Good morning, and welcome to Suncorp's 2024 annual general meeting. My name is Christine McLoughlin, and as Chairman of the meeting, I'm informed we have around 410 shareholders, proxy holders, and other attendees participating here in Brisbane today and online. So welcome. As a quorum is clearly present, I declare the meeting open. Before I proceed, could I please ask everyone here to ensure that your mobile phone is on silent mode? And please now join me in welcome, welcoming Lyric Ruska to share a Welcome to Country with us. This is the first time that Lyric has joined us at one of our AGMs.
Lyric is a traditional custodian of the Yuggera and Turrbal Tribe of Brisbane and has strong connections to the Nunukul people of North Stradbroke Island and Moreton Bay Islands, the Kombumerri people of the Gold Coast, and the Gubbi Gubbi people of the Sunshine Coast. Lyric has been a part of the Nunukul Yuggera Dance Company since the age of two. He's had the opportunity to perform all over the world, showcasing his culture through song and dance. Please join your Board in making him welcome. Welcome.
[Foreign language] Hello, good morning, everyone. My name is Lyric Ruska. I have family connections to the Yuggera Country through my grandfather, Eddie Ruska, and I'm here today to give you what a welcome is called a Welcome to Country. It is something we have been doing for many years now. This consists of two things: handing over the message stick, which we call Yalawa Buna. It has a marking or carving to give reasons for traveling through other tribes.
Alongside that, we have our smoking ceremonies. We use our Buna, the bloodwood tree, which produces a smoke that is believed to get rid of bad spirits and bad energy. I'm here today to give a formal Welcome to Country. By doing that, I call upon my ancestors to guide you in peace through this land. [Foreign language] It means you are all welcome to gather in this country, and may God and all our ancestors guide us in peace. Thank you.
Thank you, Lyric. Thanks for coming in at the last minute. Thank you very much. Thank you again, Lyric. We very much appreciate you being here with us here today and for that very special welcome. I would also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are gathered here in Brisbane and pay my deep respects to elders past, present, and emerging. I'd now like to introduce Belinda Speirs, our Chief Executive of People, Legal, and Corporate Services, to cover the meeting procedures we'll be using today.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, everyone. For those shareholders and proxy holders who are participating with us at the physical AGM venue in Brisbane and wish to vote, please make sure you can access the LinkVote+ app using the pin on your green attendance card, or that you have a yellow voting paper card. A summary of the direct and proxy votes received prior to the meeting was released on the ASX platform this morning. If you wish to ask a question or make a comment, please move to a seat close to your nearest microphone. If you are unable to move to a microphone, please put your hand up and a team member will assist you at the appropriate time. In the unlikely event of an emergency, please follow the directions provided by the Brisbane Convention Centre staff.
For those shareholders and proxy holders who are joining us online and wish to vote or ask a question, you may be familiar with the platform from our previous AGMs. You also have the opportunity of asking your question via the question and comments phone line that is available during the meeting. To help with the smooth running of the AGM, we invite shareholders and proxy holders who are participating online to submit your questions and comments now. Further details about how to ask questions or make comments using the platform or the phone line are contained in the online AGM guide. You can access the guide through a link at the bottom of your screen or on the Suncorp website.
If you encounter any technical difficulties with the platform at any time during the meeting, please contact the share registry's online AGM support team on one eight hundred double nine zero three six three. This phone number will remain visible on your screen throughout the meeting. In the unlikely event that technical issues prevent the AGM from proceeding as planned, Suncorp will make announcements via the ASX and on our website. I'd now like to briefly cover the meeting procedures that the Chairman will follow today. Firstly, this is a meeting of Suncorp shareholders. As set out in the Notice of Meeting, only shareholders or proxy holders are entitled to vote on the resolutions, ask questions, or make comments. The Chairman will allow a reasonable opportunity to address questions and comments as each item of business is considered.
Please ensure that your question or comment is relevant to an item of business and to shareholders as a whole. We are particularly mindful that we have a large number of resolutions to consider today, so if there are a large number of shareholders who wish to ask questions, the Chairman may consider a question limit to ensure that all interested shareholders have an opportunity to speak. Where there are similar questions, the Chairman will aim to acknowledge those who have those similar questions. However, the Chairman may provide a single response in order to streamline today's proceedings. If you have a matter that you'd like to raise as a customer and you are participating at the physical AGM venue, members of our customer advocate team, and for Suncorp Bank customers, representatives from ANZ are here with us today and will be able to assist you in the foyer.
If you are participating online, please contact our customer relations team using the contact details on the last page of the Notice of Meeting. Any customer-related questions specific to an individual will be referred to our customer relations team for response and will not be addressed during the AGM. Link and Suncorp representatives are also available in the foyer to assist shareholders with any shareholder-related questions that do not relate to the business of today's meeting. When taking questions and comments, the Chairman will first cover a number of relevant questions received prior to the meeting. The Chairman will then invite shareholders and proxy holders participating here at the physical AGM venue to speak. We will then address any questions received through the online platform or phone line. The Chairman will retain full authority to conduct an orderly AGM.
In particular, questions or comments that are offensive in any way will be taken as being out of order and will not be acknowledged at all during or following the meeting. Other offensive or disruptive conduct by those who are participating here in Brisbane will also be taken as being out of order, and the relevant participant will be asked to leave the meeting. If you are voting today and need to leave the AGM early, please remember to submit your voting card before you leave. I'll now hand you back to your Chairman.
Thank you, Belinda, and thank you to those who have already voted or pre-submitted these questions relating to the business to be covered at today's meeting. I would now like to introduce your board of directors, who are all here in Brisbane today. In addition to their significant board experience, each director brings a mix of financial services and other relevant business experience and expertise that enables your board to be effective in governing Suncorp. I'm going to ask my colleagues to stand as I introduce them so that you can see them, given the view from some of the seats. From your left, Gillian Brown. Gillian was appointed as a director by the board in February this year. Over a career spanning nearly forty years, Gillian has developed broad skills and expertise in financial services, law, infrastructure, investments, finance, and ESG initiatives.
Gillian will seek your support to continue as a director through the usual election process later during this meeting, and I will give Gillian an opportunity to address the meeting then. Lindsay Tanner. Lindsay has worked at the highest levels of government and business for almost four decades, and is a recognized authority on corporate governance, economics, and finance. He's a member of the Risk Committee, and also serves on our New Zealand subsidiary boards, and Lindsay is seeking re-election today, so you'll hear from him as well. Sylvia Falzon. Sylvia chairs the Board People and Remuneration Committee, and is a member of the Risk Committee. She brings to Suncorp valuable experience in a range of regulated and customer-facing industry, including financial services, healthcare, retail, and aged care. Sylvia is also seeking re-election today, and so you'll hear from her later in the meeting. Thank you, Sylvia.
Duncan West chairs our Board Risk Committee, and is a member of the Audit Committee. He has forty years of experience in the general insurance, life insurance, banking, and wealth management sectors, both domestically and internationally. Duncan is also seeking re-election today, so you can hear what a busy meeting it's going to be. So you'll get to hear from Duncan as well. Steve Johnston continues to capably lead Suncorp since his appointment as CEO and Managing Director in 2019. I will invite Steve to address you later, and during the meeting, and he will also respond to some of the shareholder questions today. Ian Hammond chairs the Board Audit Committee, and is a member of the Risk Committee. He brings to Suncorp extensive knowledge of the financial services industry, as well as expertise in financial reporting and risk management.
For the purposes of today's AGM, Ian has been appointed Deputy Chairman by the board, and will chair the AGM when my re-election is being considered. Ian will also chair today's meeting in the unforeseen event that I'm unable to continue to chair the meeting for any reason. Sally Herman is Chairman of the Board Customer Committee, and a member of the Risk Committee. Sally has expertise in running retail banking and insurance products, setting strategy for financial services businesses, and working with customers, shareholders, regulators, and government. Elmer Funke Kupper. Elmer has significant financial services experience, as well as experience in navigating demanding regulatory sectors, and transforming business models through the adoption of technology and digital services. He served as CEO of two ASX-listed companies. He's a member of our Board Audit and People and Remuneration Committees. And finally, Simon Machell.
Simon is based in Singapore and serves on a number of international boards. He has deep strategic and operational knowledge of the insurance industry, and brings to Suncorp an international perspective on current industry trends in insurance, together with insights into the risks and opportunities associated with emerging technologies and new business models. He's a member of the Board Customer and People and Remuneration Committee, and you've met Belinda Speirs, who spoke with you earlier. Belinda was recently appointed as the Chief Executive of People, Legal, and Corporate Services in September, after leading the successful execution of the Suncorp Bank sale, which, as all of you know, took two years. Before that, Belinda was our Group General Counsel, so you have seen her up at the AGM with me before. She will moderate questions online from shareholders and proxy holders during today's meeting.
There are other members of the Suncorp Executive Leadership Team also with us today, and they will now stand. For those of you in the auditorium, they're sitting in that corner over there. I'll ask Jeremy Robson, our Chief Financial Officer, who's been with Suncorp since 2013. Lisa Harrison is our Chief Executive of Consumer Insurance, and Lisa joined Suncorp in 2004. Michael Miller is our Chief Executive of Commercial and Personal Injury Insurance, and he has been with Suncorp since 2011. Jimmy Higgins has joined us from New Zealand. He's the CEO of Suncorp New Zealand, and has been with Suncorp since 2008. Adam Bennett is our Chief Information Officer. He joined Suncorp in 2020.
In fact, I interviewed Adam when the borders were shut down, and he still got the job, and he's done an amazing job ever since. Fantastic job. Bridget Messer is our Chief Risk Officer. Bridget joined Suncorp in 2022, having returned from the U.K., where she brings incredible experience. And finally, we're joined today by Bernadette Norrie, our Customer Advocate. Bernadette is to my right. Bernadette and her team are available if any of you have any customer-related queries, and they'll be in the foyer following the meeting. Before I invite our CEO, Steve Johnston, to speak, I'll begin today's proceedings with some comments about the events of the past year. I'll just check that there's no people waiting still to be seated. All good?
2022 was a momentous year for Suncorp as we move closer to our ambition to be the leading trans-Tasman general insurer. We completed the extensive two-year sale and separation process for Suncorp Bank, and announced the sale of our life insurance business in New Zealand, which is scheduled to complete in late January 2025. At the same time, we've commenced significant data and technology transformation programs to drive growth and improve our customer and employee experience. While this marks a new chapter in our hundred-year-plus history, we continue to service our customers through our well-known portfolio of leading brands, including AAMI, Suncorp Insurance, GIO, Shannons, and Vero, as well as AAI, our joint venture in New Zealand, and importantly, we remain proudly headquartered in our home state of Queensland.
Suncorp is well-positioned to deliver for our customers, communities, and shareholders at a time when the value of insurance and the need for continued investment in a sustainable, viable insurance sector has never been greater. We've reached this critical juncture while maintaining our focus on delivering good growth and returns for shareholders, as well as progressing our strategy in areas such as digitization, automation, and cyber resilience, and our use of artificial intelligence, all of which we expect to accelerate over the coming years. At the same time, the business and regulatory landscape for insurers continues to grow in complexity. We've continued our advocacy program with governments and regulators to ensure a well-functioning, sustainable insurance market across our regions. Geopolitical tensions remain, as do significant cost of living and inflationary pressures, although we are seeing moderation of this in some pockets of the economy.
Your board continues to remain aware of these pressures in relation to insurance premiums impacting all of our customers, and we understand the role of the insurance industry and must play so that insurance remains accessible and affordable. Ultimately, premiums reflect the underlying risk that exists, so the way to ensure sustainable premiums is to reduce risk. That is why Suncorp has long advocated with governments at all levels in both Australia and New Zealand to invest in building greater resilience to protect our communities. Our CEO, Steve Johnston, will discuss more on this and the factors contributing to premium increases and insurance affordability in a moment. At the same time, we're also working hard to streamline our processes, including speeding up the time it takes to settle claims and respond to complaints.
During the year, we saw disasters, including Tropical Cyclone Jasper in Far North Queensland, ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily in Townsville and surrounds, and significant Christmas and Boxing Day storms in Southeast Queensland, as well as heavy rains and flooding in New Zealand's North Island. I personally make it a priority to visit impacted communities following major weather events like these, to hear from our customers and our employees on the ground about their experience and in an attempt to understand the barriers they face in helping our customers and communities to recover. This way, the team and I, on behalf of the board, get to see firsthand the progress we're making in supporting our customers and where we can, in fact, improve their experience.
On this front, I'd like to acknowledge the significance to the insurance industry of the report handed down last week by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics , following their inquiry into the insurers' response to the 2020 major flood claims. The report highlights areas where insurers can improve their response to natural disasters, and Suncorp welcomes recommendations that lead to better insurance outcomes for customers and communities. Your board continues to closely monitor the areas where we know we can improve, and importantly, remains committed to working with government, the broader insurance industry, and local communities to deliver solutions and better experience. Steve will talk more about Suncorp's response and some of the improvements already underway shortly. The challenges of these extreme weather events and a changing climate mean we must address these issues with a sense of urgency and pragmatism.
We encourage local communities and governments to recognize the risks in allowing people to continue to build in harm's way, to be bold in addressing much-needed infrastructure investment, and even bolder in considering the relocation of some communities. Advocating for change to better protect people and communities remains a key priority for Suncorp, and it's pleasing that our CEO will continue this advocacy and action through his recently announced role as Chair of the Insurance Council of Australia from 2025 . These challenges are not unique to Australia. Jimmy Higgins, who I introduced earlier, the CEO of our Suncorp New Zealand business, sits on the board of the Insurance Council of New Zealand and is also an advisor to the Minister for the Environment's Climate Adaptation Independent Reference Group.
As a trans-Tasman insurer, your board has now been able to spend an increased amount of time in New Zealand, meeting with a range of stakeholders, including the government, to continue engaging around the implications of climate change. The board has been particularly engaged in building on the good progress made in reducing our own Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from our own operations, role in supporting the broader economy to transition to a Net Zero future. We continue to mature our climate and sustainability-related disclosures, and this remains a focus for our board. We expect to release our first climate transition plan during the 2025 financial year.
Technology investment is a key part of improving outcomes for both our people and our customers, and generative AI continues to transform the way we work and the way we do. We're focused on ensuring a responsible and measured approach to AI development, while remaining alert to the ongoing sophistication of cyber threats, which we continue to monitor closely and build our own resilience to as a business. We regularly engage both internal and external experts to help us to do this and to challenge our overarching technology strategy to keep abreast of how AI is being used globally by leading customer-facing companies. While Steve will shortly talk to the 2024 financial performance in more detail, I'd like to make some brief comments on this, as well as the proposed return of bank proceeds to shareholders, which I know is of great interest to you all.
Suncorp delivered a strong FY 2024 result, with group net profit after tax of AUD 1.2 billion and group cash earnings of AUD 1.37 billion, reflecting a mix of factors, including positive investment returns and natural hazard costs below allowances. The final ordinary fully franked dividend of AUD 0.44 per share was paid to shareholders on 25 September, with the full-year dividend payout ratio of 72% of cash earnings around the middle of the target payout ratio range of 60%-80%. Your board continues to expect net proceeds from the sale of the bank to be around AUD 4.1 billion. It remains our intention to return net proceeds in excess of the needs of the business to shareholders, primarily by way of a capital return and accompanying pro rata share consolidation, and a smaller, fully franked special dividend.
You'll note from the Notice of Meeting that a number of resolutions to enble the return of proceeds to take place are before you today. Alongside seeking your approval, we are working to finalize the completion accounts with ANZ Bank, who purchased our bank, a receipt of a final ruling from the Australian Taxation Office, and approval from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. Each of these steps are also required. Pending these, our current expectation is for the return of capital to shareholders to occur around the first quarter of calendar year 2025. Again, if you have any questions relating to the capital return, I encourage you to speak with one of our Suncorp investor relations representatives located in the foyer outside following the conclusion of the meeting, and there is a very clearly marked booth for that.
We're also mindful of the commitments we made to the state of Queensland as part of the bank sale. That will deliver more jobs and investment to support the continued growth of the state. These include increased investment in a Disaster Response Centre in our Brisbane headquarters and the establishment of a regional hub in Townsville to help better support customers and the community before, during, and after weather events. Turning to the board, we have been progressively renewing our board over the past few years and to continue to assess our composition to ensure we have the appropriate mix of skills, expertise, and diversity. As we transition to a pure-play insurer, technology capabilities and knowledge will continue to grow in importance for your board and be reflected in our composition.
Around this time last year, in conjunction with external search firm, we commenced a search for a new non-executive director and subsequently appointed Queensland-based Gillian Brown, who we welcomed in February. Gillian, I introduced earlier, and she will address the meeting shortly. Her strong credentials in the stewardship of environmental, social, and governance issues has been particularly useful this year. Gillian's appointment followed the retirement of long-standing board member Dr. Doug McTaggart. We thank Doug for his significant contribution to Suncorp in his twelve years of service. Given our average non-executive director tenure is currently six years, we remain focused on ensuring stability while continuing to renew the board in an orderly manner. This is top of mind as we transition to a pure-play insurer. Together with Gillian and three of my colleagues, I'm also seeking re-election to the board this year.
We will each address the meeting today. However, I would like to note that this will be my final term, and the board will address chair succession at the appropriate time. In closing, I'd like to thank my fellow directors, our Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Steve Johnston, and his executive team for their ongoing leadership. And as always, I thank all of those who work for and with Suncorp, our dedicated employees, partners, and suppliers for their commitment to delivering for our customers and communities.
It's an incredible honor to chair Suncorp, a company here to assist customers at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives. It's also an honor to serve you, our valued shareholders. We value your ongoing support of Suncorp. We remain confident that we can deliver the benefits of being a dedicated trans-Tasman insurer to both our communities and our shareholders. I will now hand to our CEO, Steve Johnston.
Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, everyone. It's, of course, great to be here to report on the 2024 financial year and for the first time as a dedicated insurance company. As a member of the Suncorp team for almost 20 years, it remains a great privilege to lead our company and the committed team of people who bring our purpose to life every day. Now, we don't take for granted the important role we play in the lives of our customers and in the communities and the economies in which we operate across Australia and New Zealand. I've seen it etched on the faces of the many customers I've visited over the past year. I've seen the positive impact that we have when we get it right, and equally, in the reverse, if we get it wrong.
I've always believed there is a very clear connection between our purpose of building futures and protecting what matters, and the value we deliver to you, our shareholders. If our people continue to be guided by our purpose and deliver for our customers, we will in turn deliver superior outcomes for our shareholders. Now, while working through the process to finalize the bank sale over the course of the past year, I'm pleased to report that we've also been able to build on our strong foundations to deliver growth and a strong set of results. Now, I've captured these result highlights on the screen. Net profit after tax of AUD 1.197 billion was an increase of 11.8%, while cash earnings, which is the basis upon which we set our dividend payout, was AUD 1.372 billion.
Now, as you can see on the screen, we've achieved good growth across all of our portfolios, and our underlying insurance trading ratio increased to 11.1% on a full year basis. Now, while these headline numbers represent strong increases on the prior year, it is important to point out that the past few years have been very challenging for insurance companies around the world. Inflation, adverse weather, and a fundamental reset in global reinsurance markets have contributed to material impacts on profitability, particularly in home and motor insurance. Now, I'm sure everyone in this room has felt the impact these conditions have placed on insurance premiums, which unfortunately have risen sharply as a consequence. Now, you'll see on the screen here, I've provided a five-year time series across natural hazard claims numbers and gross natural hazard claims costs.
Now, they're at the top of that slide, and I recognize it's a bit difficult to read, but I will summarize it in a minute, and also, their consequent impact on our allowances and our reinsurance costs, which are on the bottom of the slide. The bottom right, I've also included here the dollar value, what we call cost per policy for home and motor over the past three years, and effectively, this reflects the elevated level of inflation that we've seen across both those portfolios, so in summary, we have dealt with around seven hundred thousand natural hazard claims over the past five years at a gross cost of around AUD 9 billion. Our reinsurance and natural hazard allowances have increased by more than AUD 1 billion since 2020, while inflation in home and motor insurance has increased by 7% and 13% respectively.
Now, all of this explains why insurance premiums have risen so sharply over the past couple of years. In 2024 alone, we managed over one hundred thousand extreme weather claims, including twelve separate events in Australia and one event in New Zealand. The total estimated cost of these events was just over AUD 1.2 billion, which was interesting, given that 2024 was declared the drier El Niño weather pattern in Australia. Pleasingly, however, we've been able to successfully place our 2025 reinsurance program, with some stability returning to the global reinsurance markets. Although, of course, we're watching the current hurricane season in the United States with interest. Now, while on the subject of major weather events, I do briefly want to refer to the Australian Parliamentary Economics Committee's flood inquiry, which released its report last Friday.
Now, I had the opportunity to appear before the committee in Parliament earlier this year, and I spent considerable time reviewing outstanding claims from the 2022 events, but importantly, meeting on the ground with impacted customers. Now, while 2022 saw unprecedented levels of natural hazard activity, with over 51,000 claims received from the East Coast floods, and on top of that, we were dealing with the post-COVID supply chain and labor availability issues, it is apparent to me that in some cases we let our customers down. Now, as I said in the Parliament, I apologize to those customers where our claims processes did not meet theirs or our expectations. Now, in my view, we, like others across the industry, drew comfort from the fact that we had satisfactorily resolved a substantial number of claims from the events, with our resolution rates in the high 90%.
But of course, it's inevitable that it's in the unresolved claims where the real complexity sits, and this is where we have spent a considerable amount of time improving our processes and importantly, our customer communications. In this context, we welcome the majority of the findings of the inquiry, and I'm pleased to report we are well advanced in implementing many of them. I want to specifically call out four key initiatives today. Since 2022, we've expanded our permanent home claims team by more than 150 employees, and we've established an onshore lodgement response team. All of this means we can quickly scale up for major weather events.
We've also invested in a new disaster management center, which is located in our Brisbane headquarters, and it features state-of-the-art technology and resources to monitor extreme weather events in real time, thereby allowing us to respond faster and to reach more customers sooner, as well as help them better prepare before the disaster strikes. Now, we plan to formally launch this in the next couple of months, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to give you a sneak preview today.
The Suncorp Disaster Management Centre connects our people with innovation and technology. It is a platform that integrates our customer data, as well as imagery from geospatial satellite, and informs how we will respond and how we deploy our teams and our supply chain to help our customers rebuild following a catastrophe.
It's great that Suncorp are investing so that they're one step ahead of the game.
That peace of mind, that meant everything.
Now, we've also expanded our dedicated focus and support services to customers experiencing vulnerability, both before lodging a claim, and importantly, to those who become vulnerable due to their circumstances when they're making a claim. And lastly, we spent more than 164 days, which is around six months, in recovery centers last year. To support the work we do in these centers, this year, we're adding five new mobile disaster response hubs in the form of fully equipped, fit-for-purpose caravans. Now, these mobile hubs, which are on the screen there, are gonna be named Larry, Yasi, Marcia, Debbie, and Jasper, which of course is after the well-known cyclones that have impacted Queensland. And they'll be staffed by insurance specialists and support teams, and they're designed to be deployed in the event of severe weather. They'll provide immediate face-to-face assistance to impacted customers.
Now, alongside our own initiatives, we also continue to advocate strongly with governments and policymakers for greater investment in disaster mitigation and to improve resilience to extreme weather. Reducing risk will not only protect lives, but it will also go a long way in reducing the risk of a claim, in turn ensuring Australians and New Zealanders can access affordable and fit-for-purpose insurance. Now, we've seen some encouraging progress on this front, and I commend both the state and federal governments of Australia and New Zealand for the funding commitments that have been made. But more needs to be done to prepare for what's ahead. A plan to build a more resilient Australia must be at the top of the national agenda ahead of the federal election due in May next year.
Now, that includes investing more in resilience infrastructure, in supporting homeowners in reducing their own risks, and stopping building homes where they should never have been built. Now, I'm particularly concerned that in the rush to address the current housing shortages, the mistakes of the past will be repeated, putting a new generation of our citizens in harm's way. And finally, as we've said regularly in these forums, we need to remove the inefficient taxes and charges that currently sit on insurance policies. So before handing back to the chairman, I'd briefly want to touch on the performance of Suncorp Bank, which we did own for the full financial year.
And the bank delivered net profit after tax of AUD 379 million, with home lending growth of AUD 2.2 billion in what we know to be a very competitive market. We are pleased to be able to hand the bank over to ANZ in good shape after significantly improving its performance over the past four years. Now, particularly pleasing was a top-quartile employee engagement and the improving employee Net Promoter Scores that we achieved across our bank team throughout what, as we all know, turned out to be a drawn-out sale process. As you may be aware, Suncorp will continue to provide a range of largely technology-related services to Suncorp Bank under a transitional services agreement with ANZ. Now, the majority of these TSAs are planned to be exited within the next two years.
So with the bank sale complete, where to from here? We're proud of the progress that we've made over the past four years in building a more resilient, modern business with exceptionally strong foundations, and we're wasting no time in getting on with delivering on our refreshed strategic plan, which underpins our future as an insurance-focused business. Now, this slide provides a brief snapshot of our go-forward strategy, which of course, will be guided by our purpose and our ambition to become the leading trans-Tasman insurer. We'll continue to focus on growing our five key portfolios: home, motor, personal injury, commercial, and New Zealand, while digitizing our business and investing in our market-leading brands.
Beyond that, our key programs of work will be focused on modernizing our product and our people platforms, deploying artificial intelligence, but in a measured way, across the organization, and testing a range of innovative reinsurance solutions. All of this is core to building a sustainable and a growing insurance business. And finally, the execution of any strategy relies on the quality, the skill, and the capability of your team. The ongoing support of Suncorp people is something we never take for granted, but it is what truly sets us apart. So with that, I thank you for your continued confidence and support for Suncorp, and I'll hand back to the chairman.
Thank you, Steve. Now to the formal part of the meeting. All the resolutions for consideration today will be put to a poll, which I now declare open. The direct and proxy votes that have been received prior to the AGM were released on the ASX platform this morning and will be shown on the screen before we vote on each resolution. As set out in the Notice of Meeting, I intend to vote all undirected proxies in favor of the eleven resolutions that I chair. The first item of business today is to receive and consider the financial report, directors' report, and auditors' report for Suncorp Group Limited and its controlled entities for the year ended thirty June, 2024 . Representatives from KPMG, Suncorp's external auditor, are joining us here today in Brisbane. Scott Guse, where are you, Scott? Yes. The signing partner, and Shalvin Ram, the audit partner.
They are available to answer any questions you may have about the auditor's report or the conduct of the audit. I will now address questions and comments about the reports or Suncorp's performance generally. As Belinda mentioned earlier, I'll first address a number of relevant questions received from shareholders prior to the meeting. In the meantime, if you are here in Brisbane and wish to ask a question on these matters, please move to the nearest microphone. If you are sitting up the top towards the back and you would prefer us to bring a roving microphone to you, please wave, because I am worried about the stairs. If you're participating online, please submit your questions or comments now, or register your question via the phone line. Belinda, could you please read our first pre-submitted shareholder question?
Thank you, Chairman. First, we have a question from shareholder, Mr. Aaron Whitaker. The question is: In the next financial year, will you be hiring and rewarding staff based on diversity or simply talent?
Thank you, Mr. Whitaker. Suncorp has always been committed to fair and equitable recruitment and reward practices. Our starting point when promoting or hiring is to ensure candidates have the right skills and capabilities, and we have strong annual performance review processes to ensure that the requirements of the role are met. We do also recognize the benefits of diversity and continue to ensure that our efforts are there to ensure that our employees represent the diverse nature of our customer base, as well as the communities we serve. We do always seek to attract top talent and continue to build diversity. Next question, please, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Hopkins, on behalf of shareholder Australian Management Systems, has two questions. The first question is: Can you assure shareholders that you will cease to fund any projects which maintain or expand the coal industry? Such funding is at odds with Net Zero by 2050 and the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Achieving this means leaving coal in the ground.
Thank you, Mr. Hopkins. Suncorp has had Sensitive Sector Standards in relation to fossil fuels in place since 2019 . The group commits to playing our part in reducing our own climate impact and supporting the economy-wide transition to Net Zero. The group's Sensitive Sector Standard details our commitment to reducing exposure to thermal coal extraction and electricity generation. This includes a commitment to not directly invest in or underwrite new thermal coal mining extraction processes or new thermal coal electricity generation. We've also committed to phase out of any underwriting and direct investments in companies where more than 10% of revenue is derived from thermal coal mining or electricity generation by 2025 . The exclusion does not apply to mining services companies who are not directly involved in exploration, extraction, or production.
It also does not apply to personal and small- to medium businesses, and statutory or compulsory insurance and group life products in New Zealand. To support the important transition to a decarbonized economy, we'll underwrite and invest in companies whose business is clearly consistent with the transition to Net Zero carbon emissions economy by 2050. A framework to govern our selective support of some companies supporting the transition to Net Zero will accompany the group's climate transition plan, due to be released in FY 2025, which I mentioned in my opening address. Can I have the next question, please, Belinda?
Thank you, Chairman. Mr. Hopkins, on behalf of shareholder Australian Management Systems, asks: Can you assure shareholders that you will never advertise in media that promotes climate change denialism, misogyny, or racism?
Thank you for this question. We proactively consider all of our advertising placements to ensure they meet our standards and our shareholders' and customers' expectation. This approach has meant there have been instances where we have decided not to place advertisements through certain channels. Next question, please, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. We have received a question from shareholder, Mr. Mark Randall. The question is: What does Suncorp hope to see the company's share price level to be?
Thank you, Mr. Randall. The board and management are focused on executing our strategy to deliver value to you, our shareholders. However, we appreciate that the share price can be influenced by various market factors and economic conditions outside of our control. Pleasingly, in FY 2024, Suncorp generated strong results for shareholders, exiting the year with Total Shareholder Returns of 35%. Next question, please, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. We have received this amending the Suncorp Group Constitution to make hybrid meetings standard.
Thank you, Mr. Pilczyk. The benefits of hybrid meetings are evident today because I think at the moment we have around two hundred and eighty-six shareholders online and around a hundred and eighty-four in the room. We're focused on ensuring that as many shareholders as possible can participate in our AGMs, and that's why we've been holding hybrid meetings since 2021 . We will continue to gather insights and feedbacks from this approach, as well as from the experience of other companies. However, moving forward, we anticipate maintaining this hybrid format, and we can do this without the need to update our constitution. Next question, please, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the general questions received in advance, and we now move to questions in the room. Shareholders, please hold any questions relating to specific resolutions until the time those resolutions are considered, and please let the team member at the microphone know who you are so they can introduce you to the meeting.
Thank you, Belinda. I've got very bright lights in front of me, so if the people at microphone one. Thank you.
Good morning, Chairman. May I please introduce Ben Gallen, who is a proxy holder for the Finance Sector Union?
Hello. I'm Ben Gallen from the Finance Sector Union, representing Suncorp employees. During the life of the current Suncorp Enterprise Agreement, cost of living pressures have been at record highs, with inflation reaching 7.8% in 2022 and remaining stubbornly high today. Over the last 12 months, a number of notable insurance sector employers have recognized this economic reality and introduced certainty to their staff through guaranteed pay and enterprise agreements. This includes IAG, Zurich, and Allianz, who've increased the guaranteed component within their pay arrangements by up to 3- 4 times in recognition of the cost of living pressures and the contribution made by their employees.
Given the critical contributions all Suncorp employees have made to the substantial profits of the 2023/2024 financial year and the enormous financial benefit gained over the sale of Suncorp Bank, there is an expectation from employees that Suncorp will follow the example set by others in the sector. The employees we represent are proud to be part of Suncorp and the role we play in supporting our communities. With so many of us impacted by cost of living pressures, what assurances can you provide employees that our valuable contributions will be recognized in this next enterprise agreement through increased certainty around pay?
Thank you very much for that question. And thank you also. I agree with you that the Suncorp employees really do equip themselves with incredible dedication to our purpose in delivering for our customers. So, and that's something that, we as a board and leadership team, really value. We're also. I'll ask the CEO to make a few comments shortly, on the detail, but we are acutely aware of the cost of living challenges, and affordability that our people and, and all of our communities face. We regularly review our reward framework to ensure it's competitive, fair, and responsible in light of customer, community, and regulatory expectations.
And as part of the bargaining for our new EA, we remain committed to fair and equitable approach and pay for our people, and we will continue to engage with the FSU, appointed bargaining representatives, and our people more broadly, to make sure that we really understand the feedback that is important to you and your members. I believe that bargaining meetings are ongoing at the moment. I don't want to preempt the outcome. And I think the next meeting's around the thirty-first of October, I'm told. Did you want to add anything, Steve?
Chairman, look, I've been in the company for 20 years, and I agree with you that our workforce are one of our greatest assets as an organization, and we're committed to treat them fairly. We're in the middle of that enterprise agreement. We're negotiating that enterprise agreement in good faith across a range of matters, and we'd like to bring that to a conclusion as quickly as possible, so we can get some certainty around what those commitments might look like.
Thank you. Microphone one again. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Alex Fenoglio, who is a shareholder?
Hi, I'm Alex Fenoglio. I'm a Suncorp employee speaking on behalf of the Finance Sector Union employees at Suncorp. The gender pay gap remains a critical issue to our members and all employees across the finance industry. I'd like to acknowledge here some improvements that you've introduced over the past few years that begin to make some headway in addressing this. This includes policy improvements to paid parental leave and family and domestic violence leave. We think Suncorp has an opportunity to lead the insurance sector around pay equity, and that's why we're seeking that these policy improvements be formally included in our new enterprise agreement currently being negotiated. As the gender pay gap remains high at Suncorp, last reported at around 21%, what are you doing to close this gap? What initiatives are you putting in place? Do your executives have KPIs attached to closing this gap?
Thanks, Mr. Fenoglio. Have I said... Have I pronounced your surname correctly?
Yes.
Thank you. Thank you. I can assure you that the board and the leadership team are acutely aware of gender pay gap issues and really committed to closing the pay gap, and we spent quite a bit of time talking about that, both as a board and through our People and Remuneration Committee. We actually have, I believe, Sylvia, in our scorecard, our STI scorecard for the upcoming year, we have a particular call-out of closing the gender pay gap. So you should see that as an indication from us of genuine good faith in this regard. We have taken quite a lot of steps. We still do have more to do. I'm not going to get into the negotiations with the FSU, because that's something that the company has well in hand.
But we've certainly been ensuring that steps are being taken to increase awareness and education around gender equity bias, improving the representation of women in leadership roles. I think the board, you can see we've got good gender representation here, and similarly, the leadership team. This is something the CEO has been committed to since he commenced in office. Looking at implementing targeted development programs, and reviewing our hiring and remuneration practices to eliminate any gender bias. We're also looking to uplift policies and leave offerings for gender inclusion. This is part of Belinda's responsibilities as well. Did you want to add anything, Belinda?
Thank you, Chairman. I would add that we have made progress, and we continue to make progress in the gender pay gap. We have reduced it over by 1.1% over the last year, and we are tracking to target it absolutely in our scorecards, and every leader is committed to delivering on it.
Appreciate your response. Thank you.
Thank you. Microphone number two. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman. I have Steven Mabb, who is a proxy holder.
Mr. Mabb, was it?
Mabb.
Mabb, Mabb.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Steven Mabb. I'm a volunteer for the Australian Shareholders' Association.
I'm apologizing because I've got these bright lights.
That's okay
And I've met you in person so many times, now I'm embarrassed.
Absolutely.
Welcome.
No problems.
Welcome, Steven.
I'm happy to be in Brisbane. So yeah, representing 228 shareholders today and over 1 million Suncorp shares. I just want to say, first of all, thank you to you and the team for another solid result this year. We do also just want to voice our disappointment that the sale of the bank wasn't put to a vote of shareholders, given it's a significant change for the company, but obviously it's great that we have some certainty around that now. One of the changes this year was some lesser disclosure around the financial metrics for the insurance side of the business in the annual report. It looks to us, though, that you've had some significant decreases in expenses there. So we just wanted to, you know, check whether those underwriting decreases are correct, that we saw, and if so, where are those savings coming from?
Thank you, and I'd also like to. I'll have the CEO make a couple of comments, but I would also like to recognize the benefit of the other retail shareholders in the room, that the Australian Shareholders' Association go to great lengths to engage with us ahead of the AGM. Mr. Whittington couldn't be here today, but he's also a regular feature on our landscape.
We actually find the feedback that we get from the ASA really helpful, and we value the constructive way that you meet with us. I think the disclosures, we genuinely try to be as transparent as we possibly can. The Remuneration Report, which our chair of the People and Remuneration Committee, Sylvia Falzon, leads committee, has really tried to be as transparent as we can there. To the extent that you would like to see more transparency around costs, Steve, I might let you comment on that.
Yeah. I mean, it is a good observation that our expense ratios have improved significantly over the past couple of years. And why is that? Because we could see very clearly that there would be a big disconnect in the global reinsurance markets, and that would require significant pricing to go through, which obviously has the impact on customer retention and various issues. So we couldn't sit back and have pricing do all the heavy lifting in that environment. We have to make sure that our business remains as efficient as can be, so that we take some of the pressure off that pricing. So, one of the things that we've been doing over the past five years has been digitizing sales, service, and claims lodgement. Five years ago, customers interacted with us largely on the phone.
That’s 80%, 20% on digital back five years ago, and now we’re originating sales, service, and claims lodgement, 60%-70%. And so that has a material impact on your expense ratio. As you become more efficient, you’re dealing with people through the digital channel. Now, that doesn’t work for everyone. We have to continue to support our contact center workforce so that we’re available for people on the phone, where they choose to interact with us on the phone. And one of the things we’ve found in this environment is that the digital channel works very well when price increases are reasonably, you know, at CPI levels. But if you’re putting prices up by higher than CPI, people tend to ring up and want to talk to you about that.
And equally, when you've got delays in terms of claims lodgement, they want to talk to you about it. So the digital channel is a core element of improving our expense efficiency. But again, it's not for everyone, so we do have to maintain. And then beyond that, we're looking at artificial intelligence now as a means, and not only to improve the efficiency, but to improve the quality of the work for our team. As you would imagine, in the business of insurance, there's a lot of activity that requires a lot of manual processing work.
We're finding AI to be a great supporter of our team, allowing them to do more value-add work. So there's a range of initiatives across our business that we've deployed, continue to deploy. The main objective there is to have an efficient business, make sure our expense ratio is appropriate, so that all the pressure doesn't have to sit on the customer in terms of pricing.
Thank you, Chairman. Steven Mabb has a follow-up question.
Thank you, Mr. Mabb. Now I know who you are.
Yeah, thank you. Remiss of me to say thank you very much for a constructive engagement as well, prior to the meeting. It was very helpful. Next question is around the board skills matrix. I know we've got some directors up for election today, so we can address those in due course. But you spoke highly, I think, of Adam, the new Chief Information Officer, at the start of the meeting. That's great to hear. One of our, I guess, requests is for a more detailed board skills matrix, so that we can, you know, really see which directors have that line management or executive management experience, when we're rating them highly for a particular skill.
So specifically on cybersecurity, given the damage that that can do to a business, who would you say are the directors that we have a really high level of cybersecurity experience at the moment, that are overseeing the work that Adam does and making sure that he continues to do a great job?
Thank you, Mr. Mabb. It is a total coincidence that last Friday, myself and two of my colleagues worked through a cyber simulation under the stewardship of our Chief Risk Officer Bridget Messer. And it's actually the responsibility of the entire board. And as everyone in this room would know, cybersecurity has, and cyber risk, has just evolved rapidly over the past few years, certainly since I've been chairing the board. And so we see it as a responsibility of the entire board. So we actually engage external advisors during the course of each year to work with us on education programs, simulation exercises. I think it's fair to say every time we have a simulation, we learn something new. We watch when other cyber events are publicly reported by other organizations. We learn from that.
We engage with the experts in Canberra on this. It's not just the responsibility of Adam's role, it's actually the entire leadership team that also has to have accountability for this, because clearly, when you're dealing with customers, and we make huge efforts, as other companies do, to try and educate customers on how to spot a scam, how to report something that appears unusual. So in the context of the skills matrix, which is where this started, I actually believe that this is an ongoing skill that all directors need to have, and I suspect that is going to continue to change, which is why we engage as a board in a dynamic way with external experts.
Great, thank you. And last question from us for this section of the meeting, just around organizational culture in general. We're seeing lots of examples over the last few years of our largest public companies, you know, having significant issues that often the board hasn't been aware of, or claims that they haven't been aware of. So specifically at Suncorp, what are you doing practically to make sure that the information that's coming up from management and throughout the organization is really honest and reliable, and to make sure that you're not just getting the good news, that you're also getting the bad news or the things that you need to work on?
Thanks, Mr. Mabb. Culture is something that is core to what the board is looking at, getting assurance from, if you like, from the CEO and the leadership team. In an organization that is as large as ours, with people in Australia and New Zealand and our other offshore partners, what we need to rely on are proper processes and reporting through to our various committees and the board, and through the leadership team. There will always be. When you have a large organization, there will always be a problem area somewhere. So I guess what we look at as a board is: Do we have the checks and processes in place to see whether there are any systemic issues? If something of particular concern comes up, whether that's through our engagement survey verbatims, through whistleblower reports, through internal audit reports.
We also look to our external providers who work with us, with frequency, such as our external auditors, KPMG, when they come and present to the Chair of the Audit Committee, and the Audit Committee twice a year, in signing off on the accounts. We always ask their observations around the culture, because obviously the auditors see a lot more people. But importantly, through our Customer Committee and through our board forums, we do take the opportunity to invite people across the organization into the committee, or into the board, or into showcase sessions, to really show us what they're doing.
And there's nothing like talking to people, and getting the vibe. It's definitely harder post, for boards, post the pandemic, as people have tended to gravitate more to fewer days in the office, more days working virtually. And I think that's something that we just have to keep asking the questions of, because quite often on a Monday or a Friday, there are not a lot of people in the office. Did any of my colleagues want to add anything on that? Sylvia, Chair of the People and Remuneration Committee.
Thank you for the question. And another practical way is that we do conduct employee surveys, and often what's insightful is actually not the number that comes out, but more importantly is the commentary. and so we actually spend quite a bit of time actually going through the commentary, because often in that is where we really get to understand what is going on. And from that, often it informs us about where we're doing well, but more importantly, where we need to do better. So that is something that is part of what we do each year, is to survey our staff, and we're doing it more now on a regular basis. So we get these touch points throughout the year, rather than this just once in a year, to get the survey through. So that's just another practical example.
Great, thank you for the response.
Thanks, Mr. Mabb. Any more questions from microphone number one or two? Lorena, that appears to address-
One more.
One
Oh, we've got one. Oh, sorry.
I'm sorry.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Noel Johnson, who is a shareholder.
Hello. I spoke last year. I was quite upset and against the sale of the bank, but that's a fait accompli. I'd like to express comments on the future of the board, based on my comments at the last couple of AGMs. Now, we're a pure insurer going forward, with the board's aspirations of being one of the largest. I was a founding shareholder, and I clearly remember when the previous board decided we'd merge with Promina and become a large insurance company. Our share price was $20, our dividends were about $1, and they've never recovered to that since we became a large insurer. So my two concerns going forward: Suncorp at the moment is near the top of the insurance cycle.
High returns from our investments, great, pricing power, or at least my policies with Suncorp have all gone up, and, we're getting maximum returns, and we've had a very, benign claims season. This is one of the first meetings I haven't heard about a one-in-a-hundred-year event hitting our insurance company. Now, my questions going forward, how is the board going to try and smooth our dividends out, given that when we hit the bottom of the insurance cycle, and we have no pricing power, and we have lots of claims, our dividends seem to shrink? It was only a few years ago, none of our shareholders would have had a dividend if the bank hadn't have had a very good year. But we don't have that buffer anymore.
So first question: What are we going to do to try and smooth dividends or to improve dividends over the long haul? And my second comment was about the board composition. I know everyone else is against it, but considering, you've sold our bank, you're selling the life insurance company, you've sold Share Trade, you got rid of the wealth management for Share Trading, and the company's obviously smaller in all those regards, and you're about to consolidate our shares and reduce the number of shares on offer.
If we're getting a more streamlined and often stated simpler company, has there been any consideration in consolidating the board? 'Cause I see you're trying to increase, directors' remuneration pool over the long haul. Seems to me that if we've got a smaller company, we need less directors, or can you explain why we need the number and the skill set that we presently have? Thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Johnson. So two questions in there. One is around our dividend, and the second is around board composition. In relation to our dividend, we've got a very clear dividend payout ratio of 60%-80%. We've looked at the capital implications of returning proceeds from the sale of the bank to shareholders, both through a capital return and a special dividend, which we'll come to later in the meeting. But we've also done forward projecting on what the dividend experience for directors, sorry, for directors, for investors, would need to be to ensure that we are an attractive investment. So I assure you, that's something that we are very mindful of, and the team do a lot of modeling around that. We'll continue to be very disciplined around how we manage capital and returns.
So I, and you saw the CEO set up a slide in his presentation, although I accept it was probably hard to see, around the strategy in place for the next few years, which certainly looks to how we grow the company and how we return benefits to shareholders. In relation to board composition and board size, this is something that we spend quite a lot of time talking about. As we discussed with the Australian Shareholders' Association a couple of weeks ago, whilst we have sold, in the process of selling the bank, the complexities of the external and pace of external change that boards, not just our board, all boards, continue to have to take into account when we look at our program of work around cybersecurity and cyber resilience, in response to one of the questions asked earlier.
The transition to Net Zero, our climate change commitments, supply chain issues, the workload is still there. What selling the bank does mean is that we can rework our board agendas, so we can try and bring more of these matters into the board discussion, and we use the committees very heavily as well. Being APRA regulated and ASIC regulated, in the March of next year, we will, as a board and leadership team, be regulated by the Financial Accountability Regime or FAR regime. That carries with it extensive responsibilities. I think our board size is comparable with other insurers.
So, I guess the assurance I can give you is really that we are very mindful of having the right skills. We're not intending to grow the board. That's not the intention, but at this stage we believe the size is about right. We will go through renewal over the next few years, and we can come to that as we work through the meeting. Thank you. Microphone number two.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Robert Bucci, who is a shareholder.
Good morning to the board. Thank you for being here and presenting to us today. I have a couple questions on, I guess, profitability. During the Brisbane flood events, the gates were allegedly found to not open quickly enough, potentially causing extra flooding, thus additional claims and expenses may have occurred. Should Suncorp consider pursuing compensation?
You take that?
Yeah. Thank you for the question. I mean, it is absolutely the fact here in Brisbane that the management of the dam is a very important input for us. Obviously, in two thousand and eleven, we saw a significant amount of rain, as we did in 2022 , in a very short period of time. In 2022 , I think the dam level leading into the big weather event in Brisbane was at 40%-45%. So I think, you know, if you look at the more recent experience, the management of the dam, I think was, was quite satisfactory in terms of mitigating the impact downstream of that big weather event. In 2011 , obviously things were a little bit different in terms of the downstream impact of it.
We looked at very much whether there was a recovery that we needed to make, not so much on behalf of Suncorp, but also our reinsurers, and we've determined that there wasn't one to pursue. But you do make a very good point, weather systems, weather outlooks, weather patterns are very important for our company, but equally, management of the dam is also a very important aspect. And I personally have, you know, a very good dialogue with the government at the state level, to make sure that the manuals that underpin their decision-making around dam management are very contemporary and very much reflective of what we believe needs to be the outcome for those that are downstream.
You had a second question, Mr. Bucci?
Yeah. This is probably, hopefully a little bit more easier. Approximately what percentage has crime increased the cost of premiums? I guess the question would be, I expect, you know, when people hit other cars and things happen unexpectedly, but I guess with crime happening, does that have a, an impact on premiums? Thank you.
You take it?
It does have an impact, but it's marginal. If you think of a home insurance premium, the vast majority of the risk that's embedded in a home insurance premium comes from the things that are happening external to the home, whether that be flooding, bushfire, the seven perils that go into a home insurance premium, and increasingly inside the home, the quality of your piping, you know, you know, your flexi pipes, you know, the ability for you to be able to identify leaks when they occur early. I mean, theft is a peril that's obviously one that needs to be taken into account in pricing, but I wouldn't describe it as having a material impact on the extent of pricing increases that have been apparent over the past two or three years.
Thank you, Mr. Bucci. Any more questions from microphone number two while you have the spotlight? Microphone number one? Okay, I think on this particular item, that appears to address the questions in Brisbane. Do we have any general questions online or via the phone line?
Chairman, I can confirm we have received questions on this item of business via the online platform. Before I move to questions received via the online platform, can I please remind any shareholders who have registered to use the phone line to press star one on your phone keypad when we reach the relevant item of business, so the moderator knows that you wish to speak and can place you in the queue. The first question online is asked by Mr. Henrik Kaye. The question is: Do you think the introduction of a national insurance levy to help those who are unable to get insurance due to risk is a good idea?
Thanks, Mr. Kaye. I'm going to give the CEO an opportunity to speak to this, because this is something that we do think about as a board in the context of our advocacy strategy.
Thank you for the question, Mr. Kaye. A very topical question at the moment. Those in the audience will be aware the government previously, the last couple of years, has introduced a Cyclone Reinsurance Pool. That concept is really to effectively take off the private sector insurance industry's balance sheet the risk of cyclone and transfer it to the federal government. And therefore bringing about some reductions in premium, and I think to the effect of insurance premiums in Northern Australia, that has had a mitigating effect on that part of the premium. Obviously, other inflationary factors have flowed through in Northern Australia, just as they have everywhere else. We do have a challenge in Australia that I mentioned in my presentation.
Similar challenge in New Zealand, but not as amplified as it is in Australia, and it simply is that in many cases, we've allowed people to build and buy homes in areas they should never have been allowed to build or buy in. And as an insurance company, obviously, all insurers are getting more granular in the way that they can price risks. So when we talk about increases going through, uniform increases going through, with that's an average. Obviously, those people who are impacted by, you know, in those areas, flooding risk or bushfire risk, they get a disproportionately high amount of that premium increase. That's just the nature of insurance and pricing. So I think as an industry, we need to do more. We need to work constructively with government.
We need to step in and find a pathway through the way we underwrite the things that we do, but we have to have a constructive dialogue with the government. That is part of getting a solution, I think, that goes to those people who, through no fault of their own, have built or bought in those particular areas. I think, you know, we broadly weren't supportive of the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool, but prior to it being introduced. The reason for that, as it is with a national insurance levy, or it is with anything that would be extending that Cyclone Reinsurance Pool, is that it can't just paper over the issues that we know are there.
The best way to make a more resilient Australia is to mitigate the risk, and that means spending more money, investing more in flood mitigation, levee banks, other sorts of mitigation activities, allowing people to subsidize the improvement of the quality of their own home. You can get a solar panel subsidy. You can't necessarily get a subsidy and lock down your house for a Category Five cyclone.
And we have to stop building in those areas, and we have to take the taxes and charges off the insurance premium, which in areas like New South Wales, can be up to 40% of a home insurance premium. So, you know, we will constructively engage with the government as a company and as an industry around how we try and find a pathway to make insurance affordable for those people who, unfortunately, through no fault of their own, have built or bought in areas where they should never have been allowed to build or buy in.
I think we have another question online.
Thank you. We have received another question from a shareholder, Ka Fat Tan, who asks: "Please explain today's news headline, 'Suncorp told to scrap 60% hike of home insurance premium.'
I think as. I'll let the CEO make a few comments as well, but as the CEO mentioned in his address, and, I alluded to in mine, the way we calculate premiums, actually takes account of a comprehensive range of data sources, and we do regularly, update that and take account of all of the issues that the CEO has just mentioned. We are taking steps to look ourselves at how we can, slow down the, the pace of premium increases. But Steve, did you want to talk about today's
Yeah
meeting?
This refers to a determination that the Australian Financial Complaints Authority has made in recent weeks around one individual premium increase, which was a big increase. You know, in our assessment of it, it was an increase that had been properly calculated, in our view. It reflected the inherent risk in that particular property. And again, it sort of falls into that category of people who built and bought in areas they should never have been able to. We have to price those risks according to the perils that are proximate to those risks, so we believe it was properly calculated. We felt it was properly disclosed. AFCA took a different view.
We respect their view, and we will implement their view relative to that premium, and we continue to engage with them constructively around how we do calculate premium. It is very complex and is very, sometimes very difficult for customers to understand, and we seek to work with AFCA constructively around how that works. None of us around the board or in the management team really like having to put premiums up to the extent that we've had to over the past two or three years. It does reflect the global pressures around reinsurance. As I pointed out in my presentation, the costs of hazards and reinsurance have increased by AUD 1 billion dollars for us as an organization over the past five years, and unfortunately, some of that has to flow through to consumers.
The relative good news is that our reinsurance renewal for 2025 was constructive. You know, the discussions we've had with the global reinsurers over recent weeks, put aside the U.S. hurricanes, have continued with that constructive position. So we'd like nothing more over the next period of time for that pressure to start to come off premiums because the global reinsurance market has been through its reset, and that we can start to take pressure off those increases that have been impacting everyone in the country over the past couple of years.
Thanks, Steve. Belinda?
Thank you. We have received another online question from shareholder Natasha Lee, who asks: "It has been reported today that the Australian Financial Complaints Authority has ordered Suncorp to scrap massive home insurance premiums. Could you advise how many customers are affected by this decision and the financial impact?" I believe that question has been asked and answered, unless there is anything you wish to add.
And I think also that matter was in relation to one particular customer, so I think that's been adequately addressed by the CEO. Any more questions online?
Thank you. We have received another question by Natasha Lee: "There is a trend to use AI as a new productivity measure. However, with an aging population, to what extent are AI platforms tested to assist less computer-literate customers? Are the platforms tested across a wide range of demographics, as I feel that AI is fine for younger, computer-savvy people, but less satisfying for others?
Thank you. Thank you, Natasha. I'll make a couple of comments, then I'm going to allow Adam Bennett to make a comment on this. AI is not new to Suncorp. We've progressively applied AI across several targeted use cases in pricing, claims, risk modeling, customer service, automation, virtual chatbot bots for many years, and you probably haven't actually seen it as a customer. And what we quite often find is that older customers, which is what you're asking about, actually find it easier to be able to tap into these tools, rather than harder. Adam, did you want to add anything? We need a microphone for Adam. Yes, we've got one there.
Yeah. Thanks, very much for the question. Not often that I get, an opportunity to address a forum like this. I think one of the things that Steve alluded to in his opening remarks is that when we're thinking about artificial intelligence, and particularly the use of newer generative AI capabilities, we're starting with, applications that are more augmenting and existing our internal employees. So an example would be summarizing the notes on an existing claim to make it quicker and more efficient for them to respond to the customer.
So we're gonna be quite prudent and cautious in terms of how quickly we roll out those capabilities to be directly available to end customers, but we would certainly expect, over time, that might be a development. But, you know, we're taking a very measured and cautious approach in thinking about the needs of all of our customers and other stakeholders in the application of AI.
Thanks, Adam. I should also add, we've got, in terms of our own employees, we have an AI academy, to help our employees understand what capabilities, what we can offer, and build the capabilities that they need to be able to comfortably navigate that. I think there's another question online.
Thank you, Chairman. There is indeed. There is another question by shareholder Henrik Kaye: "In relation to leadership roles, how about hiring people with disabilities, if suitable?
Thank you, Mr. Kaye. We have a diversity strategy that is focused on removing any and all barriers for our people, and this includes ensuring that anyone who has a disability can have a fulsome career at Suncorp. We actually leverage insights we get from our EnAble resources employee group, who also regularly engage with the leadership team and the board on disability matters. Nine point six percent of Suncorp-wide employees have identified themselves as having some form of disability. I think that completes the questions online, and I believe we also have completed on this item, the questions in the room.
So, for the benefit of everyone participating, I can update you now that we have a total of 722 shareholders, so the number's growing, and I guess that's one of the benefits of having hybrid meetings. Having now addressed general questions and comments, we'll move to the formal resolutions for consideration today. The first two items of business relate to the return of capital to ordinary shareholders following the sale of Suncorp Bank. A reminder to please move to your nearest microphone now, if you are here in Brisbane, and wish to ask a question on this item of business. Although shareholders will be asked to approve the capital return and associated share consolidation as two separate resolutions, these resolutions are interdependent. This means that the capital return will not proceed without a consolidation of shares, and vice versa.
Subject to the conditions outlined in the Notice of Meeting, Suncorp plans to return shareholders' proceeds from the bank sale in excess of the needs of the business of up to AUD 4.1 billion. We anticipate the return of proceeds will consist of two components, as I mentioned in my opening address: a capital return or cash payment for the portion of your shareholding, which will form the majority of the proceeds, and a special dividend, with the amount to be determined by the board. It's important to note that as the value of the special dividend is not yet determined, we are seeking shareholder approval for this resolution for capital return of up to AUD 4.1 billion. However, once the special dividend has been determined, the amount of capital return will be reduced by an amount equivalent to that special dividend.
The Notice of Meeting also sets out a number of steps that must occur before the capital return can proceed. This timing is subject to the finalization of completion accounts with ANZ, necessary approvals from APRA, and approvals from the Australian Taxation Office, as I mentioned in my opening address. These processes are not within our sole control and may impact our estimate of timing. We've also included examples in the Notice of Meeting to illustrate how the capital return will work. For those attending in person in Brisbane today, we have representatives, as I mentioned earlier, from our investor relations team, who will be available in the foyer after the meeting, who can work you through examples of how that might apply to you. Those representatives unfortunately will not be providing you with tax advice.
And as always, we recommend that all shareholders seek their own taxation advice in respect of tax consequences. So your board recommend shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM to this resolution appear on the screen, and as I mentioned earlier, they were uploaded on the ASX platform earlier. Belinda, could you please read any questions we received in advance of the meeting on the capital return? And would any shareholder or proxy holder here in Brisbane who wishes to ask a question on this resolution now move to their nearest microphone?
Thank you, Chairman. We have received a question from shareholders, Mr. James Fletcher and Ms. Maria Fletcher. They ask: "Given that the sale of Suncorp Bank was delayed, why is it taking so long for shareholders to receive the payout of the proceeds from the sale? Will shareholders be paid interest on the outstanding returns?
Thank you, Mr. and Ms. Fletcher. As I mentioned in my opening address and just now, there are a number of reasons why this has been delayed. Suncorp has a strong history of returning capital in excess of the needs of the business to shareholders, and we do intend to return the majority of proceeds from the sale of the bank in line with this commitment. The approvals that we had to get from the Australian Competition Tribunal, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and the Federal Treasurer under the FIRB, in addition to the Queensland Government passing special legislation to amend the Metway Merger Act, have all led to the elongation of this timetable.
As I mentioned before, this hasn't really been within Suncorp's control. While the regulatory completion of the bank took place on 31 July, there's still a number of steps that we have to take before the capital initiative can proceed. This is all set out in the Notice of Meeting on page 12. I won't go through all of those resolutions.
Thank you, Chairman. Next question comes from shareholder Ms. Anita Navarro: "Now that Suncorp Bank has successfully been sold to ANZ, when will we see the cash payment come through to our account, and what will be the amount per share for shareholders?
Thank you, Ms. Navarro. I think this question's also just been covered with the previous answers in my opening address. We estimate the payment of the special dividend and the return of capital will likely be around the first calendar quarter of 2025 . But again, there's a timetable on page 13 of the Notice of Meeting, which all shareholders have seen, which sets that out, and the final amount per share will be known after we receive all the relevant approvals. Are there any more questions, Belinda, online?
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the questions received in advance for this item of business, and we can now move to questions in the room.
Microphone number one.
Chairman, may I please introduce Jerry Newton, who is a shareholder.
Morning, Mr. Newton.
Good morning, how are you? And thank you for taking the question. My wife has shared a dividend reinvestment plan, and we believe that those shares are not to participate in this repayment from the sale of the bank. Is that true?
You can address the DRP.
I might get Jeremy. Are you across the DRP elements of it?
It won't apply to the special dividend.
It won't apply to the special.
So the purpose of this is to return excess capital, so it doesn't make sense for us to issue new shares to shareholders. But Jeremy, did you want to add?
Yeah, just a short add to it is the, to the extent you've already received the shares from the DRP, then you should-- they should go into the share return process, et cetera. But the shares that you receive through the special dividend, to the extent they were DRP, they're not. So if you received the shares through a previous DRP, they should go into the scheme.
I think also, Mr. Newton, if it's helpful, we've got the booth outside, and we can actually have a look at your actual personal shareholding, if that's helpful, after the meeting.
All right. Can I also ask another question regarding insurance? I heard on the radio a week or so ago that somebody in a block of units was refused insurance because there were electric vehicles garaged at that building. Could you tell me whether that might be true? And if it is true, is this going to be a trend that buildings where electric vehicles are garaged will not be able to be insured?
Thank you for the question. I'm not aware of the particular case that you mentioned. We don't. we're not a big provider of strata insurance, which would be likely where that particular case came through. So it's most likely another insurance company that's made that underwriting decision. I mean, it is the case that we have seen a higher frequency and higher severity, largely on the severity side, from lithium batteries. And I think that's been a reasonably well-published phenomenon that we've been dealing with over the last sort of 12- 18 months.
You know, less so for us in terms of motor vehicle batteries in electric vehicles or electric scooters, more just the prevalence of lithium batteries in homes, which is on a far greater scale, and lithium batteries do tend to accelerate the fire situation. So, frequency of major loss fire is up a little bit, severity is up quite a bit, and to some extent, that can be attributed to the prevalence of lithium batteries in cars. I make the point that we haven't seen it so much through electric vehicles or through things like electric scooters and other things where there has been some commentary around.
But the particular case you talk about would v ery unlikely be one related to Suncorp. Be another insurer who's taken that underwriting decision, not to underwrite to the extent that there's electric vehicles in the car park. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Are there any more questions in relation to the return of capital or the consolidation of ordinary shares in the room or online? None in the room.
Madam Chairman, I can confirm there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
Thank you, Belinda. As that addresses all questions and comments on the capital return, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution are shown again on the screen, and I suspect that that's hard to read. Taking into account the direct and proxy votes shown on the screen and the total number of votes being voted today, it appears that Resolution One will be passed with great support. The next item of business deals with the proposed consolidation of ordinary shares that will accompany the capital return we've just considered. Please move to your nearest microphone if you wish to ask any questions in relation to the share consolidation.
As I mentioned earlier, the capital return resolution just passed, and this consolidation resolution are interdependent. The aim of the share consolidation is to help keep the share price steady after the capital return. The share consolidation will apply equally to all holders of ordinary shares, and after the share consolidation, your holding will still represent the same percentage of Suncorp's issued capital as it did prior to the share consolidation. There are more details in the Notice of Meeting, including examples of how the share consolidation will work, and again, there is a booth outside, if you have any questions about that. It is complex.
Your board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in this resolution appear on the screen and has a lot of support. Would any shareholder or proxyholder here in Brisbane who wishes to ask a question on this resolution now move to their nearest microphone? There are none in the room. Are there any online or on the phone, Belinda?
Chairman, I can confirm that there are no online or phone questions for this item on business.
As that addresses all the questions and comments on the share consolidation, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution are again shown on the screen. Taking into account the direct and proxy votes shown on the screen, the total number of shares being voted today, it appears that Resolution Two will be passed. I know, I agree. I'll call out the votes for the next few items for you, if I can ask those to be fed through, because it is very hard to read. I'm trying to read it, too. The next item of business proposes amendments to the Suncorp Constitution.
Please move to your nearest microphone if you are here in Brisbane and wish to ask a question on these items of business. The proposed amendments are required because certain legal obligations that previously applied to Suncorp Bank now apply to Suncorp Group Limited following the bank sale. These obligations include commitments to Suncorp's Queensland headquarters and staffing. There is, again, more detail in the Notice of Meeting. Your board recommends shareholders vote in favor of this special resolution. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution now appear on the screen. Now we can see it now.
Okay. So because I'm very sympathetic to those who are struggling to read this, there are 99.79% votes that have been cast in favor of this resolution. But more importantly, are there any shareholders or proxyholders here in Brisbane who wish to ask a question on this resolution? And if so, please move to the microphone. There are no questions in the room that I can see. Do we have any questions online or on the phone, Belinda?
Chairman, I can confirm that there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
Okay, as that addresses all the questions and comments on the constitutional amendments, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? The details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM are again shown on the screen. I mentioned those before, and taking into account the direct and proxy votes shown and the total number of shares voted today, this special resolution will also be passed. Now, the next five items of business are to consider the election and re-election of five members of your board, including myself. I am going to ask my colleagues who are up for election or re-election to address you from the podium because you'll be able to see them.
And if you do want to ask any questions on this item of business, if you're in the room, please move to your nearest microphone. So first, as I mentioned earlier, Gillian Brown seeks confirmation of her appointment to your board through seeking election by shareholders today. Gillian is Queensland-based, and to add to my earlier comments, has made a strong contribution to your board's deliberations since her appointment, particularly through her ESG-related experience, including energy transition and decarbonization, climate-related reporting disclosures, social impact investing, and work place health and safety. There are additional details set out in the Notice of Meeting, including that the board is satisfied that Gillian is an independent, non-executive director and fully supports her election today. I'd now like to ask Gillian to speak further about her experience and commitment to Suncorp in support of her election.
Thank you, Chairman. Good morning. My name is Gillian Brown. I've been a Director, as Christine has said, since February of this year. This is my first Suncorp AGM, and it's a very exciting time for me to be joining the company. Since I joined the board, Suncorp's been reshaped through the separation and transition of Suncorp Bank, and I've observed the Suncorp team complete this mammoth task with professionalism, dedication, and in the main, good humor. The organization's now focused on developing products, processes, and systems to deliver its vision to be the leading trans-Tasman insurer. Having recently spent a few days with the board and the Suncorp leadership team in New Zealand, I'm confident that Suncorp has the capability and culture to achieve that vision.
In my short time on the board, I believe I've made a positive contribution to the board's consideration of bank transition governance, brought more board focus to organizational strategies to improve customer service outcomes and to address affordability, and brought fresh eyes and new perspectives to Suncorp's climate transition planning and Net Zero aspirations. I will draw on my experience working on sustainability initiatives with asset owners, particularly in real estate and infrastructure, to assist Suncorp to navigate the complexities of climate transition and identify new business opportunities in a decarbonizing world.
In addition, I bring strong skills in risk management, regulatory compliance, corporate governance, and strategy, gained over my career as a financial services lawyer and as a director of regulated public and private sector organizations in Queensland and nationally, in professional services, funds management, transport, and energy. I believe that if elected, these skills will assist the board in providing effective oversight of Suncorp's growth aspirations, and I trust that I'll have your support for my nomination to the board. Thank you.
Thank you, Gillian. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Gillian's election now appear on the screen, and I can assure you it's supported in excess of 99%. But importantly, would any shareholder or proxyholder here in Brisbane who wishes to ask a question on Gillian's election now move to your nearest microphone? So Gillian's getting off lightly. Are there any questions online or on the phone, Belinda?
Chairman, I can confirm there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
Okay, well, Gillian, I promise you'll get a lot more questions in the boardroom. Would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? As I mentioned, the details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM are again shown on the screen. Taking into account the votes on the screen and the total number of shares being voted here today, this resolution will be passed spectacularly, so congratulations, Gillian.
Thank you.
I'll now move to the re-election of Sylvia Falzon. Sylvia brings extensive financial services, asset management, and people leadership experience to the board. I would particularly like to acknowledge her significant contribution to the work of the People and Remuneration Committee since becoming chairman of that committee in 2021. More detail is set out in the Notice of Meeting. Sylvia joined your board in 2018, and this year is seeking re-election for her third and final term. I and Sylvia's fellow directors are fully supportive of her standing for re-election today. I'll now invite Sylvia to say a few words about your commitment to Suncorp.
Thank you. Thank you, Chairman, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and fellow shareholders. As the Chairman mentioned, I joined your board in September 2018, and now after serving two terms, I'm seeking your support to serve for a third term. In addition to my role on the board, I am the Chairman of the People and Remuneration Committee and a member of the Risk Committee. Since joining Suncorp, I've experienced first-hand the collective effort of our management team and board drive a culture focused on our customers, staff, and community. Underpinning this focus has been a strategy to simplify your business. The recent sale of Suncorp Bank enables us to work towards our aspiration of becoming a leading trans-Tasman insurer. As an executive, I held senior positions within the financial services sector for major insurance and asset management organizations spanning over thirty years.
I believe my skills and experience gained as a senior executive and as a non-executive director have enabled me to make a meaningful contribution alongside my board colleagues. Throughout my career, I've gained valuable insights working across a range of consumer-facing businesses, predominantly within highly regulated industries. These sectors include insurance, banking, asset management, healthcare, residential aged care, e-commerce, and retail. Since becoming a non-executive director in 2010, I've also been involved in a number of strategic business transformations, merger and acquisition, and divestment activities. In addition to Suncorp, I also serve as a non-executive director on ASX-listed company, Premier Investments.
I'm also a member of the federal government's Takeovers Panel, and in the not-for-profit sector, I'm the chairman of Cabrini Australia Limited, a mission-led major Catholic private healthcare provider in Melbourne. In closing, I'd like to thank my board colleagues under Christine's leadership for supporting my nomination. And if elected today, I commit to serve our shareholders, customers, and staff to the best of my ability. Thank you.
Thank you, Sylvia. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Sylvia's re-election now appear on the screen. Again, very well supported, but more importantly, at this stage, would any shareholder or proxyholder here in the room like to ask a question in relation to Sylvia's re-election? I do have a question from microphone number two.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Steven Mabb, who is a proxy holder.
So just a quick comment. I wanted to thank you for sharing the proxies in advance. In our view, that's really best practice. I know we're having a little bit of trouble seeing it maybe at the back of the room, but it is great, and it helps other shareholders obviously know in advance what other shareholders are thinking. So I just wanted to comment quickly on Sylvia's re-election. ASA has the unenviable task of looking at hundreds of Remuneration Reports a year, and it's the bane of many shareholders trying to figure those reports out.
I really want to commend Suncorp on the quality of your Remuneration Report. It's very clear. The graphics are excellent. It's much easier than most to figure out. So for whatever role you've had there, Sylvia, heading the Remuneration Committee and leading that process, well done, and perhaps, given you mentioned this is your last term, you might have a career as a remuneration consultant to other boards in the future. But, yeah, thank you, and well done. It is much better than most.
Thanks, Mr. Mabb, and I agree, and Sylvia leads the committee incredibly well, and Elmer and Simon are both also members. And, Sally, are you a member of that committee now? No. Are members of that committee, and it is a very hardworking committee. And we do take on board every year the feedback we get from shareholders and proxyholders and organizations like the ASA on how we can improve our transparency. So are there any questions online about Sylvia's re-election?
Thank you, Chairman. I can confirm that there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
So that addresses all the questions. Can you leave... Sorry, can the team leave the slide up with the numbers, please? That addresses all the questions and comments in relation to Sylvia's re-election. Please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card. So in response to Mr. Mabb's observation, the votes prior to the meeting were 98.05%. So taking into account those direct and proxy votes and the votes today in the room, this resolution has been strongly carried as well. So congratulations, Sylvia, and we look forward to continuing to work with you. The next item of business is to consider my own re-election. At this point, I'll ask my fellow director, Ian Hammond, who has been appointed by the board as Deputy Chairman for the AGM, to chair the meeting while my re-election is being considered.
Thank you, Christine. Christine's background and experience are detailed in the Notice of Meeting. Christine is a highly respected company director with an extensive board and executive career that includes domestic and international experience, both within and outside the financial services sector. Since joining your board in 2015 and following her appointment as chairman in 2018, Christine has made a strong contribution to Suncorp and to the deliberations of the board and its committees. As mentioned earlier today, Suncorp has made a great deal of progress in its simplification, customer sustainability, and other strategic initiatives during Christine's tenure. Over Christine's term, and despite adverse weather events and undertaking a significant body of work to simplify the business, Suncorp's Total Shareholder Return has been ahead of the ASX 200.
In financial year 2024, Suncorp delivered a Total Shareholder Return of 34.6% versus the ASX 200 of 12.1%. Christine's significant contributions to the business, the not-for-profit sector, and women were recognized in 2021 when she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia. Christine is seeking re-election for her fourth and final term. I and Christine's fellow directors are fully supportive of her standing for re-election today. I'll now invite Christine to make some comments in support of her re-election.
Thank you, Ian. Shareholders, it's been a privilege to serve as your chairman for the past six years and to have been on the Suncorp board since February 2015 . And as I mentioned earlier, like most of you, I'm both a Suncorp shareholder and a Suncorp customer. Throughout my tenure serving on your board, we've advanced to be a more customer-led and sustainable business. I've overseen the realignment of Suncorp's strategy under Steve Johnston's leadership to simplify our business and focus on core insurance offerings in Australia and New Zealand, including the sale of our bank to embark upon becoming a digital insurer. I'm proud of the way Suncorp successfully navigated the challenges over this time and continued to deliver for our customers and communities. Again, I thank you, our shareholders, for your patience through the very lengthy bank sale process.
The platform transformation and digitization agenda already underway is very exciting, and it's a great opportunity to simplify, modernize, and ultimately personalize the experience for all of our customers. Whilst we're all pleased that our latest financial results show we're making progress and our momentum to drive stronger performance in the years to come, we're very pragmatic and mindful of both the headwinds and opportunities that lie ahead of us. Suncorp has put a significant effort into understanding and responding to the material, environmental, social, and governance risks that impact our business, and I remain committed to deepening our understanding of the broad range of stakeholder reviews on these matters. A priority under my chairmanship is to ensure Suncorp remains well-positioned to respond to these challenges and opportunities presented by climate change.
While we're supporting our customers through the transition to Net Zero, we're also working alongside others to build more resilient households and communities that can withstand the increased severity and frequency of weather events. On the governance front, we've undergone a board renewal process, with four new directors having been appointed during my tenure. The board is stronger and more contemporary as a result, and I remain focused on continuing this renewal during my final term. In terms of my personal experience, I'm currently also a director on the board of Cochlear, recently chair of Aware Super, and chairman of the Minerva Network, a not-for-profit I co-founded to support the professional careers of women athletes. I believe that each of these roles, in their own ways, adds to my perspective as Suncorp's Chairman and complements the other skills and experience of your board.
I also bring to the table leading ASX-listed companies, experience in health, financial services, resources, and infrastructure, and more broadly, serving on government boards and in the education sector. If re-elected today, I look forward to earning your ongoing support during what will be my final term serving as chairman of the Suncorp board. Thank you.
Thank you, Christine. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Christine's re-election now appear on the screen, and the votes for the resolution in favor are in excess of 96%, as you can see there, or those who can see there, but it is in excess of 96%. Would any shareholder or proxy holder here in Brisbane who wishes to ask a question on Christine's re-election now move to the nearest microphone? Looks like there are no questions here.
Thank you.
Belinda, are there any questions online?
I can confirm we have received questions on this item of business via the online platform. The question is asked by Stephen Mayne. The question is: "Many thanks, Christine, for offering a hybrid AGM and for achieving best practice with today's early disclosure of the proxies, including the number of shareholders voting for and against. Well done on achieving such strong voting reports and also for following the agenda, dealing with each item of business sequentially. You are delivering AGM best practice. Keep it up." Thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Mayne, for your encouragement. Are there any other further questions, Belinda?
That concludes the questions received via the online platform for this line item of business.
As that addresses all questions and comments on Christine's re-election, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Christine's re-election are again now shown on the screen. As the chairman of the AGM for this resolution, I confirm I intend to vote all undirected proxies in favor of this resolution. Taking into account the direct and proxy votes shown on the screen and the total number of shares being voted today, it appears this resolution will be passed. Congratulations, Christine.
Thanks.
Oh, we'll give her a clap. Yes. Well done, Christine. I will now vacate the role of the chair of this AGM back to your re-elected chairman. Thank you.
Thanks, Ian, and thank you, shareholders, for your support. I am very privileged to continue as your chairman. The next item of business is to consider the re-election of Lindsay Tanner. As I mentioned when introducing Lindsay, he brings to Suncorp significant skills and experience acquired through working at the highest levels of government and business for over 35 years. Lindsay made a significant contribution to the work of the Customer Committee until rotating off the committee in October last year, but he continues to add significant value as a director of our New Zealand subsidiary boards. There's much more detail in the Notice of Meeting, and I'll allow Lindsay now to speak to his re-election.
Thanks, Christine, and good afternoon, everybody, and thank you very much for attending. I've been privileged to serve on the Suncorp board for the past six and a half years or so. I'm very proud of my role at Suncorp and of the company. I currently serve on the Risk Committee, and for the last couple of years, I've been serving as the group board representative on the various Suncorp New Zealand boards, which of course entails significant regular travel to Auckland and a much more detailed involvement in the scrutiny and oversight of our New Zealand businesses, which are going very well, and of course post the sale of the bank, loom significantly larger in the total array of Suncorp's overall business. While having some significant challenges, as all insurers do around the world, it is very much positioned to succeed and prosper in future years.
I bring to the table a range of professional expertise in specific areas, most particularly, obviously, in the realm of government and regulatory matters, going back both to my past as former Minister for Finance and Deregulation, but also in the fourteen years since that time, from a range of corporate and board responsibilities that I've held. I also can contribute expertise in areas such as governance and employee issues, and most particularly, in the area of personal injuries, which is a very significant part of Suncorp's business that tends not to get a huge amount of publicity. I've got a significant professional background in that area, and I'm very passionate about strengthening and building what is already a great part of Suncorp's business.
Finally, over the six or so years I've been on the board, throughout that entire time, the landscape for Suncorp has very much been dominated by big, unusual challenges. First, the Royal Commission, then, of course, COVID, and more recently, the process of selling the bank, which you've already heard has been protracted and very complex and has still got some iterations to go. I believe now we're positioned for a new era, and although there are many challenges, it is going to be an area of great opportunity for Suncorp to improve even more as an insurer, do great things for our communities, both in Australia and New Zealand, and step up at a time when insurance is more important for ordinary people than it's ever been. I seek your support to continue my role on the board, and again, thank you very much for contributing to this AGM.
Thank you, Lindsay. So details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM show that there is support in excess of 98%, that's been pre-lodged. But more importantly, or as importantly, would any shareholder here in Brisbane wish to ask a question on Lindsay's re-election? Now, move to your microphone. And I can see there's a question at microphone number two.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Steven Mabb, who is a proxy holder.
Thank you. Lindsay, many shareholders like their directors to have significant skin in the game, or, you know, shares in the business. As you mentioned, you've been on the board for six years. We know Suncorp has a policy internally that directors are required to hold a year's worth of base fees. ASA really prefers that you hold a year's worth of total fees that you collect as a director. You're not quite there, despite a significant rise in the share price this year. So the question is, will you consider increasing your shareholding in the coming year to get you up to a full year's worth of fees?
Thanks, Mr. Mabb. If that's okay, I'll take that question rather than direct it to Mr. Tanner, because it does apply to all board directors. Suncorp does have a minimum shareholding requirement, which requires all directors to accumulate a holding equivalent to 100% of their base fees. We recognize that you would like that base line to be different, but that's the policy we have at the moment, and all directors, including Lindsay Tanner, comply with that. So thank you. Are there, there's another question from microphone number two?
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Ken Ryan, who is a shareholder.
Good morning, Mr. Ryan.
Good morning. Thank you, Chairman. When Mr. Tanner first came on the board, I was very pleased, and I'm extremely pleased to once again support his re-election, and that he's agreed to put himself forward once again. He's a man of great experience and well-respected over many years, and with stormy times ahead, I'm sure as an insurance company, we've got all our eggs in one basket now, so they say. We might have stormy waters, and we need some very experienced and capable people to steer us through that. A quick question to Mr. Tanner.
It's a fairly minor question, but I wonder sometimes whether Suncorp is just a little bit too generous in settling small insurance claims, and that might be sort of some element in pushing up our insurance premiums. I think about the town of Warwick, where I have a connection with. They say there was a bit of a hailstorm there a couple of years ago. I've got an interest in a property there, and none of my plants were damaged, and I got up on the roof, and I couldn't see any holes or anything. It's got a Zincalume roof on it. But all over town, people are getting new roofs on their houses.
Bang, bang, bang, all over the place! One street, there were three houses in a row. Three old houses that got brand-new roofs on them. So I wonder, is Suncorp just trying to keep in good with the community, or are they settling some of these claims a bit too quickly, just to have good public relations? So as a member of the Risk Committee, would you keep an eye on that, please? Thank you.
Thanks, Mr. Ryan. I assure you that, Mr. Tanner and, Mr. West, who's the chair of the Risk Committee, have a very eagle eye on, settling of claims, and, we'll make sure that your comments get passed through. I've also seen streets similar to the one you've just described, with lots of roofs, as has our CEO, so we're very mindful of that. That appears to address all of the questions, on Lindsay's re-election here in Brisbane. I do have a question online, I believe, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. I can confirm we have received a question online, and it comes from Stephen Mayne. Question: Could Lindsay provide his perspective on whether he believes it would be viable to have shareholder restrictions lifted if there is a change of government in Queensland? Could the Chair also comment on what barriers currently stand in the way of Suncorp being taken over, and whether she believes this would be achievable if a foreign insurance giant launched a takeover bid? Could Lindsay also provide his perspective on whether FIRB would likely block such a deal?
Thanks, Mr. Mayne, for your thoughtful question. I think, it won't surprise you that I see these questions that you've posed as really matters for governments rather than individual directors. So, I'll note those questions, but I won't comment on behalf of either the Queensland or federal government. Any more questions online?
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the questions received via the online platform for this item of business.
As that addresses all the questions and comments on Lindsay's re-election, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Lindsay's re-election are again on the screen and well, in excess of 98%, for those shareholders who, like me, are struggling to read that in the room. Taking that into account, and the total number of shares being voted today, this resolution is also, has also been passed, so congratulations, Lindsay! I will now move to the re-election of Duncan West. Duncan's strong insurance expertise, including significant experience as an executive leading general insurance businesses, has strengthened the board's existing strong insurance skill set.
In particular, he has made a significant contribution to the outputs of the Risk Committee since becoming chairman of that committee in 2023. More detail of that is set out in the Notice of Meeting. Duncan has been a director since 2021, and he is seeking re-election for his second term. I and Duncan's fellow directors are fully supportive of him standing for re-election today. I'll now invite Duncan to speak about his experience and commitment to Suncorp.
Thank you, Christine, and good afternoon, everyone. It's my pleasure to be able to address you this afternoon. Lucky last of the directors. I've been on your board for three years and have thoroughly enjoyed the privilege. I come to your board with over forty years of insurance and wider financial services experience, having had very senior leadership roles in organizations based in the U.K., India and Australia. I believe that my deep insurance and broad leadership experience has been of value to the board over the last three years and will be even more relevant as we are now a standalone trans-Tasman insurer. We operate in a complex, challenging and volatile environment. I hope that my experience, combined with a strategic and thoughtful approach, will help your company to continue to navigate this environment effectively...
I have looked to work in the interest of all shareholders and collaboratively with management. I have served on a range of committees, and as Christine mentioned, I last year took on the chair of the Risk Committee from Sally Herman, who had done an outstanding job. Working closely with our Chief Risk Officer, Bridget Messer, and the wider management team, this is a vital role within a financial institution, as we oversee the key risks and controls within a large and complex organization. At all times, I have sought to serve diligently with a clear focus on all our stakeholders, especially our customers, people, shareholders, and regulators. Your board is a hardworking and experienced team, who bring a diverse range of skills, experience, and perspective, and this is important. I hope that I've added to that, and if re-elected, commit myself to continuing to serve you. Thank you.
Thank you, Duncan. Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to Duncan's re-election now appear on the screen, and again, voting well in excess of 96%. Importantly, an opportunity for any shareholders or proxy holder here in Brisbane to ask a question of Duncan's re-election. Could you now please move to the microphone, or we will go to questions online? You won't get off this lightly in the boardroom, Duncan, so we'll go, any questions online in relation to this resolution?
Thank you, Chairman. I can confirm that there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
As that addresses Duncan's re-election with no questions, could you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this, again, on the screen, and taking into account those votes and the total number of votes being voted today in the room, this resolution is also very well passed. Congratulations, Duncan. The next item of business is to seek approval for an increase in the fee pool that's used to remunerate your board's non-executive director fees. For those in the room wanting to ask a question on this item, please move to a microphone.
The fee pool is currently AUD 3.5 million per annum and has not been increased since it was approved by shareholders 17 years ago in 2007, well before my time, I must say. This fee pool represents the maximum total that all of your board's non-executive directors could be paid each year. If approved by shareholders, the fee pool will increase by AUD 500,000 to AUD 4 million per year. All fees paid to Suncorp Group directors are included in this pool. That includes fees in relation to operating on New Zealand boards, as set out in the Notice of Meeting. We are not increasing non-executive director fees, so this is the pool, not the fees themselves, except for obviously, the legislative increase in the superannuation guarantee contribution, which we are required to follow as a matter of law.
As also disclosed in the Notice of Meeting, average non-executive director tenure is currently six years, so the proposed increase in the fee pool will provide the board with flexibility it needs to continue board renewal and board committee composition changes in an orderly manner, while maintaining appropriate continuity. This balance of renewal and continuity is important as the board continues to build the necessary skills and experience to govern Suncorp as a leading trans-Tasman insurer. Given each non-executive director has an interest in this resolution, your board makes no recommendation in this resolution. However, I will advise you that the proxy, the direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution, show that it is supported well in excess of 99%. Do any shareholders in the room have a question on microphones one or two?
We'll now go online for any questions, Belinda, as there are none in the room.
Thank you, Chairman. I can confirm we have received a question on the online platform. The question is asked by shareholder Stephen Mayne: Did any of the five main proxy advisors, ACSI, Ownership Matters, Glass Lewis, ISS, and ASA, recommend a vote against any of today's resolutions, including this fee cap rise proposal? If so, what reasons did they give?
Thank you, Mr. Mayne. Each of the five main proxy advisors and the ASA have supported the resolutions at today's meeting, including this fee cap proposal, rise proposal.
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the questions received via the online platform for this item of business.
As that addresses all the questions and comments, would you mind now, voting using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of the proxy votes and proxies lodged prior, in combination with your votes in this room, show that this resolution will also be strongly carried with votes in excess of 99%. So Resolution five is passed. The next item of business relates to the renewal of proportional takeover provisions in the Suncorp Constitution. For those in the room wanting to ask a question on this item of business, please move to a microphone now. These provisions were first approved by shareholders at the 2013 AGM, were reapproved by shareholders at the 2016, 2019, and 2022 AGMs.
Under the Corporations Act and the Constitution, the provisions must be reapproved at least every three years, or they cease to have effect. If approved by shareholders, the provisions will operate on the same basis as previously for a further three years from today, and additional details are again set out in the Notice of Meeting. Your board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this special resolution, and the details of the proxies and votes lodged prior to the meeting are again on the screen, and I can assure you that the support is in excess of 99%. Would any shareholders or proxy holders in Brisbane like to ask a question on this resolution? No, Belinda, I think are there any questions online.
Chairman-
Relations to this resolution?
I can confirm we have received a question for this line, this item of business on the online platform. The question comes again from our shareholder, Mr. Stephen Mayne. Mr. Mayne asks, "Do we really need to renew this proportional takeovers provision? I own tiny holdings in around 400 companies and have never received a proportional takeover, but have voted on hundreds of these resolutions. What is the point? Does anyone ever launch proportional takeovers, and what is wrong with it if they did?
Mr. Mayne, I have some sympathy with that position because I have to go through it every three years myself. But the legislation does say that we have to renew these provisions every three years or they expire. So we do think it's important that this protection is offered to shareholders.
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the questions received via the online platform for this item of business.
As that is the only question on this, would you please now vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? And as I mentioned earlier, the details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution are in excess of 99%, and again, shown on the screen. Those votes together with the total number of shares being voted here today show that this special resolution will be passed. The last two items of business, and thank you for your patience, this has been a long AGM with a lot of resolutions, are annual remuneration matters. And if you're here with us in Brisbane and you'd like to ask a question on the last two items, please move closer to a microphone now.
The first of these is the advisory vote on the FY 2024 Remuneration Report, which all shareholders have had the opportunity to review. I would again like to thank, Miss Sylvia Falzon, who's been re-elected to the board today, for the work that you put in together with the team, to ensure that we have clarity and transparency, which, Mr. Mabb was very generous in acknowledging today in presenting our Remuneration Report. Your board believes the remuneration arrangements, as outlined in the Remuneration Report, are strategically aligned and drive performance. We also believe we've awarded fair and reasonable STI outcomes to the CEO and the executive leadership team, having regard to overall performance, including the successful separation of Suncorp Bank.
In setting our remuneration arrangements, we have a program of active engagement with institutional investors, proxy advisors, and the Australian Shareholders Association, and we also take into account feedback from shareholders, including retail shareholders, more generally. Noting that each director has a personal interest in their own remuneration from the company, as described in the Remuneration Report, the board recommends shareholders vote in favor of this resolution. The details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution now appear on the screen, and the vote is in excess of 98%. Belinda, could you please read any Remuneration Report questions we received in advance of the meeting, while others might move toward the microphone?
Thank you, Chairman. We have received a question from shareholder, Mr. Stephen Burrows, who asks: "Could the chair please provide shareholders with an update on the performance of the non-financial components of the LTI? That is, how Suncorp fared relatively at thirty June 2024 for customer NPS and Trust and Reputation.
Thank you, Mr. Burrows. We, like other financial services organizations, are required to include non-financial metrics into our LTI, to comply with APRA requirements. In terms of how the non-financial measures are tracking as at 30 June 2024, relative customer NPS outcomes against our comparator group are tracking at 75% vesting, and relative Trust and Reputation outcomes against our comparator group are tracking at 100% vesting. The board closely monitors these metrics. Regarding NPS, I know that there's been and management has a firm action plan in place to address the issues, and I'm pleased to see that we're starting to see that coming through. Next question, please, Belinda.
Thank you, Chairman. Shareholder, Ms. Natasha Lee, asks, "Long-term incentive remuneration appears to be tested over a three-year horizon. Many companies have moved to four or five-year horizons for long-term incentive measures. Will the board move to longer periods to test the long-term incentives?
Thank you, Ms. Lee. There was a three-year performance period for the FY 2024 long-term incentives allocations, as aligned to our business planning process. However, from FY 2025, so the grant being put to the meeting today, the performance period will be extended to four years to create alignment between executive reward outcomes and shareholder experience over that longer term. Deferral, however, continues beyond this, with a total deferral period of four to six years for our Group CEO and four to five years for other executives, and this information is all set out on page 64 of the Remuneration Report. Are there any further pre-submitted questions, Belinda?
Thank you, Chairman. That concludes the questions received in advance for this item of business, and we can now move to questions in the room.
I have a question from microphone number two.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Steven Mabb, who is a proxy holder?
Thank you. Just got a quick question on the short-term incentive. Historically, for overperformance, our Group CEO could qualify for up to 150% payment against his base pay. This year, I think it's changed to 100%. So the question really is, why the change? What was the motivation, and is that correct that the CEO is no longer incentivized for overperformance on the STI component?
Thanks, Mr. Mabb. I'm going to let Ms. Falzon answer that, not because I don't know the answer, but my voice is starting to fail me.
Thank you for the question. It's a very good observation, and it really came about as a consequence of our compliance with CPS 511, which is the new requirements under APRA, because there is a certain percentage that needs to be deferred over that extended period in terms of variable remuneration. So it really comes down to a mathematical calculation. So what, in fact, has occurred is that for Steve's maximum under the STI, it was originally 150% as a maximum he could achieve. That's reduced to 100%. However, his LTI, that previously was 100%, has increased to 150%. So that really was driven by our requirement to comply with that CPS 511 deferral requirement.
Thanks, Sylvia. Are there any other questions on the Remuneration Report in the room? No. So we'll now go to any questions online in relation to this resolution.
Chairman, I can confirm that there are no online or phone questions for this item of business.
I have to say, that's a record in the last few years, so that's congratulations to the Remuneration Committee for doing such a good job of disclosure to shareholders. As that addresses that particular item, would you now please vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card? Details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM are shown on the screen, and again, I assure you the votes at present are in excess of 98%. Taking those votes into account and the number of votes being voted here today, Resolution seven will be passed.
The last item of business, before we have a cup of tea, I hope, is to seek shareholder approval of the grant of 188,624 performance rights to your CEO and Managing Director, Steve Johnston. These performance rights will represent the CEO's long-term incentive remuneration for the FY for the 2025 financial year. The purpose of the long-term incentive allocation is to focus our CEO on Suncorp's long-term strategy, business strategy, align his interests with those of shareholders, and support the creation of long-term shareholder value. As set out in the Notice of Meeting, the LTI performance period has been extended from three to four years, with total deferral period being over four to six years.
The performance measures are based on relative Total Shareholder Return, relative customer Net Promoter Score, and relative Trust and Reputation, and consistent with those used for the CEO's 2024 LTI grant. There's a lot more detail in the Notice of Meeting. The board, with Steve Johnston abstaining, recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this resolution, and again, on the screen, we have details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the AGM in relation to this resolution, and the votes in support of this resolution are in support of in excess of 98%. Are there any questions from shareholders or proxy holders here in Brisbane on this resolution? Microphone number two.
Thank you, Chairman. May I please introduce Steven Mabb, who is a proxy holder.
I think, Mr. Mabb, we're gonna make you a star performer for this year's AGM. We better give you two cups of tea.
No, no. Last question, just a quick one. First of all, commend you on extending the LTI going forward to four years. That's much appreciated. The quick question was just around TSR as one of your measures. One thing that really frustrates retail shareholders is when long-term incentives are awarded in those hopefully very rare years at Suncorp, where shareholder return's negative. So we understand you have relative TSR, but is any consideration being given to not awarding management LTI when you have a negative year from a shareholder's perspective? Thank you.
I think if you look at our history, you'll see the deferral in the past. But Sylvia, did you want to comment on the TSR question?
So I think more broadly, what we're going to do now, given that we are a trans-Tasman insurer with the successful sale of the bank, the people in Remuneration Committee, together with the board, will be sitting down in about six weeks to re-look at the model that we have. And so I think, again, all of these issues will come up to see, is there some things we should be considering? And, and definitely that will be one of them, as well as ensuring that when we look at the measures on the long-term incentive, just to ensure that they are aligned now in terms of being a pure Tasman insurer. So I think to your point, Stephen, it's really about now a review, and we've got that opportunity to do it, so we'll take certainly on that feedback.
Thank you. There don't appear to be any more questions in the room on this resolution. There is a question online. Belinda, would you like to read that, please?
Thank you, Chairman. The question received online is from shareholder Mr. Stephen Mayne, who asks: "Could the CEO summarize his past LTI grants as to whether they have vested or lapsed? Also, has he ever sold any ordinary shares in the company or bought any on market without relying on an incentive scheme to build his equity position in the company? Please don't say, 'Look it up in the annual report and through ASX announcement.' It's complicated, and the CEO could factually summarize the situation in sixty seconds.
I'll just start with saying that the FY 2022 LTI grant, 55.5% met the performance measures and will vest in August next year. FY 2021 LTI grant, 84.6% vested, and the FY 2020 grant, and prior to this, there was no vesting. I don't believe you've any, ever sold any shares.
No. Look, I think I'm very happy to add a little bit of color to that. It is always a bit awkward going through your financial details in front of thousands of your closest friends. But given you allocate these shares to me, it's only fair that this question get asked. I think that there might have been a couple of LTIs that vested for me when I was a manager in the company, general manager in the company, significantly at a lower status than I am today, maybe 2013 or 2014. But I'm sorry, Stephen, I'm going to have to really refer back to the ASX to really get confirmation of that. I had my first allocation of shares, like Mr.
Johnston over here, who's no relative of mine, but a very articulate shareholder. I got my first allocation of shares in two thousand and six, and they came to me at the strike price of $20. So we're on our way back, and my desire is to turn them from a capital loss into a capital gain. I did sell some share, a small parcel of shares when I, again, probably two thousand and eleven, two thousand and twelve, I think it was. When I say a small parcel, maybe a couple of thousand. I'm just really racking my brain. The reason for that was I was keen to, we were keen to do a renovation on our bathroom or something like that. I thought it prudent to do that.
I've never sold another share, and I've always established a principle that, financially, want to be in a position to be able to not be in a position to sell shares, 'cause I don't think that's the right thing for a Chief Executive to do. Equally, I haven't bought any shares, and there's been plenty of times when I would have liked to, but I just feel a little bit uncomfortable buying shares on the open market and the hindsight test, people, you know, CEO, you always got a lot of information at your disposal. Haven't bought any shares, but equally, don't own any shares outside. Suncorp have a substantial holding in the company and, have not sold any since I've been the CFO and the CEO, and only a small parcel outside that.
Thanks, Steve. And I think your current holdings are well disclosed in the Remuneration Report. I know they are. I don't think there are any further questions online, so that addresses all the questions and comments on this resolution. So if you could now please vote using the voting card in the online portal, the LinkVote+ app, or your paper voting card. And details of direct votes and proxies lodged prior to the meeting in relation to this resolution are shown on the screen. And again, I assure you they are in excess of 98% in favor, for those who can't read the screen. So taking those votes into account and the total number of shares being voted today, this Resolution eight is also passed.
So I can also confirm now that we have seven hundred and fifty-nine shareholders and voting holders and other attendees, attending these proceedings. So thank you for doing that, because it's been quite a packed agenda. So, Belinda, before I move to close the meeting, do we have any shareholder questions that have not been addressed during today's meetings?
Chairman, I can confirm that there are no further questions or comments to be addressed during the meeting.
That concludes the business of the meeting, and the poll will remain open for a further five minutes to enable you to complete and submit your online or paper voting participation card. If you're in Brisbane and you need assistance with your voting card, please see a team member, and if you're online and need assistance, please contact the share registry online AGM support team on 1800 990 363.
Once the share registry has counted the votes cast during the meeting, the results of the poll will be advised to the ASX later today and will also be available on the Suncorp website. A replay of today's AGM webcast, for those of you who want to do that, will also be available on our website. We will have some opportunities to meet with some of the directors and executives, outside over a cup of tea, and that does conclude the business of the meeting, and I declare the meeting closed. Thank you very much for taking the time to come.