Good morning. I am Ian MacDonald, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Helia Group Limited. I would like to welcome you to our annual general meeting. It is now 11:00 A.M., and I have been informed that the necessary quorum of shareholders is present at the meeting. I therefore declare the meeting open. Today, we're holding a hybrid AGM. Shareholders attending virtually will be able to view a video broadcast of this meeting, ask a question, and participate through the online platform. The notice of meeting and the virtual meeting online guide, released on ASX and posted on our website on the 29th of March, 2023, set out meeting procedures to enable attendance and participation in this meeting by virtual means. I will take the notice of meeting as read. You can find my address as chairman and the CEO's address on our website.
They were also released to the market prior to the commencement of this meeting. Before I proceed with my address and the formal business of the meeting, I would like to introduce my fellow directors. Gai McGrath, Chairman of the Risk Committee, Andrea Waters, Chairman of the Audit Committee, Duncan West, Chairman of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee, Alistair Muir, Gerd Schenkel, and Leona Murphy. Pauline Blight-Johnston, our Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, is also present at the meeting. Prudence Milne, our General Counsel and Company Secretary, is also present, as is Brady Weisz , our Assistant Company Secretary, who is here to assist with meeting procedures. Julia Gunn, the company's Audit Partner at KPMG for the 2022 year, is Ms.
Gunn is available to answer questions in relation to the conduct of the audit, the auditor's report, the company's accounting policies, and independence of the auditor. I will now explain some process for this meeting. You will be able to ask questions on the result. For shareholders and proxy holders attending the meeting in person, you may raise your hand to ask a question at the relevant time. For shareholders attending online, you'll be able to ask questions and cast your vote once you have registered for an electronic voting card. Please click on the Ask a Question box and follow the prompts. I encourage you to start typing now instead of waiting until later in the meeting. Shareholders attending virtually can also ask a question by phone by dialing 1-800-957-050. To do so, you must enter a unique PIN issued by Link Market Services.
If you don't have a phone PIN and wish to ask a question over the phone, you must call Link on 1-800-990-363 to get a PIN. Although some shareholders are joining us by virtual means, I strongly encourage all shareholders to participate in the meeting. The online platform and phone are now both open for you to submit questions. You can submit questions at any time up to and during question time for the item of business to which your question relates. All questions you submit through the online platform will be placed in a queue, and I will respond to those questions when we reach the relevant part of the meeting. We may aggregate questions if we receive multiple questions on the same topic. If you experience any technical issues using the online platform, please ring the helpline number displayed at the top of the page.
That is 1-800-990-363. If we have any technical issues today, I may need to call a short adjournment, and I will inform you by way of a market announcement. Virtual attendees will be notified by text. I will now update you on the key achievements of the company over the past year. On behalf of my fellow directors, senior management, and our entire management team at Helia, I would like to thank you, our shareholders, for joining us today. It is my privilege to be here as we report on another year of exceptional service to customers and strong financial performance as we pursue our purpose of accelerating financial well-being through homeownership. Helia, as Australia's leading LMI provider, is a critical enabler of the Australian housing market and contributor to our wider economy.
In a year marked by inflation, rising interest rates, and heightened concerns regarding housing accessibility, we have been more motivated than ever to play our part in helping people into homes. I am proud of what we've achieved in 2022 and would like to thank our employees for all your hard work and commitment. I would also like to thank Pauline Blight-Johnston, our CEO, for her leadership and determination to ensure Helia continues to deliver on its purpose and achieve its vision. In the past year, Helia played a pivotal role in supporting Australians by helping over 69,000 people into homes. As at the 31st of December, 2022, we had over 976,000 policies in force, with insurance in force of AUD 277 billion. We are specialists at helping people enter the property market sooner.
We also play an important role in keeping people in their homes through personal difficulties, natural disasters, and other challenges. We understand that many Australian homeowners are experiencing the pressures of inflation, cost of living, and higher interest rates for the first time. Alongside our customers, we helped over 8,000 Australians stay in their homes during times of hardship throughout 2022 by supporting loan deferrals and restructures. Our track record of remaining sensitive to individual circumstances and working closely with lenders to assist borrowers in times of need will remain as a key focus of our business during what we know is a challenging time for so many people and their families. Our community partnerships, while our focus at Helia is on getting people into homes and helping them stay there, we are also committed to addressing needs across the entire ecosystem.
We extend our assistance to organizations that are lifting people out of housing insecurity and homelessness. Helia has continued to support our community partners who all share our purpose and are helping us to extend our reach and make a positive impact for more people. We are honored to be supporting the great work these organizations are doing to provide safe havens to families impacted by domestic violence, address social barriers for homeless and at-risk youth, and support Australians to recover from natural disasters, for example, the impact of widespread flooding in regional New South Wales. We are proud to be an organization that is committed to having a positive impact on the communities we serve. In the past year, we have increased our focus on sustainability, building our understanding and response to the environment, social and governance factors impacting our business.
Our refreshed sustainability strategy is built around three core pillars: driving financial wellbeing and housing accessibility, enhancing the climate resilience of our business, and demonstrating good corporate citizenship. Like our purpose, home ownership is a key theme across our sustainability strategy. We see a particular opportunity for Helia to use our expertise and position in the market to create and advocate for more sustainable and equitable housing solutions. Additionally, we are focused on understanding the transitional and physical impact of climate change on how we operate as a business, supporting and sharing our insights with our lender customers. We acknowledge that we are in the early stages of a long process to develop and grow our ESG approach, and we are committed to taking appropriate, considered, and transparent action in the years ahead.
I am encouraged by the foundations we are building today, which are critical for the sustainable growth, performance, and long-term success of our business. We have a strong and resilient capital position. Our fiscal year 2022 active capital management program returned AUD 369 million of capital to our shareholders through ordinary and special dividends totaling AUD 0.53 per share, fully franked, and an AUD 181 million on-market share buyback, reducing the total number of shares on issue by 15.6%. Despite this sizable return of capital, our fiscal year 2022 Prescribed Capital Amount, or PCA, coverage ratio of 2.2 times, remained above the board's targeted operating range of 1.4-1.6 times due to strong profitability and high levels of cancellations.
On a pro forma basis, allowing 22 full year dividends and full execution of the current AUD 100 million on market share, 1. times. We have a strong history of returning capital to our shareholder, highest Total Shareholder Return amongst our peers since listing. Being committed to ongoing capital management to bring Helia's capital position in line with the board's target capital range, capital range by the end of 2024. In November last year, we welcomed Leona Murphy as a non-executive director to the Helia board to replace David Foster, who, as we announced at our AGM last year, stepped down after five years of service. Leona brings valuable experience to the board with extensive experience in strategy, transformation, and sustainability, which will complement the collective expertise of our current directors.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow directors for their guidance, insight, support, and contribution to our company during an important year in the evolution of our business. Before I hand over to Pauline, I wanted to once again thank you, our shareholders, for your ongoing support. We have a long history, over 55 years, of delivering great outcomes for our people, communities, and for our shareholders. We have a market-leading LMI offering, a committed customer network, and we are actively looking at growth opportunities to leverage or complement our core business. Most importantly, we have an exceptional team of specialists who have a unique understanding of the market in which we operate, the challenges we're facing, but also the untapped opportunity to develop more solutions across the property market, carving out additional long-term value for our business.
I am confident of the future we are building for Helia, and look forward to sharing our success with you. I will now hand over to Pauline.
Thank you, Ian. Good morning, everyone. I'm Pauline Blight-Johnston, Helia's Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. Before I commence, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we're hosting our meeting today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging, and to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people here today. It's wonderful to be here with you today, our shareholders, to celebrate my first in-person meeting since I started in this role three years ago. Let me please extend a warm welcome to all of you who have joined us here today and to those who are joining us virtually. As Ian mentioned earlier, our role and our purpose to accelerate financial wellbeing through homeownership now and for the future has never been more critical.
At our last meeting in November last year, we formally adopted our new name, Helia. This brand transition has served as a valuable opportunity for us to create a new identity. The name Helia, derived from the sun, captures our reliability as a trusted partner and our vision for the future. We're focused on finding new solutions to help the needs of Australia's home buyers, creating brighter outcomes for our people, our customers, and our business. We're all aware that the past year has been characterized by a really challenging housing market. We're seeing new generations of home buyers struggle to close the deposit gap, and with inflation and rising interest rates, the dream of homeownership is slipping further away from reality for many Australians.
I consider it a great privilege to be leading Helia through this period as we leverage the solid financial performance of our business to make a tangible impact on people's lives. In 2022, we helped over 69,000 Australian families into homes. As the leading lender's mortgage insurer in Australia, I'm very proud of Helia's long-standing customer relationships that continue to grow and deepen as we innovate together, of our exceptionally capable team that's so committed to our purpose, and of the delivery of our Enhance, Evolve, and Extend strategy, which will ensure we remain a valued partner for home buyers for years to come. We're well-positioned to meet the challenges of this current environment and to pursue opportunities that will magnify our impact and help us achieve our vision to be the leading choice, a partner of choice for homeownership solutions.
I'm so pleased to share that our customer-focused strategy was instrumental in Helia renewing 4 and securing 2 new exclusive customers in 2022. That represents over 73% of our revenue base. I'm particularly pleased that we've delighted our customers by exceeding service levels 96% of the time, and with an exceptional Net Promoter Score of +77. Our investment in agile transformation and digital capabilities is both improving customer outcomes today and future-proofing our business for the future. We've seen customers respond positively to simplified integrations, a streamlined process, and fast speed to yes. We're showing up as true partners in co-creation and innovation, sharing a commitment to keeping everyday Australians at the heart of what we do.
We know that behind every policy we write, whether for a first home buyer, investor, upgrader, or a refinancer, is a real Australian family for whom we are partnering with our customers to make a difference. This consistent delivery is why 4 of Australia's top 10 lenders choose to partner with Helia to meet the needs of their high loan-to-value customers, and why we're growing both the number and quality of our lender relationships, ultimately creating pathways to homeownership for more Australians and delivering value to you, our shareholders. Turning now to our 2022 financial performance. For the 2022 year, we reported a statutory net profit after tax of AUD 187 million, with an underlying net profit after tax of AUD 288 million, up more than 20% from the previous year.
This was driven by a record underwriting result of AUD 362 million due to an exceptionally low claims environment with negative net claims of AUD 35 million and high Net Earned Premium of AUD 428 million, despite a drop in Gross Written Premium driven by continued high cancellations as well as high gross premiums in previous years. Rising bond yields led to unrealized mark-to-market investment losses and resulted in a statutory profit lower than underlying profit. This higher yield environment has resulted in higher investment returns going forward.
As Ian mentioned, most pleasingly, our 2022 financial performance allowed us to share the benefits with you, our shareholders, by declaring a total of AUD 0.53 per share in fully franked ordinary interim and special dividends. Continuing the themes from 2022, Helia has a solid start to 2023, as we continue to experience a benign claims environment. Our market update earlier this month shared that Gross Written Premium for the first quarter of 2023 is substantially lower than the prior corresponding period, reflecting soft industry new loan commitments, especially in the higher loan-to-value ratio lending, and the impact of the federal government First Home Guarantee Scheme. Net Earned Premium remains high due to previous book year Gross Written Premium, as well as the level of cancellations, which remains elevated. Net Claims Incurred remain negative, reflecting the continuation of low levels of delinquencies and claims incurred.
As we've stated in our recent market update, we do expect claims to increase over the course of 2023 towards long-term average levels. Year-to-date investment income has benefited from unrealized gains due to recent falls in bond yields and higher running yields contributed positively to pro-profitability. As we look towards a period that we expect to be more challenging for homeowners as they adjust to the recent increases in interest rates, our business is well-prepared and our portfolio well-positioned to manage this environment. We stand ready to continue to help Australians secure a home and wherever possible to stay in that home. We look forward to providing a further update around our performance and outlook at our media results in August.
Our financial results and strategic progress are only achieved through the dedication and commitment of our people, and I'd like to take this moment to express my great appreciation to our capable and driven team. Like most businesses, attracting and retaining good people in what remains a competitive market for talent is a key focus for Helia. We look for people who share our purpose, reflect our values, and want to make a genuine impact for Australians. We're working with our teams to create an enhanced employee experience that supports professional development, allows innovation to flourish, and helps our talented people to succeed. We've seen significant improvement in our employee engagement and culture indicators over the course of 2022, reflecting the connection and alignment our people have to our strategy and our shared vision for success.
We're also pleased by the positive response of our people to the increased workplace flexibility, targeted training development programs, and our new all employee share ownership plan rolled out in 2022 that seeks to increase the alignment between our people and you, our shareholders. Once again, thank you to everyone at Helia for your hard work, for supporting our customers, and consistently showing up to deliver on our purpose and contribute to our shared success. Helia's multi-year strategy to enhance and evolve our lender's mortgage insurance offering, while extending into new opportunities to support our people and different stages of their property journey, is progressing well. I'm pleased to share that our efforts to enhance LMI have been recognized externally with Helia receiving innovation awards for our Monthly Premium and Family Assistance products, and more recently for our deposit comparison estimator.
Alongside our core LMI offering, we're actively exploring more solutions for different needs and circumstances along the property journey. Our investment in alternative products and solutions was extended in 2022 to include our strategic partnership with Household Capital, focused on growing the home equity release market and improving access to long-term retirement funding options for Australians. This, alongside our investments in deposit gap funding and digital platforms for distribution, are examples of how we're exploring new ways to diversify our revenue base and secure long-term value for Helia. Looking ahead, our focus is on the continued delivery of our Enhance, Evolve, Extend strategy as we support the growth of existing and new customers, find new ways to support Australians as they create and build home ownership access and value, and deliver long-term value for you, our shareholders. Our strategic plan takes account of the current and future economic environment.
We understand the near-term challenges and flow-on impacts to the housing market and remain well prepared and capitalized to adapt and respond. I'm proud of what we've achieved over the last year to position Helia for the future, and I'm excited by what we can do to deliver for our customers for the next generation of homeowners. Thank you once again to the board, to our leadership team, and to all of our people at Helia for your hard work. Finally, I'd like to thank you, our shareholders, for your trust and support during this exciting period of evolution and opportunity for our business. I'll now hand back to Ian to take us through the formal business of the meeting.
Thank you, Pauline. At this time, I would like to give shareholders an opportunity to ask any general questions they may have. There will be an opportunity for shareholders to ask questions related to each item of business as we come to the relevant part of the meeting. We'll first take questions from those in the room, followed by questions from those using the online platform and over the phone. Shareholders who wish to ask a general question online can submit those questions now. As a reminder, please click on the Ask a Question box, select what your question relates to, type your question, and click Submit Question. Alternatively, you can use your personalized pin to ask a question over the phone. I now invite those shareholders in the room who may like to ask a question to raise their hand.
Okay, I'll now take questions received through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no general questions received through the online platform.
I'll now take any general questions received over the phone.
Chair, we have no questions over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, I will now briefly run through the formalities for casting your vote. Firstly, for shareholders in the room, you will have been issued with an attendance card. Yellow indicates a voting shareholder or proxy holder for the meeting. Blue indicates a non-voting shareholder. Red indicates a visitor, also non-voting. For shareholders attending online, if you did not vote prior to the meeting, you may do so using the online platform. Please click on Get a Voting Card and follow the prompts. Shareholders eligible to vote or their appointed proxies will be able to vote at any time during the meeting by using the electronic voting card on your screen. Live voting on the online platform will close 5 minutes after the meeting has closed. Once voting is closed, all voting cards will automatically be submitted and cannot be changed.
You cannot cast a vote over the phone. Shareholders who are not able to attend the meeting also had the option of casting a direct vote or alternatively appointing a proxy. As a significant number of our shareholders vote by proxy and direct voting, and we have received proxy votes or direct votes in respect of around 69% of our total shares, we consider it appropriate to recognize the votes both of those attending the meeting today and those who have voted by proxy or direct vote. Accordingly, a poll will be called for each resolution. I now declare the poll open. After each resolution has been moved, we will display the proxy and direct votes that have been cast prior to opening up of the meeting to any questions before voting takes place.
Where I, as chairman, have been appointed as proxy with a discretion on how to vote, I intend to vote all such shares in favor of all resolutions. The results of the poll will be declared and released to ASX as soon as possible after the meeting has concluded. There are 6 resolutions to be voted on today. An opportunity will be given to shareholders to ask questions about each of the resolutions. The first item of business is the receipt and consideration of the company's annual financial report, directors report, and auditors report for the year ended 31st of December, 2022. The reports were contained in the 2022 annual report, which was released on ASX and Helia's website on the 24th of February, 2023. Hard copies were sent to those shareholders that requested a hard copy of the annual report.
I will take those reports as read. I welcome questions. Ms. Julia Gunn, our audit partner from KPMG, is available to answer any specific questions you may have about the conduct of the audit. I confirm there have been no questions submitted in writing to the auditor prior to the meeting. I will respond to any questions specifically relating to remuneration when we come to the resolution on the remuneration report. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question to raise their hand. I will now take questions received through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform in relation to this item of business.
Thank you. I will now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Chair, there are no questions over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no. The first resolution relates to the company's Remuneration Report for the financial year ended 31st of December, 2022. The Remuneration Report which forms about the resolution were contained in the explanatory notes that accompanied the Notice of Meeting. Putting the resolution, I would like to advise shareholders that the company will disregard any votes as stated related to Resolution 1 as set out in the Notice of Meeting. The directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote for the resolve appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received in relation to this. Yes, sir.
Sorry. Noah Levy, small shareholder. Just a couple of comments. In the short-term incentive scheme seem pretty easy, putting it bluntly. The long-term incentive scheme, the relative total shareholder return, why not have it as the absolute total shareholder return? Because it's then directly related to the shareholders. They're just two comments that I'd like to make that I don't really agree with in the remuneration.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Let me take the first question regarding the STI and the targets being, perhaps in your words, too easy. How the STI targets are formed is a combination of process the board and the management go through in setting the company's targets. It's not a case of setting STI targets. We start off with a strategic plan, which works into a business plan, and then we get comfortable around where the company is headed or where we think it should be headed over the following 12 months. From that, flows a set of targets which relate to our STI targets, which will then we attach to the executive management. Last year we had a net result against the STI targets of just over 114%.
When you look at the way the STI targets are broken up, it's AUD 60, very important. Half of that, or 30%, is made up of the performance net profit. Second part of that is capital management, which is 15%, and I think shareholders would agree that the capital dividends and the buyback. The third part of that is Gross Written Premium. That's probably the softest part about three strategic, financial metrics. The other 40% is made up of our strategic objectives within the company, and they're about building the company for the future, around retaining customers, around growing customers, around setting the culture of the organization. As a board, we were very rigorous around how we set both the STI targets and how we measure the executive against them.
We're comfortable with where they've landed and I would suggest A suggestion that they are generous wouldn't sit well with the board. We are comfortable where they are. Now on the LTI, your question around relative TSR against TSR. Have I got that right, your question is why it's not relative TSR?
No. Why is it not absolute?
Absolute TSR. We com- As a company, we compete against a range of industry participants for capital. It's we have to judge ourself relative to our competitors for that capital. If we just go absolute, it'll distort, in our view, who our competitors are for the capital which is available to be put into any company. We think the relative TSR is a much richer way of measuring where we're heading. Okay. Any other questions from shareholders on the floor? I'll now take questions through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform in relation to this resolution.
Thank you. I'll now take questions on this item of business over the phone.
Chairman, there are no questions over the phone.
Thank you. There being no more questions, we will move to voting on resolution one. Firstly, for those in the room, the persons entitled to vote on this poll are all shareholders, representatives and attorneys of shareholders and proxy holders who hold yellow cards. On your yellow card is a section titled Poll Voting, which details each of the resolutions being put to this meeting. Please record your vote by placing a mark in the for, against or abstain box against resolution one on each card that you are holding. The barcode on the voting card is personalized you'll be able to vote the number of shares held as at the record date. You must lodge your voting card for your votes to be counted. Please hold onto your card to vote on the next resolution.
Your voting card will be collected after the final resolution has been voted on. For those attending online. To submit a full vote in respect of all of your shares, you vote by clicking either the for, against, or abstain box against resolution one on your electronic voting card. To submit a partial vote, please ensure you are in the Partial Vote tab. You will then be able to enter the number of shares you would like to vote on the resolution. The total amount of votes you are entitled to vote will be listed under each resolution.
If you're a proxy holder and have only directed votes for and/or against, please submit your vote by clicking or marking either the for or against box against Resolution 1. If you're a proxyholder with open votes, you need to click or mark either the For, Against, or Abstain box against Resolution 1 to indicate how you wish to cast any open votes. Where I, as chairman of the meeting, have been appointed as proxy for a member entitled to vote, as detailed in the notice of meeting, I will vote in favor of all resolutions. I will pause briefly while you cast your vote. Thank you. I will now move to Resolution 2, Pauline Blight-Johnston.
Shareholder approval is being sought for all purposes, including Rule 10.14, to grant to the company's CEO and Managing Director, Pauline Blight-Johnston, 547,257 share rights in the company under the Helia Share Rights Plan. Subject to shareholder approval, the share rights will be issued to Ms. Blight-Johnston as soon as practicable following the meeting. The grant of share rights under the Share Rights Plan will allow Ms. Blight-Johnston to obtain. The directors, with Ms. Blight-Johnston's abstaining. I now put resolution 2, the wording for this resolution appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question to raise. I will now take questions received through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform in relation to this resolution.
Thank you. I will now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Chairman, there are no questions over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, we will move to voting on resolution two. The voting instructions are the same as for the previous resolution. Please record your vote by clicking or marking the For, Against, or Abstain box against resolution two on your voting card. Thank you. I will now move to resolution three relating to approval of further possible on-market share buybacks.
Shareholder approval is being sought for the purposes of Section 257C of the Corporations Act 2001, Commonwealth, and for all other purposes to approve the company buying back up to AUD 80 million of the company's issued ordinary shares, representing approximately 23% of the company's issued shares as of the date of the notice of meeting, in the form of one or more on-market share buybacks to be conducted over a period of up to 12 months from the date of the 2023 annual general meeting. While the company seeks the flexibility to buy back up to AUD 80 million of its issued shares, there's no guarantee the company will buy back the full amount.
The company may buy back fewer than 80 million ordinary shares, and the implementation and timing of the buyback program and the actual number of shares acquired will depend on market conditions. This approval is in addition to any shares that have been bought back by the company prior to today's AGM under the on-market buyback announced to the ASX on the 24th of February, 2023, which is being conducted in accordance with the shareholder approval provided at the 2022 AGM. The directors recommend that shareholders vote for the resolution. I now put resolution 3, and the wording for this resolution appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received in relation to this resolution. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question to raise their hand. I'll now take questions received through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform.
Thank you. I'll now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Chair, there are no questions over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, we will move to voting on Resolution 3. The voting instructions are the same as for the previous resolutions. Please record your vote by clicking or marking the For, Against, or Abstain box against Resolution 3 on your voting card. The next 3 resolutions relate to the re-election and election of directors, each of which will be considered in a separate resolution. I now turn to Resolution 4, the re-election of Gai McGrath as a director. Gai was appointed to the Helia board on the 31st of August, 2016, and last re-elected at the 2020 AGM. Gai has over 35 years of financial service experience, specifically in retail banking and wealth management. Gai previously held numerous senior executive positions with the Westpac Group. Gai is also currently a director of Steadfast Group Limited.
She's also the Chairman of BT Funds Management Limited and Humanitix Limited, and a director of Toyota Finance Australia Limited and HBF Health Limited. Gai is the Chairman of our Risk Committee and a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. A brief summary of Gai's experience and qualifications are set out in the notice of meeting. The re-election of Gai is unanimously recommended by all other directors of Helia. I would now like to invite Gai to say a few.
Thank you, Ian. Good morning. My background, as Ian outlined, is in financial services, particularly retail banking. As an executive, I had the opportunity to understand the experience that our customers went through to achieve their dream of home ownership. I joined the Helia board seven years ago because I was, and remain, passionate about helping Australians getting into homes. I remain proud of Helia's important role in helping making housing more accessible for younger generations. I am excited by the new opportunities for Helia to play an important role in end-to-end home ownership, the experience for all Australians. I strive to continue to add significant value to the board as the company pursues new areas of growth. I would appreciate the opportunity to continue as a member of Helia's board on your behalf. Thank you.
Thank you, Gai. I now put resolution 4. The wording for this resolution appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received in relation to this resolution. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question to raise their hand. I'll now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Chair, there are no questions over the phone at this time.
The online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform.
Thank you. The voting instructions are the same as for the previous resolution. Vote by clicking or marking the for, against, or abstain box against resolution 4. Thank you. I now move to resolution 5. Andrea was appointed to the board on the 16th of March, 2020, and elected at the 2020 AGM. Andrea has over 35 years' experience in financial services as an auditor, accountant, and non-executive director. She was a former partner of KPMG until 2012, specializing in financial services audits. Limited, and the Chairman of the Colonial Foundation, and a director of Grant Thornton Australia Limited, Bennelong Funds Management Group, and Citywide Service Solutions Pty Ltd. Committee, and a member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee. A brief summary of Andrea's are set out in the notice of meeting. The re-election of Andrea Waters, is unanimously recommended by all the other directors of Helia.
I would now like to invite Andrea to say a few words.
Thank you, Ian. Good morning, fellow shareholders. It's been a pleasure to be able to serve you over the past three years as a director. I joined the Helia board because I'm passionate about the role that we can play in helping Australians get into the housing market. During this time, I have served as chair of the Audit Committee and sought to bring my deep experience of financial services, insurance, and business more broadly to bear in the many complex judgments and decisions we have had to make. I hope that I have helped to contribute to the strong position that Helia is in today, and if re-elected, I commit to continue to serve in the interests of you, our shareholders, and all Helia's stakeholders. Thank you.
Thanks, Andrea. I now put resolution five. The wording for this resolution appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received in relation to this resolution. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question. Are there any questions from the online platform?
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform.
I'll now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, we will move to voting on Resolution 5. Voting instructions are the same as for the previous resolutions. Please record your vote by clicking or marking the for, against, or abstain box against Resolution 5 on your voting card. Thank you. I now move to Resolution 6, the election of Leona Murphy as a director. Leona was appointed to the board on the 1st of November 2022. Leona is a member of the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee. Ms. Murphy is an experienced senior executive with 25 years' experience in financial services. She has held senior exec roles in ASX-listed organizations, including previously as Chief Strategy Officer at IAG, where she was responsible for corporate strategy development, implementation of a transformation program, and new business development. Leona is an experienced non-executive director of ASX-listed member-based and not-for-profit organizations.
She is currently a Non-Executive Director of Liberty Financial Group Limited and the Chair and President of Royal Automobile Club of Queensland Limited. She's also an advisory board member of the Climate Ready Initiative, an initiative hosted by Griffith University's Climate Action Beacon. A brief summary of Leona's experience and qualifications is set out in the notice of meeting. The election of Leona Murphy is unanimously recommended by all the other directors of Helia. I now ask Leona to say a few words.
Thank you, Ian, and good morning, everybody. I'm pleased to be standing for election for the Helia board today. I joined the Helia board last November, as I feel that I can positively contribute to this next phase of growth and development for the company. As outlined by Ian, I bring more than 25 years' experience in general insurance and financial services, with experience for the accountability and development of strategy, risk management, and large-scale transformation. I've also worked across all aspects of the insurance business value chain. In addition to large-scale corporate experience, I was founding director and chair of the fintech and innovation hub, Stone & Chalk. I have more than 10 years' experience as a board member and director, and I'm very passionate for social impact.
To this end, I was chair of the United Nations Environment Programme Principles for Sustainable Insurance, a mouthful I know, which was a partnership between the global insurance industry and the United Nations, working on sustainability and global resilience to natural perils. This personal interest on creating sustainable businesses and a positive social impact across communities has also seen me recently appointed to the Climate Ready Initiative Advisory Board. I look forward to continuing to work with the Helia board and the executive and creating long-term value for shareholders. Thank you.
Thanks, Leona. I now put Resolution 6, the wording for this resolution appears on your screen, along with the proxy and direct votes received in relation to this resolution. I now invite those shareholders in the room who would like to ask a question to raise their hand. I'll now take questions received through the online platform.
Chairman, there have been no questions received through the online platform.
Thank you. I'll now take questions on this item of business received over the phone.
Chair, there are no questions over the phone at this time.
Thank you. There being no questions, we will move to voting on Resolution 6. The voting instructions are the same as for the previous resolutions. Please record your vote by clicking or marking the for against or abstain box against Resolution 6 on your voting card. Thank you. Is there any other business pertaining to the shareholding that a member wishes to bring before the meeting? If so, please raise your hand, or for those shareholders joining us online, please submit your questions through the Ask a Question box.
Chairman, there is no other business to be brought before the meeting.
Thank you. As there is no other business to be brought before the meeting, at this time, I would like to ask shareholders to finalize and submit their voting cards. Poll results will be released to the market via the market announcements platform and will be available on the Helia website as soon as possible, which is expected to occur later today. Before I close the meeting, I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to holding this meeting. In particular, I wish to thank our General Counsel and Company Secretary, Prudence Milne. I now declare the meeting and poll closed, and thank you for your attendance at the 2023 annual general meeting of Helia Group Limited. I look forward to meeting with you all again, and in the meantime, please stay safe and healthy. Thank you.