answers are posted afterwards on HPE’s annual meeting and proxy website.
Most questions were submitted before the AGM and although there were too many to answer during the Q&A, the team looked for themes that could be addressed, such as around governance and directors, capital allocations, stock repurchases and the status of the business’ transformation.
Derek Windham, vice president, associate general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at HPE, says that when his team began thinking about how to design the AGM, ‘we were thinking of it as a way to reach out to our retail shareholders’.
We were thinking of it as a way to reach out to our retail shareholders
Smaller investors in general have not typically had as much access to senior management as their institutional counterparts, which are often seeking a level of strategic information that’s not easily accessible to retail shareholders, Windham notes.
He says that – in addition to good governance – HPE views its annual meeting as an opportunity to explain its strategy to investors in more straightforward terms as the company evolves.
He also says larger investors that initially questioned the level of participation possible with virtual AGMs, having now learned about the process, give very positive feedback.
Tech-savvy HPE is, of course, filled with technology expertise and its governance team has for years been innovative in its use of tech. Unlike the vast majority of companies, HPE uses a video feed for its annual meetings in an effort to recreate the interaction and feel of an in-person meeting.
‘It’s harder to engage when you only have an audio presentation,’ Windham says. Shareholders can participate in the virtual AGM via mobile phone, tablet or desktop.
The company has also crafted what its awards submission describes as ‘a consistent medium’ through which its shareholders can easily access important information in its proxy statement and on the AGM web page.
This includes presenting its proxy statement, interactive proxy and Form 10K on its AGM platform, informing readers about proposals to be voted on, management’s recommendation and interactive information on its board members, such as their key experience and qualifications.
As the company’s awards submission states: ‘HPE consistently delivers exceptional results via its virtual AGM, engaging its worldwide shareholders in a transparent manner that permits all of them equal access to information, voting and engaging with senior leaders and the board about information that truly matters to its stakeholders.’
