AGM 2024

May 7, 2024

Esteemed shareholders, a warm welcome to the shareholder meeting 2024 of Investor. I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those of you who joined us for this year's excellent Investor dialogue if you ask me, good questions, and a very nice tradition that I value as well as Johan. Thank you very much. 2023 has been a good year for Investor and a good year for our portfolio companies. Investor has continued to deliver higher returns than the market. Even if we did perform well, as did our companies, there are, as we know, many challenges in our ever more complex world. In a time of great geopolitical uncertainty, it is important to be able to be agile and to quickly take action, responding to potential changes. Now, let me say a few words about the two major wars. Only just over 1,000 kilometers from Stockholm, Ukraine are bravely defending themselves against the Russian army. In the Middle East, in addition to all the suffering locally, there is a war being waged which has an impact on global supply chains like we discussed earlier today. Our companies work hard to manage the consequences of all this. As I mentioned a year ago, this period is characterized in addition by polarization and an increase in protectionism. We hear Make America Great Again. We hear Make China Great Again. What does that mean to us, to Europe? Unfortunately, the situation has far from improved. On the contrary, we see more protectionism, not less. In the autumn, we will see the elections in the U.S. Regardless who wins that election, it's going to be very important to safeguard and strengthen the Transatlantic relationship. We also have elections in Europe one month from now. I would very much like to take the opportunity to say that I hope you all will take this opportunity to vote in the European elections. The fact that EU works as a cohesive market is important for our companies, for their competitiveness, and thereby also for the jobs they create, and for wellbeing and prosperity in our country and elsewhere. It's important to us all. I am truly concerned by the prospects of EU competitiveness in the short and the long term. In 2008, the EU and the U.S. were on an equal footing measured in GDP. Today, 15 years later, the U.S. totals 25% more size-wise than the EU and the U.K. combined. 25% greater in 15 years. What happened? What does it take? What do we need to do? Well, we need to invest more in research and development. We need smarter, simpler EU regulations, and we need a better, more well-functioning single market, the factor that keeps the EU together in cohesion. We at Investor, as I mentioned earlier, we always focus on generating a total shareholder return. To achieve this, we need to make sure that Investor and our companies are resilient, have strong cash flows and strong balance sheets. With other words, our companies need to continue to focus on digitalization, artificial intelligence, sustainability. If they fail to do so, they very much risk falling behind. We call this future-proofing, and I have the impression that our companies that we work with take these issues extremely seriously. By way of conclusion, as I've mentioned several times already, our people they are our most important asset, and we work relentlessly to identify, recruit, and develop the next generation's leaders. In this context, I would like to turn of course to Johan Forssell, who after nine years in the position as CEO of Investor, has now chosen to leave the company. I'm going to be thanking him more formally during one of the agenda items of today's meeting. Thank you nevertheless to Johan already at this stage for his excellent leadership during this period. I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank all the employees of Investor and you, fellow shareholders, for your support and the confidence you've shown in Investor. Hereby I declare the Annual General Meeting of shareholders of Investor 2024 opened. Our first agenda item is election of the chair of the meeting. Here I would also like to say that the secretary for this meeting will be Petra Hedengran on my right. She is the General Counsel of the company, and she will be taking the minutes. Next to me I also have the CEO President, Johan Forssell. I've already mentioned him. The Nominations Committee has proposed lawyer Eva Hägg to chair the meeting, and she is here next to me as well. Can the meeting approve that proposal and elect her? Thank you. Thank you, and thank you for the confidence shown in me. Before we continue with the agenda items proper, I would like to mention that the Board of Directors has decided to make this AGM more available for shareholders and others, and this is done by broadcasting the AGM on the company website. However, those participants cannot vote or ask questions. We also have with us here in these premises invited guests. We will only film, it should be said, at the podium and the rostrum. You have received a voting device upon entry, and they are to be used where we have a qualified majority decision. We continue with agenda item 2, where we have drawing up and approval of a voting list. Participation in this meeting happens in different manners. We have shareholders participating on the premises here. We have shareholders who have submitted postal votes. We have a voting notification register. We have a compilation of the postal votes. The postal votes make up about 81% of the shares and 92% of the votes in that notification list. Shareholders who have submitted postal votes and who are also here today, that postal vote is still valid unless you participate here. If you want to vote here, you can revoke that postal vote. The postal votes have also been submitted into the system. The proposed voting register is the list that has been established by Euroclear Sweden AB based on the share registry, those who have notified their attendance and postal votes have received. That list has been distributed here today, shareholders who have notified their attendance have also been ticked off when they came here today. Those who have submitted postal votes have been registered as being present. Those who have not shown up here today or have not submitted their postal votes, they have been deleted from that list. The proposal is that this adjusted list will be the voting register for today's meeting. We have just over 61% of all shares and just over 79% of total number of votes in the company represented here today at the meeting. I ask the meeting if the meeting can approve that voting list. Thank you. It has been approved. That takes us to item 3, where we have approval of the agenda. The agenda is included in the notice and has been distributed here today. Can the meeting approve that agenda? Thank you. It has been approved. We have item 4, where we have election of 1 or 2 persons to attest to the accuracy of the minutes from today. The secretary has asked Javiera Ragnartz, SEB Asset Management, and Maria Nilsson from Swedbank Robur Funds to attest to the minutes, and they have declared themselves willing to do so. Perhaps I could ask you to stand up so that we can confirm that you are here today. Thank you. Can these 2 proposed individuals be elected? Thank you. They have been elected. That takes us to item 5, where we have determination of whether the meeting has been duly convened. A notice has been given in accordance with the articles of association and the Company's Act. Can the meeting resolve that it has been duly convened? That has been so resolved. Item 6, which is the presentation of the parent company's annual report and the auditor's report, as well as the consolidated financial statement, and the auditor's report of the Investor group. The annual report and the auditor's report has been printed and sent to shareholders who have requested to receive it. It's been available at the company. It's available here today. The documents therefore have been duly presented. Under this item on the agenda, we will hear the address by the auditor, followed by that of the company's CEO. I will open up for questions and statements from shareholders during the Q&A session. Now I would like to give the floor to chartered public accountant Jonas Ståhlberg from Deloitte. You have the floor. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Jonas Ståhlberg, and I represent Deloitte. I'm responsible for the audit of Investor. By way of introduction, I can inform you that we've submitted an unqualified, so-called clean auditor's report for the financial year 2023. It can be found on pages 159 to 161 in the annual report document. Before I present the conclusions of our auditor's report, I'm going to briefly submit and present a few comments on the audit. The audit is led by the central team here in Stockholm. In addition, we also have local audit teams for the subsidiaries owned by Investor. We give instructions from the central team to the auditors of the subsidiaries on how to perform the audit. We are in regular close contact with them, and they also formally report on the outcome of their review and audit to us. The audit for the year is based on an audit plan, which we present and discuss with the Audit and Risk Committee. We did this at the beginning of 2023, and it was then adopted for the full year audit. The outcome of our audit has been reported continuously, regularly to senior management and to the Audit and Risk Committee. On six occasions in total, we've submitted written and oral reports to the Audit and Risk Committee. In connection with the full year accounts being presented, I also met with the Board of Directors as a whole to present the work we've performed. In connection with that meeting, we also discussed with the Board of Directors without the presence of senior management and under the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance, this is an important issue. The audit of Investor covers a large number of areas. I'm not going to go through all of them, but there are a few areas that are of particular importance, which we also outline in our auditor's report, the key audit matters. Briefly, we've identified 3. The first one is governance over financial reporting, internal governance. Secondly, valuation of both listed and unlisted investments and assets. Thirdly, valuation of goodwill. These areas have been listed as key audit matters on previous years as well. A few words on each of them. When it comes to the first area, we assess, in particular, the instructions and governance by senior management of the subsidiaries so that they comply with the principles established by Investor for their reporting. We also ensure that there are relevant IT controls to support financial reporting, and in particular, that there are functioning procedures for quality assurance. Our assessment is that Investor has well-functioning procedures in this area. The second key audit matter is the valuation of other assets, the non-subsidiaries. Here as well, our impression is that the company has good procedures in place, and they are applied consistently over time. That's an important factor to ascertain. Thirdly, the assessment by Investor of the goodwill, which is included in the balance sheet for the group, considerable values. This includes evaluating methods and assumptions made by the company. Here as well, we've concluded that the values can be justified for all the subsidiaries, with one exception, Atlas Antibodies, where depreciations have been made to the tune of SEK 800 million. This impairment has been reviewed by us, and we agree with the conclusions. In addition to these more financial aspects, we've also continued an in-depth discussion with senior management and with the Audit and Risk Committee concerning the new European Union reporting requirements on sustainability reporting, the CSRD. This was intended to enter into force during 2024. However, it is likely now going to be delayed by one year for large Swedish listed companies with the calendar year as the reporting basis. Investor is one of those. What's important is that Investor has made very extensive preparations in our assessment, but it's important that senior management and the Audit and Risk Committee remain focused, as well as the board in its entirety, on what's going to happen in the future in this area, because this is extensive regulatory requirements. We've also reviewed how the company complies with the guidelines for remuneration to senior executives and we've submitted a special opinion to the annual meeting, and we have no outstanding comments to report. All in all, the Investor financial information is of high quality, it gives a true and fair picture of the operations, and it's established in accordance with the regulatory frameworks. From our auditor's report, we can confirm that we recommend to the meeting of shareholders to adopt the income statement and the balance sheet for the parent company and the group. That the profit be appropriate in accordance with the proposal in the Statutory Administration Report, and that the members of the Board of Directors and Managing Director be discharged from liability for the financial year. Thank you. Thank you very much. That takes us to item 7, where we're going to hear from the CEO President, and I would like to hand over to Johan Forssell. [Foreign language] Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. Honored shareholders, guest, let me as well wish you warmly welcome to this year's Annual General Meeting. It's gratifying to see so many of you here today. Of course, this is a very special day for me. I've had the honor, the privilege to work for Investor for 30 years, the 9 most recent years as the CEO. Now I'm here for the last time in that capacity as the CEO of the company, and I'll get back to that later on during my presentation. We are in a challenging environment. The global economy has, however, held up relatively well. As you know, many consumers find things challenging. In important economies like Germany, for example, the situation is weak. The geopolitical situation has deteriorated. We have the horrific war in Ukraine and the Middle East. They continue, and the relationships between the USA and China are tense, to say the least. On a more positive note, we see that disruptions in supply chains have decreased, and we've also seen inflation come down from earlier peaks. Important economists expect interest rates to continue down. How quickly and how much? Well, that is something that is a matter of lively debate. In spite of this challenging world around us, 2023 was a strong year for Investor. Our adjusted net asset value reached SEK 1,818 billion and was up 24%. Our total shareholder return was at 26% to be compared with the Stockholm Stock Exchange that was up 19%. It's also gratifying to see that the beginning of 2024 has been strong. End of Q1, the net asset value had increased to new record level of SEK 915 billion, an increase with 12% over the quarter. Our subsidiaries in Patricia Industries, they continue to develop nicely with profits of 10% up and our listed companies, as we have seen, they've also had a strong beginning of the year. We've seen many nice reports from Q1. Regardless of the environment around us and what it looks like, we at Investor have a clear purpose. We want to create value for people and society by building strong and sustainable businesses. This is our portfolio where we have our amazing companies and together with these companies we will reach that purpose and create value for you shareholders. As many of you know, we have our assets divided into three different business areas. Our listed companies make up 68%. Patricia Industries, where we have our wholly owned subsidiaries, make up 22% and then finally we have investments in EQT making up around 10% of our assets. We do have a clear strategy. Our ultimate target is to generate an attractive total return for you and this is something that we are to do by focusing on our strategic and operational priorities. Before looking more into the future, let me quickly look at how we have delivered on these ultimate targets and our strategic priorities and I would like to start with the share price and the return. The blue bars show the Investor average annual return over one, five, 10 and 20 years. The gray bars show the developments of the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the orange line that you can see is our return requirement being eight to nine % per year. Regardless of what time period we look at, the Investor share has outperformed the stock exchange and our return requirement as well and it's gratifying to see that we've beat the stock exchange for 13 consecutive years and I would like to show you a couple of examples what this means looking at a 10-year period. If you invested SEK 1,000 in SIXRX at the Stockholm Stock Exchange 10 years ago, it would have grown to SEK 3,000 today, that investment. Had you invested SEK 1,000 in the blue line being Investor, it would have grown to close to SEK 6,000. This tells us that there is a difference of around 8% per year, and you can see what that means over a period of time. Our target is to continue to generate a good strong return. In order to be successful, we have three strategic priorities: To grow net asset value, to pay a ever rising dividend, and to reach our sustainability objectives. The last five years, our adjusted net asset value has gone up 20% per year, which is about twice our return requirement. The last 10 years we have increased our dividend every year with one exception and that was the year when the pandemic started and that of course was an extreme situation. This year we have a proposal from the board of directors being a dividend of SEK 4.80, an increase with 9% compared to the previous year and that is also in line with the average increase that we have seen over the last 10 years. Our third strategic priority is to deliver on our ESG targets. We have 3 focus areas and for these areas we have specific targets that we follow up continuously. We have climate and resource efficiency and this is an area where we do not just have big business opportunities but it's also something that's incredibly important to manage all the climate challenges that we see across the globe and a lot is happening here within our companies. All our companies today have targets, objectives that are in line with the Paris Agreement. Emissions from the company's own activities, what is usually referred to as the Scope 1 and 2, they have been reduced with 65% compared to the base year 2016 and that is an improvement with 8% compared to last year. Diversity and inclusion is another prioritized area. We are convinced that with different perspectives and different backgrounds we will have better decision making. The number of women on the board of directors, that number is going up and is now 37% compared to 33% last year. However, it's still not enough, and this is still something that we will continue to work with. More and more of our companies measure the perceived level of inclusion, and in 2023, 96% of our companies had a structured process to measure that inclusion amongst the employees. Business ethics and governance, that is something that is key for us as engaged owners, and we have a zero tolerance against all types of corruption and unethical behavior. All our companies today on a regular basis have anti-corruption training. This was a bit about our strategic priorities and targets, what we want to accomplish with our businesses. I would now like to continue with our operating priorities, how we are to continue to deliver strong results also in the future. We have four operating priorities. To be an engaged owner in our companies, to ensure an attractive portfolio, to operate efficiently, and to ensure that we maintain financial flexibility. I'm going to spend most of my time during this presentation on our role as an engaged owner and the importance of ensuring that we have an attractive portfolio. Let me begin with our role as an engaged owner. I have to go back one slide. Our most important task is to ensure that our companies win in the competition with international competitors, that we're continuously leading developments, and we're working with our companies' boards, managements, and do what is the right thing for the different companies. We have 24 companies that are in different sectors and different set situations. Here we have the slide. In spite of us, well, seeing that we do what is right for each and every company, the understanding that it differs, we have a number of identified prioritized areas for all our companies. Climate transition, digitalization, innovation, corporate structures, and also the succession planning and the talent management. One thing that is important to stress is that at the same time as we support our companies in their efforts to strengthen their long-term competitiveness, at the same time, it's just as important that we never, ever compromise when it comes to efficiency. In the world of today, you need to be able to manage both these components at the same time. Many of our companies, they see significant business opportunities that are linked to the climate transition. Briefly today, I would like to touch upon 2 of these companies, 1 listed, 1 unlisted company. Atlas Copco has been successful in identifying a number of growth areas where they can be the technology leaders and thereby beat the international competitors. Here on the slides you have a few examples. Atlas Copco today has a leading position within tools that are being used for wind turbine assemblies. The company is leading within vacuum technologies and machine vision equipment that is being used for manufacturing solar panels. The Atlas Copco compressors are being used for water treatment, and they also have leading positions within tightening and gluing that is being used for the manufacture of batteries and electric cars. Another company that has taken big steps within the climate area, that is Mölnlycke. 1.5 years ago, a new factory was inaugurated in Malaysia for manufacturing gloves, and this led to better efficiencies and also a reduction of the climate footprint. Recently, a second step was taken where it was decided to close down an old factory in Malaysia and move production to the new factory. That change will improve efficiencies even more and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions with another 5%. Here we're talking about every pair of gloves being produced that equates to a carbon dioxide emission reduction of 5%. Mölnlycke has also recently won two important customer contracts because they are leaders within the sustainability area. One contract for gloves in Sweden and one contract in Sweden for surgical equipment. These were just a couple of examples. We have many such activities that are now underway in our companies within this important area. The companies are spending significant resources on new products being produced, that they are to be more sustainable and more energy efficient than before. Within this area, we feel that there is an enormous potential for business and for climate alike. Rapid digitalization is something which also offers enormous opportunities, and here it's very important to be a leader in AI, not least generative AI. Development is going at a very, very high pace, and so far we've only begun this journey. This is why we're allocating a lot of energy and resources to this particular area. Last year, we implemented a number of training events. We have a lot to learn, all of us. We carried out a number of analyses to gain a better understanding of opportunities and threats. To us, as engaged owners, it's important to prioritize new technology as a focus area for discussion in the boardrooms. AI was the focus area in our network conference during the year, and also in Chair Circle, a forum where we convene all the chairs of our boards of directors in our companies. Let me give a few examples from each of the areas of how we can use this in our companies. Through AI, for example, AstraZeneca can be more rapid and more efficient in developing new pharmaceutical candidates. Piab has produced a new AI-based solution to improve sales work. SEB use AI to develop the banking services of tomorrow. One thing is certain, AI will impact, in one way or another, all of our companies, and a lot remains to be done. In today's ever-changing and rapidly changing world, innovation is more important than ever. It's about producing products and services which can build customer benefit, and we need to do this in a more rapid and a better way than our competitors. New innovative solutions are crucial to gain market shares, and also to reach good profitability levels over time. In 2023, our companies invested in excess of SEK 200 billion in research and development. This is a considerable increase compared to previous years. All innovation does not have to take place organically. Our companies are continuously looking for and identifying value-creating acquisitions, other companies with strong products that will fit in with our companies. Laborie, one of our larger subsidiaries in Patricia, has a strong niche position in urology. They recently acquired a product called Optilume, which you can see here on this picture. It's a highly innovative product with very strong clinical data offering highly effective treatment for patients with urethral stricture and benign prostate enlargement. Since the enlargement, or then this acquisition of the company, we've seen a strong development. During the first quarter 2024, sales for Laborie grew by 21%. About half of that growth came from this particular product. We see great potential in Optilume, and it may become a significant part of Laborie in years to come. To evaluate and improve a company's structure continuously is important to achieve profitable growth. A good example in this area is ABB, under the leadership of CEO Björn Rosengren, where they've decentralized operations and divested non-core activities and instead invested in core business, electrification and automation. This is work which has been an important underlying factor supporting the strong and very good financial development we've seen in the company over the past few years. Having the right person in the right place within Investor and in our companies is crucial for us to succeed as a long-term engaged owner, and this is why we put so much time and resources into broadening, widening, and renewing our network. Our succession planning is a central component in the value creation plans of all of our companies. We also have great focus on developing our employees in Investor, and a good example is Piab. It's not just within Investor, in fact, it's not only in Investor, but also in our companies. One good example is Piab. It's a training program where we train the leaders of tomorrow in our subsidiaries in Patricia. Let me now talk about our second operating priority, securing an attractive portfolio. Over the past 10 years, we've acquired 6 wholly owned subsidiaries in medicinal technology and automation. These companies have strong market positions in attractive industries and segments, and they have excellent profitability. We've strengthened our ownership in several listed companies, in particular in ABB, where we've invested SEK 12 billion and stepped up our ownership from just over 8% to 14%. During this period, we've also sold off. We've divested a number of companies that didn't fit in with our future focus. Aleris, Grand Hôtel, and 60 or so financial investments. To secure an attractive portfolio in the long term, it's also important that we as owners support our companies to co-permanently grow in along the lines of the long-term trends that will benefit our companies. When we invest in new companies, we have a number of criteria that we would like it to seem that they can meet. It's to be an attractive sector of industry, a leading market position, good growth and profitability, a strong offering to customers, healthy corporate culture. That's possibly the most important factor of all. If you look at this list, suffice it to say that we're willing to pay for quality because we know that it pays over time to do so. We see this when we look at the development in Patricia Industries, our wholly owned companies. Total net sales today amounts to almost SEK 64 billion, and profit in the form of EBITDA has now exceeded SEK 15 billion. Investor's portfolio today is very well exposed to attractive long-term trends, strong exposure to automation, electrification, and sustainability through ABB, Atlas Copco, and Piab. Very strong companies in health and healthcare where AstraZeneca and Mölnlycke are our largest investments, and we have good exposure to attractive companies in technology and finance. Our third operating priority is to make sure that we operate our business effectively. In order for us to be able to work with our strategy, be a good owner, and be able to make the most of opportunities, we invest continuously in our organization, and we intend to continue to do so while at the same time working very, very hard to constantly make our processes and our operations more effective. I note that our management costs today amount to less than 0.1% of our net asset value. Our final operating priority is to maintain good financial position. Today, we have a very strong financial position. Our leverage ratio amounts to 1%, which is in the lower range of our target interval of 0%-10%. We have an average maturity on our loans of in excess of 10 years, and we have no loan maturities before 2029. Our strong cash flow, which we've built up, is a great strength for the company because it means that we can both invest in our companies, buy new companies, while at the same time paying a steadily increasing dividend to our shareholders over time. Since 2015, as you can see here, we've generated a cash flow into the company to the tune of SEK 165 billion. Just over half is dividends paid from our listed companies, approximately one-third from our holdings in Patricia Industries, and around 15% net cash flow from EQT. How did we use this cash flow? Well, just over half we've paid out to our shareholders. The remainder, as you can see, we've mainly used to invest in fully owned companies, wholly owned companies, Patricia buying 6 new companies, and a number of important additional investments. amounting to close to SEK 2.5 billion what I just talked about. We have also enhanced ownership in a number of listed companies. Thanks to the strong cash flow that we have, we have also been able to reduce our leverage from 7% to 1% over this time period. The importance of a strong cash flow cannot be overestimated. The world around us might be challenging. Investor is strong. We have a clear strategic focus, we have amazingly nice companies with good growth potential and good profitability. We have a strong financial position. This being my last CEO address, I would like to mention a few things that I feel have been important for the Investor development over these years. We've had a strong focus on two transformative trends that we've seen globally, the technology developments and the climate transition. Another important area has been the focus on decentralization. I have already mentioned ABB, but also the split between Atlas Copco and Epiroc has been something that has been creating value. At Investor, we have built a stronger portfolio. We have bought nice companies, but we have also divested what did not belong to our core activities. We made use of the zero interest rate period. We refinanced the balance sheet at very attractive interest rate levels. Most importantly, I believe, is the time and energy that we spend on finding the right person for the right place. We have all these very talented individuals, and they are what shape our success. I would now like to turn to Christian. Where are you? There you are. I would like to say congratulations. You're now getting the most fun job in the world. I've had the privilege of working together with you for more than 20 years, and I'm convinced that you'll do an amazing job leading Investor as the new CEO. The best of luck. Before concluding, I would like to say thank you to a number of individuals. I would like to start with Jacob and the Board of Directors. Thank you for your support over these years, and thank you also to the Executive Management Team and all coworkers at Investor. I've had the true dream team. Then of course, cannot forget all the talented coworkers that we have out in our companies because they're also so important for the development of Investor. I also would like to say thank you to my family, mainly my wife, who's been supporting me 100%. Last but not least, I would also like to say thank you to you, dear shareholders, for your support, for your confidence. That has also meant a lot. Thank you. Thank you. Now we open up for questions and comments from the shareholders. We have roving microphones here, and if you want to speak, then raise your hand, and we'll make sure that you get a microphone. Please start by introducing yourselves. Please. We have someone at station number 3. It was gratifying to hear what you had to say. All these positive factors that have contributed to the successes of Investor. I do not see any risks that are specific to Investor. I'm not really thinking about the world large, but specific risks for investors in Investor. I just need your name. David. Well, I can begin. Of course, there are always risks. Of course, it depends on what company we're talking about. I would like to say that from a macro perspective, our company, they know that business cycles go up and down. From a longer perspective, well, this is not that much of a concern, I would say, because we have agile companies, and they can adapt. Geopolitical risks with protectionism that is on the rise, that is something that concerns me more. This would be more dangerous, I would say, long term. When it comes to the specific companies, well, I would say that our companies, they're working hard to ensure that they beat the competitors, and that is important. To just move ahead, well, that doesn't really say much. You have to be faster than the competitors. If we were not to invest enough, that would be a risk because then we would risk losing our strong positions. We need to forge ahead, and that is something that we're also continuously focusing on. Of course, that is a risk. Thank you. Do we have more questions? Point 7. Erik Granström is my name. I am here representing Folksam and KPA Pension. I have a sustainability related question about anti-corruption that you also mentioned in your address, Johan. Investor has a very ambitious program, both internally by offering both training and having policies, but know that you also work with your portfolio companies. I'm up here. You work with your portfolio companies in a very structured manner with clear demands on them, et cetera. I'm wondering, you with your long-standing experience of owner governance, do you have any ideas specifically on how to build incentives in companies to also choose to comply with the policies produced? Based on your dialogue with listed and unlisted companies, how can you get the right incentives in place to combat corruption? Thank you very much for this question, thank you for highlighting the sustainability work we do and the work we do in ESG. ESG is a matter of business. It should be integrated in business. It's very, very important. It's about competitiveness for the long term. The best thing is that in most cases, this is something that goes hand-in-hand. To reply specifically to your question, you have to work preemptively trying to be proactive. When you recruit someone, you ensure that you recruit individuals who have the right values. Another component, as we touched upon during the investor dialogue, is that we focus very, very much on training and providing knowledge in this area. You also need structured reviews so that you know that it will be discovered if, unfortunately, you have people who choose not to do what they are supposed to. More important than ever is to have a good corporate environment, a corporate climate that gives priority to integrity and transparency. That's essential as I see it. The tone from the top is very important. If you indicate clearly that you have a 0 tolerance level, well, then you need to make sure that you live according to your values, and it has to be clear. Thank you very much. Any further questions? I cannot see any more raised hands. If there are no further questions, we'll proceed with the agenda. We're at agenda item 8, where we have adoption of the income statement and the balance sheet for the parent company and for the group. We've heard recommendation to approve these from the auditor, I ask the meeting if the meeting can approve this and adopt these documents. That is carried. That takes us to item 9, where we have the Board of Directors' Remuneration Report. That is amongst the materials that has been distributed here today. It's been on the company website and has been sent out to those shareholders who have requested to receive it. Are there questions or comments to this report? If that is not the case, I ask the meeting if the meeting can approve the report. It's carried. Item 10, the discharge from liability for the members of the board of directors and the president for the financial year and the administration of company in 2023 recommended by the auditors, and we note that the members of the board and the president will not take part in this particular resolution. Is the meeting in favor of granting discharge from liability? That's carried. Item 11, the disposition of Investor's earnings. The proposal and the statement by the board on this proposal can be found on page 158 in the annual report. The proposal from the board is to pay a dividend of SEK 4.80 per share distributed across 2 payments, and that the rest be carried, be in the form of retained earnings, SEK 3.60 to be paid with a record date on the 10th of May, and on the second payment, SEK 1.20 per share, record date set to the 11th of November. According to the proposal, we've heard that the auditor is in favor of this proposal. Is the meeting in favor? That's carried. That takes us to a number of agenda items where we have proposals from the Nominations Committee. Before passing these resolutions, I would like to hand over to Leif Johansson, the Chair of the Nominations Committee, who will present the proposals from the Nominations Committee. Please. Thank you, Madam Chair. Honored shareholders, participants. The Nominations Committee leading up to the 2024 AGM has been made up of the chair of the Board of Directors, Jacob Wallenberg, Anders Oscarsson, AMF, Magnus Carlsson from SEB Foundations, Peter Hasle from Elekta, and me, Leif Johansson, appointed by the Wallenberg Foundations. The Nominations Committee proposal and our statement has been distributed here today. Let me begin by saying something about what it means to work in the Board of Directors and the composition of the Board of Directors of Investor. The Nominations Committee is of the opinion that we have a well-functioning board work with high attendance. In order to evaluate the requirements that we have in the future, considering the challenges and the continued focus, here the Nominations Committee has also looked at the size and the composition of the board of directors. We need to think about succession, future planning, where we might need new skills and competencies, and it's also about ensuring that we have a collected expertise within important areas. All this taken into consideration, we propose 2 new directors, Katarina Berg and Mats Rahmström. Katarina Berg has several years of experience from strategic work in the quickly growing technology company Spotify, and also a lot of experience from implementing digitalization in global organizations. Mats Rahmström has extensive global industrial experience and a lot of experience from leadership and business from many years working with Atlas Copco. Last fall, as you've heard, the CEO, Johan Forssell, announced that he will be leaving Investor and the Board of Directors after today's meeting. In December, the company announced the decision by the Board of Directors to appoint Christian Cederholm as of today to be the new CEO director. The Nominations Committee feels that the CEO, just as before, should be a member of the Board of Directors as we propose that Christian Cederholm also be elected as a new director. Katarina, Mats, and Christian, perhaps you could stand up so that we can see you. There you have them, Mats, Katarina, and Christian over there towards the corner. Great. Thank you. The Nominations Committee proposal thus means that we have re-election of all Directors with the exception of Johan Forssell and election of Katarina Berg, Christian Cederholm, and Mats Rahmström. The Nominations Committee feels that the proposed Board of Directors has an appropriate composition and size with enough diversity when it comes to gender, nationality, age, experiences, and that is also characterized by strategically important areas that are important for Investor. One might think that this is a relatively large Board of Directors, but you have to remember that the Nominations Committee has looked at the Investor activities, the fact that there are many different portfolio companies, and therefore it's also important to have many skills and competencies represented on the Board. This could also be seen as one part of a succession planning. The Nominations Committee thus proposes that it is determined that the number of directors should be 13. We also propose that Jacob Wallenberg be re-elected as the Chair of the Board of Directors. That takes us to the remuneration of the Board of Directors. The Nominations Committee proposes that we have remuneration according to what you can see on the screen. We propose that there is an increase, adjusting this to current market levels, and we have here taken into consideration the increased activities that are needed because we have new regulatory requirements. Therefore, we propose a somewhat more structural increase of this remuneration. The proposal means that the basic remuneration be increased with around 5% and the total remuneration with just under 7%. We also propose, as we've done previous years, that there is a policy where directors should, after 5 years, have a stock holding corresponding to at least 1 year's remuneration before tax. To facilitate such a holding, we propose that directors should have the opportunity to receive 50% of the remuneration as synthetic shares. That takes us to auditors. The Nominations Committee proposes, as per recommendation from the Audit and Risk Committee, that Deloitte be elected for another year, and Jonas Ståhlberg would then be the lead auditor. When it comes to auditors' fees, we propose that they be paid according to approved invoice. To conclude, I would like to say thank you to all other members of the Nominations Committee. Thank you. Thank you. Are there questions? That does not seem to be the case. We say thank you. We're then going to resolve. We begin with the 12A, the number of members. We have heard the proposal from the Nominations Committee. Does the AGM want to resolve accordingly? That is carried. That takes us to 12B, the number of auditors. We've heard a proposal from the Nominations Committee. Can the meeting resolve in accordance with that proposal? It is carried. Item 13, the compensation. First, under 13A, for the Board of Directors, you've heard the Nominations Committee's proposal. Does the meeting resolve in accordance with this proposal? Yes, that's carried. 13B, the auditor's fees. You've heard the proposal from the Nominations Committee. Does the meeting resolve in accordance with this proposal? Yes. That brings us to item 14, which the election of members. The meeting has resolved to elect 13 members of the Board. You've heard the proposal from the committee and a presentation of the nominees and their assignments in other companies. It's available in the material distributed here today, and this information has also been found on the company's website and sent out to shareholders who requested to receive it from the company. We will now resolve on one nominee at a time in the order of the proposal from the Nominations Committee. Does the meeting elect Gunnar Brock? Does the meeting elect Magdalena Gerger? Does the meeting elect Tom Johnstone? Does the meeting elect Isabelle Kocher? Does the meeting elect Sven Nyman? Does the meeting elect Grace Reksten Skaugen? Does the meeting elect Hans Stråberg? Does the meeting elect Jacob Wallenberg? Does the meeting elect Marcus Wallenberg? Does the meeting elect Sara Öhrvall? Does the meeting elect Katarina Berg? Does the meeting elect Christian Cederholm? Does the meeting elect Mats Rahmström? I find that the meeting has resolved in accordance with the Nominations Committee's proposal. Before we proceed, I'm going to give the floor to the Chair of the Board, Jacob Wallenberg. You have the floor. I would like to take this opportunity to address Johan. I would like to convey a bit of a more personal thank you from me and the Board of Directors. Thank you for these nine years and your excellent leadership. It is said that you should try to leave a business, a job that is in better condition than when you started. Considering that Investor is a business that has been around for more than 100 years, well, the bar was high. From the beginning, it was high. Already 2015 when you took over, Johan. Investor. Well, then it had been a stronger Investor with a stronger balance sheet and a stronger cash flow. Now, nine years later, you leave Investor with three clear business areas, a tried and tested model for value creation. As you have rightly said, we have a portfolio with important companies with good growth opportunities where the financial position is very strong. Every year under your leadership, you, the colleagues, the company, have managed to perform better than the Stockholm Stock Exchange, and that is impressive and fun. In addition, the company Investor today has a clear sustainability strategy with climate targets that are in line with the Paris Agreement and the 1.5 degrees. You have been working with this. We have talked about it today. You have worked with a clear focus on future-proofing the company with sustainability, with important questions in order to be competitive in the future. Something that I find very fun and interesting is that Investor has become a company that has been very popular among small investors. We've gone from 150,000 shareholders to some 580,000. From 150,000 to 580,000 shareholders. Then on top of that, some pension funds, mutual funds, et cetera. Wow. What you and the colleagues do at Investor, well, that is something that matters for many people in our country. It has not been without difficulties. We have had a number of challenges over these years. I remember Wärtsilä, Ericsson, Electrolux, and Sobi. Each and every time when we've seen such a challenge, well, it has been simple with you because you're down to earth. You do not get stuck in matters of prestige. Working with you, well, you always focus on solutions, and it is about finding that common ground to find that road ahead, what is best for Investor and for you, for us shareholders. In addition, you have been able to create what I at least feel is a great team spirit with many skilled, competent individuals around you. Over the years, your analytical capacity has also been commented on often. You are a numbers guy with a unique ability to find the numbers that stand out, even if you have documents totaling hundreds of pages. You ask the right questions, and these are characteristics that I think will benefit you well when you start next part of your journey. You have already mentioned that you will be a senior, well, senior industrial advisor, working with the many important industrial companies on their boards and as an advisor to Wallenberg. I'm convinced that you will continue to perform excellently there as well, and you can move on knowing that you have handed over an Investor that is even better today than when you took over. Johan, on behalf of all of us, a big, big thank you for what you have accomplished. When Johan leaves, well, it's good to know that we have a very skilled, good replacement, and Johan has already touched upon that. I would now like to introduce to all of you here Christian Cederholm. He is down there, and he thinks that he will be allowed to just stay down there, but at least you can stand up. The new CEO president of Investor, Christian Cederholm. Officially he'll take over the helm at midnight. I have had the benefit to know Christian for a long time. He came to Investor while he was studying at the Stockholm School of Economics, and then he decided to continue after his studies more than 20 years ago. He's had many different roles, more recently in charge of Patricia and Unlisted Holdings. In that capacity, he's truly shown us that he's a good businessman, the one with the right acumen, who knows what might work, not just when it comes to acquisitions of new companies, but also the ability to find the right acquisitions. I've been working for a long time together with Christian on the Patricia board of directors, and I've truly cherished what you do. You have that business acumen, you also have that solid knowledge of the Investor culture and history. Christian, he truly shares that value base of the main owners. Put in other words, we do think that he's an excellent representative of the company. Those who work with Christian, they say that he's good at listening. He truly wants to understand. He wants to understand issues, he's good at building teams. He has a lot of commitment, a big heart, both for his work and for his family. I and the board of directors of Investor, we're looking forward to working together with you in your new capacity, Christian, you should feel that you're welcome. I would actually like to give you the opportunity to come up here and to tell the meeting a little bit about you. Thank you, Jacob, for those warm words and for that introduction. There are many people who've congratulated me on my new position, and that's of course very kind of them. I think good luck is perhaps more appropriate in the beginning because these are big shoes to fill. Looking at you, Johan. I would like to first of all thank you, Johan, for excellent cooperation over the course of these years. In addition to your unbelievably significant knowledge about the company and your ability to develop the company, you're also a very good colleague to work with. You're down to earth, and I know that many people agree with me. Thank you so much, and I look forward to continuing to work with you in new ways when you take up your new position. Esteemed fellow shareholders, if you'll allow me, I'll introduce myself briefly. I'm 45 years of age. I'm married. I have four children and a dog, and I live here in Stockholm. When I relax from work, I enjoy spending time with my family, preferably on or close to water. I started working for Investor in 2001, as Jacob said, and I've had the privilege to develop and invest in both listed and unlisted companies throughout these years. Most recently, as responsible for Patricia Industries, we've focused on building and developing a portfolio of wholly owned companies in a number of sectors. As a member of the senior management group of Investor, I've been involved in putting together the Investor strategy. Just as Johan and Jacob have mentioned in their addresses, we live in a demanding, rapidly changing world. We need to future-proof our companies and our portfolio by continuing to invest and focus while never compromising on performance here and now. We need both. Investor is well prepared with a tried and tested model, a clear strategy, a strong portfolio with exposure to exciting growth areas. We have strong financial position, and not least, we have highly driven, competent, skilled employees, both within Investor and in all our companies. We are a very closely knitted team with a clear ambition of what we want to achieve and real focus on generating an attractive return for you shareholders. It's a very strong platform, basically. It's a position of trust to lead your company, and I promise that I and my team will do everything we can to live up to your high expectations and the high expectations of the board. Thank you very much, and I look forward to meeting you again. Thank you. We're to proceed with our agenda. We have reached item 15, where we have election of chair of the board of directors. The proposal from the Nominations Committee is that Jacob Wallenberg be reelected. Does the meeting want to resolve accordingly? That is carried. Item 16, election of auditors. We've heard a proposal from the Nominations Committee. Can the meeting resolve accordingly? That is carried. Item 17, the proposal from the board on guidelines for remuneration for the president and other members of the executive leadership team. The guidelines can be found in the material distributed here today, has also been available on the company's website and sent to shareholders who requested to receive it from the company. The board's proposal is in line with the resolution adopted in 2020 by the meetings the last time the guidelines were adopted by the meeting. Are there any comments or questions? Does the meeting adopt the guidelines? Yes, that's carried. Agenda items A and B, where we have the Board of Directors' proposal for a long-term variable remuneration program. The proposal is included in the documentation that has been distributed here today, has been on the company website, and has been sent to those who have requested to receive it. Do we have any questions or comments to item A or B? If not, can the meeting resolve in accordance with that proposal concerning this long-term remuneration program, excluding Patricia Industries? That is carried. 18B, can the meeting resolve in accordance with this proposal for a long-term variable remuneration program for employees within Patricia Industries? That is carried. Brings us to items 19A and B, the board's proposal for acquisition and transfer of own shares. The entirety of the proposal is available in the material distributed and on the company's website and sent to shareholders who requested to receive it. Are there any questions or comments on items 19A or B? It's time to resolve on these issues, starting with 19A. For this to be adopted, shareholders representing at least two-thirds of shares represented and votes cast at the meeting need to vote in favor. We're going to use the voting devices that you've all received. I ask you to get them out and ready. If you're in favor of the Board's proposal, you press 1 for yes. If you're against, you press 2 for no. You may also press 3 if you'd like to abstain from voting. Have you understood the procedure, everyone? Thank you. The vote is open. Please vote now. The vote will close in a few moments. The vote is closed. We'll have a look at the outcome on the screen coming up here. I find that the meeting has resolved to adopt the Board's proposal. Moving on to the resolution under 19B. In order for this to be adopted, shareholders representing at least 9/10 of votes cast and shares represented at the meeting need to vote in favor. We will use the voting devices here as well. If you're in favor of the board's proposal, you press 1 for yes. If you're against, you press 2 for no. You may also choose 3 to abstain from voting. The vote is open. Please vote now. The vote is about to close in a few moments. The vote is closed. We'll have a look at the outcome. I find that the meeting has resolved to adopt the board's proposal. That has taken us to the last agenda item. Before closing the meeting, I would like to hand over to the chairman of the board of directors, Jacob Wallenberg. Esteemed shareholders, this is the end of the 2024 Annual General Meeting. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you, all of you sitting down here and also upstairs. We have filled all the seats here at the China Theater. We, Investor, we feel that this is excellent, and we truly appreciate that you have come here. Again, thank you to Johan Forssell for everything you have done, and thank you to all the colleagues who helped us organize this day. Thank you for the chairman of the meeting. That being said, we hope to see you back here again next year. Thank you. Thereby the Investor Annual General Meeting 2024 is closed.