Friday 8 November 2024

Quilter plc

Update Statement with respect to 2024 Annual General Meeting Resolution Vote

At our AGM held on 23 May 2024, resolution 15, which sought authorisation for political donations or expenditure, passed with the requisite majority of votes, however 27.26% of the votes cast were against the resolution.

As we reported following the 2023 AGM, there was a significant difference in voting between the South African and UK share registers on this resolution with 57.19% and 97.36% support respectively. In accordance with provision 4 of the UK Corporate Governance Code, we have continued to directly engage with our largest South African shareholders on this resolution to further understand their views. We believe our South African shareholders now have a better understanding of the purpose of this resolution in the UK however we continue to recognise that in the current South African governance context, any linkage between business and politics is sensitive.

Quilter has not made any political donations and has no intention of undertaking political donations but, in line with other listed UK companies, has sought such authority to avoid any inadvertent breaches of UK company law given the breadth of the applicable provisions.  We understand the importance of continuing dialogue and effective communication with our shareholders to ensure that it is clear that the Board believes that this authority is simply a precautionary measure to ensure that the Company (and its subsidiaries) does not inadvertently breach in the UK, South Africa or anywhere else in the world, UK company law. Similar to the prior year, we will continue to explain clearly the reasons why the Board believe this resolution is an important protection for the Company in the 2025 Notice of Annual General Meeting.

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About Quilter plc:

Quilter plc is a leading provider of financial advice, investments and wealth management, committed to being the UK's best wealth manager for clients and their advisers.

Quilter oversees £116.2 billion in customer investments (as at 30 September 2024).

It has an adviser and customer offering spanning financial advice, investment platforms, multi-asset investment solutions, and discretionary fund management.

The business is comprised of two segments: Affluent and High Net Worth.

Affluent encompasses the financial planning businesses, Quilter Financial Planning, the Quilter Investment Platform and Quilter Investors, the Multi-asset investment solutions business.

High Net Worth includes the discretionary fund management business, Quilter Cheviot, together with Quilter Cheviot Financial Planning.