Dear shareholders, a warm welcome to Investor's Annual General Meeting 2022. It is almost precisely three years ago we last met in real life, and as I've said already today, I think that means a lot. Myself and my friends here at the podium are very happy to see you again in this manner. I don't think that there is no substitute for a lively discussion and this involvement that you get when you actually meet one another. At the same time, we should be happy that over these past two years, we've actually been able to continue operations, not least, thanks to modern digitalization. I would like to begin with a few short thoughts about the very complicated situation that we have right now in the world. We all know that we are faced with massive challenges.
We have a terrible war in Ukraine that leads to far-reaching sanctions that will impact the world. We have a conflict between East and West, China, the U.S., two different systems that compete with one another, with us in Europe somewhere in the middle. Value chains for companies have been severely impacted both by Corona and by the war. This will lead to our talking evermore in terms of maybe bringing production home to our own country. The problem is when 200 countries say that at the same time and everyone produces in their own country, that leads to protectionism, that leads to globalization and free trade that we're used to and dependent on in small countries such as Sweden is actually being questioned, that is something strongly negative, I think. Then we have energy.
Energy will be a major issue when Russia invades Ukraine. The question about the war on the one side and sustainability on the other will mean that energy prices will increase significantly. That will impact all of us. We see that in Sweden, very high energy prices, primarily in the south of Sweden. We're living in a world that will impact all of us and a world that threatens our security. That will impact all of us here today, not only as citizens, but also the company Investor AB and the companies that we work with.
I would like to say in this context that it is important to stress that in Sweden, to talk about Sweden specifically for a moment, that we have a wide-ranging discussion about our security, that we have a public discourse about NATO throughout our society so that we have an opportunity to learn, to learn more and delve into this very important matter. At the end of the day, it is about the fact that we fairly soon will have to make a decision concerning what's best for Swedish security, for our security. For that reason, I do applaud the work that is ongoing in society today and the public discourse. It is also very important to stress how important it is to look at the role of E.U., of Europe, that we're members of the European Union, and that the Union remains strong.
We saw that not least when Russia invaded Ukraine, where we finally saw a strong united EU stand up and show true leadership. In conclusion, 2021 was a very strong year for Investor. Our portfolio companies have continued delivering excellent results, and they've done so in a situation, as I said, the global economy was clearly impacted by the pandemic. We've continued to work, and we'll hear more from the CEO later. We've continued to work on the basis of our values, our business model being long-term engaged owners, which you also heard in the film, and that very attractive portfolio of competitive companies. We can see that 2022 will be a challenging year for our portfolio companies and therefore also for Investor. We have this excellent financial strength that our CEO often talks about.
I think that we're flexible enough and well-positioned to continue our positive development. With that, I would also like to thank you, all of you shareholders, for the support and for the confidence that you show in Investor. It is particularly gratifying to see so many new shareholders. Today, we have more than 500,000 owners of Investor. That's more than any other company in Sweden, and I find that very interesting. On that note, I would like to declare Investor's Annual General Meeting 2022 open. Thank you.
We'll start with the first item of our agenda, which is election of the chair of the meeting. Here I would like to tell you that the secretary for this AGM will be Petra Hedengran. She's next to me, and she's the Investor Chief Legal Counsel, and she will be taking the minutes for today's AGM. Next to me on my other side, I have the President and CEO of Investor, Johan Forssell. The Nominations Committee has proposed the lawyer Eva Hägg to chair the meeting, and she's here next to me. I would like to ask the meeting if the meeting can approve that proposal to have Eva Hägg as chair of today's meeting. Thank you.
I say thank you, and thank you for the confidence shown in me. Before we continue with the agenda items, let me mention a few things.
Participation in this AGM can be done in different ways. We have presence here in these premises. We have shareholders who have voted in advanced through postal voting. They represent about 97% of the votes and 88% of the shares that we have in the registration. People have notified their attendance, which means that we know that the board and the Nomination Committee already have the necessary majority. The exception there being 18B, where we need to vote. You have voting devices. The board has also decided to make this AGM more accessible in that shareholders and others will be able to follow the proceedings through the company website and a webcast. We have others than shareholders in the room. Only the podium and the rest of the room will be shown on video.
That being said, we continue with agenda item two, where we have drawing up an approval of the voting list. I would like to hand over to the secretary.
List over those shareholders who have notified their attendance for physical attendance in these premises or through postal voting has been distributed here today. Registration was done when you came to the meeting for those participating in person. Our proposal is that the voting list be that list of notified attendance minus those shareholders who haven't been registered here today, which means that 50% of shares represented, of shares in the company are represented and 77% of votes are represented here today.
Thank you. Can the meeting approve that voting list? Thank you. It has been approved.
That takes us to agenda item three, where we have approval of the agenda. I find based on the postal votes that have been submitted that the agenda has been approved.
That brings us to item four, which is the election of one or two people to check the minutes. The secretary has asked Javiera Ragnartz, SEB Investment Management, and Ossian Ekdahl from AP1 Fund, and they have declared that they're willing to take on that assignment. I've seen that you're here, but if I could ask you to stand up. Thank you so much for that. Do we have any additional nominees? Can the meeting elect the proposed candidates? I find that to be the case. That brings us to item five, which is a resolution whether the AGM has been duly convened. I can conclude that based on the postal votes that this AGM has been duly convened. That brings us to item six, which is a presentation of the parent companies and the Investor group's annual accounts and auditors report.
The annual accounts and the auditor's report has been printed and sent to the shareholders who so wished, and it's also been available on the web, company's website and at the company, including here at the registration point. The documents can therefore be considered to have been presented duly in due order. We will under this item be hearing a report from the auditor and after that from the CEO. After these presentations, there will be a Q&A session for shareholders. I'll cede the floor now to our auditor, Jonas Ståhlberg, who's the senior auditor.
I would like to say thank you. My name is Jonas Ståhlberg, and I represent Deloitte, and I'm the lead auditor for the audit of Investor. We have audited Investor's annual accounts and the corporate governance statement. In addition to the audit of the annual accounts, we have also reviewed the Investor sustainability report and the second and the fourth quarters, the interim reports and the accounts. The main part of the audit is being conducted by a central team in Stockholm, in addition to that, we also have local auditing teams for audits of the subsidiaries that are owned by Investor. We instructed those auditors of those subsidiaries as to how to conduct the audit. We have a close regular contact with them, and they report formally the outcome of their audits.
We compile that, we analyze, and we report to management and also to the Audit and Risk Committee of Investor. In connection with the year-end closing, I also met with the entire board, where I summarized the outcome of the audit and our conclusions. Our audit is primarily focused on risks that are linked to the financial reporting. Some of the more important issues in the audit of what we have audited centrally and that are also described in the audit report are governance over financial reporting, valuation of listed and unlisted investments, and also valuation of goodwill. I'm going to describe these briefly. When it comes to the first matter, we have audited how Investor instructs its subsidiaries and how governance is being done and to ensure that principles are adhered to when it comes to financial reporting.
We've also audited IT controls that they're relevant for that financial reporting and also that there are functioning routines for quality assurance. Our opinion is that Investor has well-functioning routines in this area, and that the company is disclosing financial information of high quality to you shareholders. The second audit matter that I would like to address is the processes for valuation of other investments, those companies who are not subsidiaries. Unlisted investments, well, there we look at and audit assumptions that are being made, and we also look at listed investments where accounting might not be all that complicated, but they do represent around 75% of the carrying value of Investor. Here as well, our opinion is that the company has good routines, and these routines are applied in a consequent manner over time.
The third audit matter, which is also linked to valuation of assets, it is valuation of a goodwill, the goodwill that is included in the balance sheet. This audit includes, among other things, that we look at the methods and the assumptions that are being made by Investor, and we find that these are sound. Goodwill, that value has gone up this year, which is related to a number of acquisitions made by subsidiaries. We've also looked at a company compliance with guidelines for remuneration to senior management. We have presented a special report, and we have found no deviations. All in all, we find that the company's financial information is of high quality, gives a fair presentation of the business, and accounts have been set up according to applicable rules.
Against that backdrop, I would like to refer you to our audit report on pages 113 through 16 in the annual report. It's an unqualified so-called clean audit report, we recommend the meeting to adopt the income statement and the balance sheet for the parent and the group, that the profit is appropriated in accordance with the proposal, and that directors and the CEO are granted discharge for this financial year. Thank you.
Thank you for that. That brings us to item number seven, and I will cede the floor to our CEO, Johan Forssell.
Thank you so much. Dear shareholders and guests, I would also like to extend a warm welcome to you all to this year's AGM. Even though the online AGMs worked well for two years, it is a pleasure to meet in real life here again, and I really felt that during the investor dialogue, which at least some of you attended, hopefully. In a minute, I will tell you about Investor's development over the past year and our strategy for the future. First, I'd like to say a few words about the world around us. In 2021, we saw a recovery in the economy after the worst periods of the pandemic.
A global recovery in combination with very low interest rates led to a strong stock market. Inflation started to rise, and we saw significant disruptions to our supply chains around the world caused by a shortage of components. The opening of 2022, however, will unfortunately always be remembered for the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and that war is foremost a major human tragedy, and all of us agree that this is a terrible thing. We will, in all probability, also have long-term geopolitical and business effects. Some of the challenges that we saw already before the war, such as disruptions in our supply chains, growing inflation, has accelerated even more. Sharply rising inflation as we see it now will force the central banks to increase interest rates by more than they previously thought they would have to.
In this very complex and unpredictable world, we continue at Investor to have a very close dialogue with our companies. To future-proof our companies and strengthen our competitiveness is more important now than ever. At Investor, we have a clear strategic focus that we have been working in accordance with for many years. Our aim is to generate value for people and society by building strong and sustainable companies. Let me have a closer look now at Investor. At the end of the year, our asset amounted to SEK 775 billion. Around 2/3 of our assets are our listed companies. Slightly less than 20% is Patricia Industries, which comprises primarily our wholly owned subsidiaries. Finally, 15% are investments in EQT, comprising both the listed company EQT, but also that we've invested in some of their funds.
When it comes to our overarching strategy, it remains in place. In 2021, we clarified our priorities, such as, for example, that sustainability is the strategic priority that will permeate everything we do. Our overarching target or goal to generate an attractive total return is underpinned by three strategic priorities: to increase the net asset value, to generate a steadily increasing dividend, and to reach our sustainability targets. Our operational priorities concern how we will achieve our goals and strategic priorities. In this regard, we focus on being an engaged owner in our 24 companies to ensure that we have an attractive portfolio for the future, operating in an efficient manner at Investor, and maintaining our financial flexibility, as Jacob touched upon earlier. I will come back to the importance of that for Investor. Let me now briefly go through our development within these priority areas.
Let us begin with our overarching goal to generate an attractive total return. The return should exceed our goal of 8%-9% per year. Last year, we did that by some distance. Our return amounted to as much as 55%. We need to remember that we were, of course, we benefited strongly from a strong stock market where the Stockholm Exchange went up at 39%. I say that the share price does not always reflect the company's development in the short term, but in the long term, the share price and its trend is a very good measurement of value creation. In light of that, I think it is good to see that over five, 10, and 20 years, respectively, Investor has exceeded both our profitability requirement and the stock exchange as a whole.
As Jacob touched upon, last year, we split the shares 4: 1, 4 for 1, which led to our now having more than half a million shareholders, and that's something that we're very happy about at Investor. That's actually almost a threefold increase compared to the number of shareholders five years ago. Let me now go through developments in our three strategic priorities. Over the last five years, up until 2021, our net asset value has increased by an average of 20% per year. When it comes to our strategic priority to generate a steadily increasing dividend, we've managed to increase our dividend each year with the exception of the pandemic year in 2019.
It is gratifying that the board can now, thanks to its strong financial position, can propose a dividend of SEK 4 per share, which corresponds to an increase of 14%. In sustainability, we have three focus areas to future-proof our company's business ethics and governance, climate and resource efficiency, and diversity and inclusion. One of our climate goals is that Investor as a company shall achieve net zero emissions by 2030. Another goal is that our aggregate portfolio, our overall portfolio, shall reduce CO2 emissions by 70% by 2030 compared to our baseline year, 2016. These goals are in compliance with the Paris Agreement. Let me provide you with some examples of our developments in sustainability. Within business ethics and governance, we have 10 principles that we and our companies must abide by.
Again, let me be very clear, we have zero tolerance to any form of unethical behavior, but that doesn't mean, of course, that it never occurs. When it does, we have to deal with it and take the requisite measures. Within this field, we can see that 100% of our companies have a whistleblower function, and that 92% of our companies conduct anti-corruption training. When it comes to climate impact, we have seen a positive trend. CO2 emissions for our overall portfolio has been reduced by 49% compared to 2016. As regards diversity, we can see that the share of women has increased from 30% in 2020 to 34% during last year. Let us move over to our operational priorities. That is, how we reach our ambitions and our goals.
Let me begin by talking about our role as engaged owner of our companies. Our companies operate in a variety of industries and face different situations, and based on our ownership model, we always try to do what is right for each individual company. In our role as owners, we have a number of priority areas, and they are digitalization, innovation, sustainability, to be able to grow through acquisitions, succession planning, talent management, and finally, having the right corporate structure and flexibility in our organization to be able to handle fluctuations.
I would now like to give you a few examples when it comes to our engaged ownership during 2021 and this far in 2022. Atlas Copco has, over the last few years, invested significantly more in research and development. To be able to, on a continuous basis, come up with new, better products and services is decisive in order to win market share and have high profitability long term. During the last few years, Atlas Copco has expanded as well forcefully through acquisitions. For example, in areas like vacuum, machine vision, and this year we have seen two high qualitative acquisitions within industrial pumps, which means that there is now a strong platform for continued growth.
These are just a few examples of that development of Atlas Copco. Let me continue with another example, Mölnlycke, our largest wholly owned company. Mölnlycke has developed well over the last many years, and today has a net sales of around SEK 17 billion , and the profit is around SEK 5 billion. In order to strengthen focus even more, the CEO, Zlatko Rihter, has reorganized Mölnlycke into four decentralized customer-centric areas: wound care, gloves, operating room solutions, and antiseptics. In this picture, you see some of the company products within these areas. This change creates focus, gives full responsibility for those area managers, and creates an even stronger platform for continued growth. One prioritized area is that our strong platform companies should grow through add-on acquisitions within attractive segments that are a good match for our companies. Let me give you a few examples.
Sarnova, an American specialist provider of healthcare products, acquired Allied 100, a supplier of defibrillators. Piab, a leading manufacturer within automation, acquired the French Joulin, and that strengthens the offering within a number of important segments. We also have Advanced Instruments that we discussed earlier during the investor dialogue. Through a number of acquisitions, they have significantly strengthened the position they have within analytical instruments, for example, within the biopharma sector. Let me also touch upon the developments within EQT. Since the listing 2019, EQT has accelerated activities. Activities within credit were divested. They were seen as not significant strategically for the company. In 2021, Exeter and Life Sciences Partners were acquired, and these two acquisitions strengthened the presence within real estate and life science.
Beginning of this year, EQT has made public a very big acquisition of Baring Private Equity Asia that will strengthen the position of the company in this important Asian market. In total, EQT, as a matter of fact, has almost tripled the assets under management compared to the year before the listing. One important part of our engaged ownership is to continuously work to position our companies so that we can benefit from long-term trends, like for example, digitalization, automization, electrification, demographies, healthcare, sustainability and savings. We do have a good starting position with companies like ABB, Atlas Copco, Piab, that are strong within automation. We have several strong technology companies in our portfolio, and also an extensive portfolio within healthcare. Then we have SEB and EQT that benefit from increased savings. We also invest in new companies.
When we do that, we focus geographically on the Nordics and the United States, and we continuously look for companies that live up to the criteria that we have set. We quite simply want these companies to, number one, be attractive in attractive niches, and we also try to find leading companies within such a niche, companies with strong market positions. We're looking for companies with good profitability, good cash flow, sustainability that is integrated into the business model, and also we ensure that these companies have flexibility in activities and also a good corporate culture. In other words, this list tells us that we prefer to pay a higher price in order to be able to acquire a company that has good opportunities to grow and is already a great company.
As a long-term owner, we know that it's important to have those high quality companies that are led by very talented individuals. Sometimes we also need to exit certain companies, and that doesn't mean in any way that those companies are doing poorly. It is rather that they do not fit within our strategy or we feel that we are not the best owner. In 2021, we sold Grand Hôtel, and that is an amazing business, but we have felt that the hotel segment is not appropriate for our future strategy. To conduct operations within Investor and to do that efficiently, that is our third operational priority, and we continuously work with making processes more efficient, working in smarter ways, and try to reduce costs where we can.
At the same time, this is important to stress, just like the companies that we invest in, they need to invest in research and development, we need to invest in our organization so that we can fulfill our role as an engaged owner and carry out investments. Quite simply conduct a strategy we have decided upon. Our last operational priority is to maintain financial flexibility. We want to have that financial strength so that we can support our companies, and so that we can benefit from attractive investment opportunities in difficult times. Today, we have a very strong financial position. We have a leverage of only 2%, which feels safe, secure in this uncertain world that we're living in today with the war in Ukraine and interest rates that are rising.
One of Investor's strengths when it comes to financial flexibility is our strong cashflow. That gives us a significant flexibility over time. A good cashflow gives us that opportunity to invest and to pay an increasing dividend to shareholders without having to increase leverage. Over the period 2015 to 2021, we have generated a cashflow or received a cashflow of around SEK 120 billion, that is what you see in this slide. About half of that comes from dividends from listed companies. About one-third of that cashflow we get from our subsidiaries, about 15% we get from EQT. How have we been using these SEK 120 billion over this time span? Well, about half has been distributed to our shareholders, just under half of it we have invested in new companies and also in existing companies.
In spite of us having increased the dividend, we have been successful in reducing our leverage with SEK 6 billion over this period. This tells us how important it is to have a strong cash flow. As I mentioned initially, the world is becoming more and more complex. There's no shortage of challenges. Regardless of global economies and the stock markets, how they will develop, my evaluation is that Investor will remain strong. We have a well-proven governance model. We have a clear strategy. We have a portfolio where we have very nice companies with strong market positions. We have a strong financial position. Last but not least, we need to have the right person in the right place that is decisive.
In my role being the CEO of Investor, I'm lucky because I have that amazing team of coworkers at Investor, and our companies are led by engaged professional individuals, and that is absolutely decisive for our future development. I hope that you feel that you now have an increased understanding of our strategy, how we work. To conclude, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to you, all of you shareholders, for the confidence that you've shown in us. I can just promise you that we will do everything we have with everything we got to continue to have your confidence and to continue to generate an attractive return. Thank you.
Thank you so much for that, Johan. That means that we will now open for questions from shareholders. We have roving microphones out around the room, so we'd be grateful if you started by telling us who you are. Please. Here's one. Thorwald Arvidsson .
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to find out a little bit more about gender and ethnicity from an equality perspective, what the trend is there. I've realized that the current development has not really come all the way, and I'd like to find out why that is and what is your intentions, what kind of measures are you planning, both at the board level, company management level, and throughout the entire organization. Secondly, I'm wondering about combating bribery.
I normally argue that it's probably the case that it's impossible to conduct business in certain countries, in certain regions without, you know, ending up with your hands in the cookie jar, as it were. I know that the chairman and the CEO are of a different opinion, what kind of forceful measures are being taken to prevent any incidents in that area that can generate extensive bad will if it were to occur? Thirdly, I'm wondering, what do you do in order to try to prevent occupational accidents? What are the figures like in that regard, and are you happy with developments within that area? Thank you.
Thank you. I think those are questions for you, Johan.
Well, we can share it, I can begin.
When it comes to gender equality, I can see that at Investor, we're approximately 50/50 across the entire company. In the board, we have 40% women, 60% men, and in my management team, the men are in a minority because we're 43% men and 57% women. When it comes to the different companies, like I said before, the developments have moved ahead quite rapidly when it comes to boards. In our portfolio, it's an average of 34% women in the company boards. If we look at the listed companies in Stockholm, that's 39%. We've also seen a definite improvement over the past few years when it comes to the boards in our wholly owned subsidiaries. There we've seen some significant improvements. If we look at the company's management teams, things are not moving as rapidly.
There we're at about 25%, 26% at the moment. We haven't seen the same increase over the past five years. We need to keep in mind when we look at management teams that there are different functions. You've got communication, HR with some operational manager, CEO, CFO, et cetera. The allocation of different roles could vary. In some of our companies, for example, in finance and HR, you can have more women. Many of our companies are working very hard on increasing the total share of women in the companies, particularly if it's a male-dominated industry historically, such as in heavy industry. They're also working intensely to get senior executives who are women, which normally for many of our major companies could comprise a couple of 100 people.
I can only see that there is a lot of focus on this in the companies right now, and they're working on it.
Although much remains still to be done. If I were to say a few words about bribery, to begin with, I can only agree that, I mean, we're in agreement that we disagree. It should be possible to operate and conduct business all across the globe and still avoid bribery. We have zero tolerance. All our portfolio companies have a zero tolerance to bribery. For us, that's very foundational. This is a matter of our values. I would like to say that we need to remind ourselves, and we've talked about this in previous years, that in Germany, bribes were a tax-deductible cost for companies up until maybe 15 years ago.
The authorities expected that bribery would be used, and they had rules accordingly. Of course, that is one way of considering this matter, but not since then, that has changed completely. That means that you need to get major organizations to change, and that does not happen overnight. Johan touched upon that earlier, that not all people are perfect. You and I are, of course, but not everyone is. For that reason, we are actively working to promote this zero tolerance through training, for example. These are principles that we have in all companies.
We talked about Ericsson earlier during the Investor dialogue, and I would like to stress what Börje Ekholm did when he stepped in as CEO in 2017, was to begin dealing with this very matter, to establish a zero tolerance policy and change the way of working in the company to focus on this not only being unacceptable, but the historical way of operating would change. He implemented a number of changes in the company. Another thing that has happened is that companies have stopped using agents. Historically, agents have been a problem in terms of bribery. It's a well-known problem among many companies and in the media. In conclusion, I can only again stress the fact that all companies have the training about this. All employees have to attend that training.
I attended it within the scope of ABB, where I'm on the board, et cetera.
There is a very active approach, and zero tolerance is the only principle that applies. When it comes to workplace accidents, that's an excellent question because that is something that many companies working a lot with and sometimes struggle with. As you know, our broad portfolio of companies, I'm not able to summarize it, but one area where we see far too many accidents in our companies are hands. It's on the factory floor that where we see many of these problems, and they can be fairly severe injuries. They can be even serious than that, but that's serious enough. One of the advantages of this pandemic, if I may put it like that, is that we learn to work better virtually.
For many of our global companies, they take advantage of that, not least when it comes to work, working on health and safety, to conduct trainings digitally that can be rolled out globally. That's very important. Another thing is that company by company, they share lessons learned, experiences. When you see something happen is you make sure that it's not repeated somewhere else. As owners, we can gather these companies under different themes where we learn from one another or where the companies learn from one another within these fields. I should also say that accidents is one thing that we're working on, but now during the long period of a pandemic, health in general has also been an important matter for companies.
It's very difficult to keep track of the health of your employees when more and more people are sitting and working from home. That's been another focus area.
Thank you so much. I see another question there.
Hello. Bo Olsson is my name. During the Investor dialogue, we talked about smaller nuclear power plants. I would like to know whether Investor is involved in fusion power because investments are being made in Europe, and we see the beginnings of, well, how you can control, so to say, that fusion power only three seconds for now. Anyway, a lot of activities are underway.
I can just say that when it comes to Investor and direct investments, we are not involved. I don't know if you have something you want to add.
Yes. I would like to say something in addition to that. Even if we as a company do not have any direct investments, it is something that we encourage. We want to see more developments within that area.
It's an alternative in the energy mix that we need as a nation. What we have, just renewables and water, well, that will not be enough. We will need nuclear power unless we want to use or continue to use fossil fuels, et cetera, which needless to say right now, we're trying to move away from that. We would really like to see more investments and more development research work being done within that area than what we do today.
Thank you. I see a question up here as well.
Emilie Westholm, I represent Folksam, I'm sure that you've heard that sustainability is important for our customers. I usually ask a question at AGMs having to do with sustainability in your financial report, your work, that work with good governance and building strong successful companies. You've talked about that here today as well.
Could you tell us more about what you do to increase the knowledge about, well, business ethics and all those challenges amongst those that represent you in your portfolio companies and those boards, and where are the biggest challenges?
Well, thank you. Thank you for that question. In our ownership model, well, it's built on distribution of tasks. We're owners. Then we have the board of directors and the company management of a company. Our role as an owner, and I've already talked about that here today, business ethics and governance, that is one of our three prioritized sustainability areas. That tells you how important we feel that that issue is as a long-term engaged owner. We also have sustainability guidelines. I didn't have time to talk you through them when I addressed you earlier, but we have clear expectations.
Activities within Investor and our companies should be conducted in a responsible way and with a good ethical stance as well. One of these ten guidelines is that the companies should have policies and code of ethics that cover whistleblowing functions as well as them having good business ethics. In addition to that, I can also mention that at Investor, we have a network, and we gather those individuals three to four times a year. It's Viveka who was here earlier, who is in charge of that, and we have all those experts coming together, and then we discuss and learn from each other from the different companies. This is a big advantage. I've touched upon that earlier today talking about something else.
We do not have companies that compete with each other, which means that we can gather them all so that they can learn from each other, and that is something important. We also have continuous training sessions within Investor, and several years now, we've been integrating sustainability into what we do when we work with value creation plans, and there we work in business teams, and there we have investors and analysts and also representatives from the board of directors. It's very integrated. Let me also say, when talking about these issues and business ethics, we're a big owner, of course. We're on nomination committees, and there you present proposals for boards and directors, and therefore it's very, very important for us to ensure that we have strong boards. This, of course, is one such important parameter.
When it comes to the more specific issues, for example, how a company is to manage its value chain and what to do there, well, in our governance model, it is for that company, that board, that management to make those more detailed decisions, and that is quite simply because they have the most in-depth knowledge about that specific company.
Thank you. We also have a question there by sign number four.
Yes, hello. My name is Björn Lundgren. I would like to ask about the company Sobi, which is part of your unlisted portfolio and which should be a strategic holding for you. We know that you got an acquisition offer of that company that Investor accepted, but which was later stopped by AstraZeneca because there was something in the company that they were interested in. My question is: What is the situation right now? Is this a strategic holding for Investor? How will we resolve the situation with AstraZeneca?
Thank you for that question. Yes, we received a bid for Sobi. The Sobi board recommended that bid, and we made the same assessment as the board. The bidder for Sobi could not achieve the 90% that were required for completing that transaction. They only achieved 87%, so that fell through. We stepped out very quickly after that and said that we will take our responsibility as the main owner of the company and focus on developing this company in the long term, trying to maximize value creation. We mustn't forget that Sobi is a company that has a very strong position within very many rare diseases, and of course, they have a very strong position in hemophilia.
We remain in full support of the company strategy, which is about maximizing and developing the hemophilia segment, growing their growth products, and also continue to look for new opportunities and acquisitions. We're fully behind them in that strategy. As regards AstraZeneca, cannot comment on that. We make our decisions, and AstraZeneca make theirs in this matter.
Thank you for that. We have a question up there by number two.
Yvonne Janet Levinovitz. Yvonne Janet Levinovitz. I'm not a major shareholder, but I'm pretty big amongst the small, and I want to appeal to Investor. Ericsson had an AGM. Ericsson, yes, AGM a few weeks ago, and then we heard, well, the board was not granted discharge. Here we have an AGM, and I do think that Investor has to take a responsibility for what Ericsson is doing. I want to know what happened in Iraq, and what will you do so that this will never happen again? Things are taking way too long. I want an answer here and now. Thank you.
Well, thank you for that question. Let me start by saying that I'm not neutral because I'm the deputy chair of Ericsson, but I will try to answer your question.
I share your frustration when it comes to Ericsson having had a hard time when it comes to answering all questions rapidly. I will try to explain with a focus on Iraq and that issue more specifically. Ericsson may have paid money to IS via a carrier, not Ericsson, but a company that has been transporting Ericsson supplies when they were to travel through Iraq, that territory that was partly controlled by IS. We're talking about 2015, 2016, five, six years ago. When they traveled through the country, it could have happened that that company carrying the goods, that they paid IS to go through those areas controlled by IS. No one knows that this is a fact. It's claimed that that could be the case, and that is what is being investigated right now.
Until that investigation is done, no one can answer that question that you asked, what really happened. That's one part. The other part is, how come Ericsson is not saying anything? Well, for the reason I just mentioned and also for other reasons, Ericsson is being investigated. They're being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice. While you are being investigated by the Department of Justice, you cannot, you may not, as a company, say anything about those facts that are involved in that investigation. In practice, this means that there is a gag order. Ericsson cannot say anything. The Department of Justice quite simply doesn't allow you to express yourself in that manner, which means that Ericsson says, "We cannot answer." Reality is that they may not, and that is the reason why they're not saying anything.
If they were to say something, then the DOJ could sue them again because then they would have violated that code or that way of acting that they have to follow. Which means that Ericsson and the board of directors are in a very complicated situation. That is the reason why you are not getting any quick answers to your questions. That is why you and many with you are being frustrated, and I share that frustration, and so does the management of the company. That was also addressed at that AGM. The fact is no one knows yet what actually happened. That is being looked into. As soon as we have those facts, if we'll have those facts, then of course they will be presented. Is that an answer?
I would also like to know what Investor will do so that that will not happen again. Dealings with IS, that is not good for a company.
That is not acceptable, of course. We do not know, and we should be clear about the fact that it's not Ericsson where we have these accusations. It is towards a supplier to Ericsson. As we have said already, this is totally unacceptable. Bribery, active corruption, be it to IS or someone else, it is unacceptable. Johan, the CEO, has already said that everyone is not perfect, which means that if something does happen, the important thing is that we have rules, that the companies have rules, know how to deal with such a thing, that it's done speedily and aggressively.
That is exactly what happened in the Iraq situation, and that has also been communicated, and that has been communicated by management.
There was another problem with the SEB. I'm an owner there as well, and Investor is a major owner of SEB as well, and they had the same problems. They were also investigated for bribery, and they also had to pay a big fine.
Well, I cannot now enter into issues that I don't know anything about in detail, but this also had to do with the DOJ and that they couldn't say anything. That had to do with money laundering. The principle, however, is the same.
What I mentioned when it comes to Investor and Ericsson, that if you do something and if you violate rules, then there also has to be an action plan as to how to deal with that, and SEB has that. All companies where we are major shareholders, major owners, have such an action plan.
Thank you so much. Are there any additional questions? Number two, yeah.
Thank you. Johannes Wingborg, Länsförsäkringar Fondförvaltning, fund management. I'd like to ask a follow-up question concerning this, whether there is any approximate schedule as to when the Department of Justice investigation has been concluded.
No.
Okay. At least you get a clear answer. Yeah. No, I change the subject somewhat, I would like to ask about EQT and the EQT funds, because there are very high expected cash flows in those. As I understand, you intend to continue investing in them. What direction can you do you see there that are particularly interesting to invest in?
Thank you for that question.
In connection with EQT's IPO in 2019, before that, those of us who were part of founding EQT, one of the investors at the founding of EQT, we renegotiated our agreement. The agreement we currently have means that we can invest 3% into funds without paying carry for them. We have an option to be able to do so, up to 3%, and we utilize that in the funds that we want to invest in. When we look at what we've done historically, if we take, for example, the EQT equity funds and the infrastructure funds that have incredible track records, we invested in them. There are some funds where we've chosen not to invest. Historically, we have not invested in all the credit funds.
That part is something that EQT has divested, neither have we participated in all the property funds. We're a little bit more restrictive there. Within equity and infrastructure, these are two areas where we invest, we've also been part of another fund. Thank you for that.
Do we have more questions? Number four.
Earlier today during the Investor dialogue, there was a question about doing business with the dictatorships and the consequences that we have seen now in Russia. Germany, but Russia. The chair said that, "China is another dictatorship, but you will continue or try to continue to do business with China to try to influence developments." I'm hesitant, I have to say. There's another China as well, and not just that dictatorship China. We also have Taiwan as it is being called, and it would be great if Investor could take an initiative and extend the trade that Sweden has with Taiwan. This is your opportunity.
Oh, such an easy question. Well, of course, we already have a trade with Taiwan. TSMC, for example, one of the biggest Taiwanese companies, is one of the greatest chip suppliers, and many of our companies have business relationships with them and are struggling to get deliveries today. We do have quite a lot of cooperation already.
Thank you.
Any additional question? I cannot see any hands. If there are no additional questions, we move on down the agenda. That brings us to item eight, which is adoption of the parent companies and Investor Group's income statement and balance sheets. We've heard the auditor recommending adoption, and I can base it on the cast postal votes. The AGM has adopted the income statement and balance sheet for the parent company and the Investor group. Item number nine, which is the remuneration report from the board. That can be found in the material that was disseminated today and has also been available at the company's website and has been sent to the shareholders who requested it. I'm asking if anyone would like to ask any questions or comment on the board's remuneration report. No.
I can I find, based on the cast postal votes that the AGM has approved the board's remuneration report. Which brings us to item 10, which concerns the discharge of liability for the administration in 2021. We've heard that the auditor recommend that the board and the CEO are discharged from liability. We note that the board members and the CEO do not participate in this decision. Are there any questions or comments? With the support of the voting list and the postal votes cast, conclude that the AGM has discharged the board and the CEO of liability.
That takes us to agenda item 11, where we have the disposition of the earnings. The proposal and the Board's statements you have on page 55 in the annual report. The Board proposes a dividend for SEK 4 per share to be divided upon two installments, and that the remaining profits be carried forward. The proposal is that the first installment be SEK 3 with a record day May 5th, and the second installment be paid out SEK 1 per share with the record day Monday, 7th of November. We've heard that the auditor recommends. Are there questions or comments?
I find based on the cast postal votes that, the meeting has voted in favor. That takes us on Well, we have a number of items where we have proposals from the Nomination Committee, and therefore I would like to hand over to the Chair of the Nomination Committee, Michael Treschow, who will tell us about those proposals.
Thank you, Madam Chair, dear shareholders and attendees at this AGM. The Nomination Committee comprised, as you can see here, Investors' Chairman Jacob Wallenberg, Anders Oscarsson from AMF, Lars Isacsson from the SEB Foundation, Carina Silberg, Alecta, and myself, Michael Treschow, as a representative for the Wallenberg Foundations. The proposals for the Nomination Committee and the report on its work with a justified opinion can be found in the material that was disseminated here today. In order to assess the demands that will be required of the board as a consequence of the company's challenges and the future focus, the Nomination Committee has discussed the size of the board and its composition. We've had access to an external evaluation of the board and the work it's performed, which has shown that the board is working very well.
The nominating committee has also seen that the members of the board have a very high attendance rate, and they have the time required to be able to conclude their assignments in a good way. The nominating committee has also considered the need for a well-functioning composition of the board in terms of diversity when it comes to different skills and perspectives, which also includes such things such as gender, nationality, and industry expertise. The board member Sara Mazur has declined re-election. The nominating committee has therefore discussed the need for additional skills on the board and decided to propose Sara Öhrvall as a new board member. Sara Öhrvall has experience from senior positions within the financial sector and the media, with particular skill in digitalization and new business models. Sara Öhrvall is present here in the room.
If I may ask you, Sara, to stand up so that everyone can see you. A well-known face to many people, who own Investor shares. The nominating committee proposes the number of board members shall be unchanged at 11, and the nominating committee, thus proposes re-election of the board members that you can now see on the screen, as well as election of Sara Öhrvall. We also propose that Jacob Wallenberg is re-elected to the chair. The nominating committee also proposes a board remuneration according to the division that we'll see on the screens here. What is important is that these remunerations are competitive, and therefore we've done a comparative analysis when assessing the size of the remuneration.
In light of this analysis, and with consideration of the company's good development, the 55%, remember, the Nomination Committee finds that this proposal is reasonable and well justified. The Nomination Committee will propose, just as it did last year, that the board will adopt a policy according to which a board member's shareholding after five years on the board should correspond to at least the remuneration for one year before tax. In order to facilitate the building of such a holding, we propose that the board member shall continue to have an opportunity to receive 50% of the remuneration in the form of synthetic shares. When it comes to auditors, the Nomination Committee proposes, in accordance with the Audit and Risk Committee's recommendations, Deloitte are to continue as an auditor for another one year.
We also propose that, audit fees will be paid in accordance with approved invoicing. In conclusion, I'd like to thank my dear colleagues on the Nomination Committee for their excellent support in our efforts. Thank you.
Thank you. We've heard the nominations committee proposal and an account of the proposed directors and their assignments in other companies have been distributed here today and has also been available on the company website and has been sent to those who requested it. Are there questions or comments to this proposal? I find, based on postal votes that have been cast, that meeting has voted in favor of all these proposals: number of directors, number of auditors, remuneration to auditors fee, directors, chair of the board of directors and the auditor. That takes us to agenda item 17. Here we have two decision items. 17 A. Sorry, I forgot.
Thank you. Yes, I would like to take this opportunity and address Sara Mazur. There you are. Sara, you have been a member of Investor's board since 2018, and a few weeks ago you were elected to be on the board on something that's called the Wallenberg Investments AB. That company develops the assets of the Wallenberg Foundations and takes strategic long-term decisions that pertain to these assets. The assets include the ownership of Investor, of FAM, and the different companies that the Wallenberg Foundations are involved in. In connection with being elected to the board there, you informed the Investor's Nomination Committee that you declined to be reelected to the board next year. I would like, on behalf of the board, to direct our enormous gratitude for your contributions to the board.
You have an excellent background from Ericsson, from research, and from running companies, and that is something that we have benefited from on the board work in Investor, and we do appreciate that, Sara. Of course, I mean, it's not only that you're experienced and skilled, you're sharp as well, and a lovely spirit, and that means so much in that conversation that goes on in the boardroom. That creates a dynamic based on knowledge and progression, and that means a lot to us. On that note, I would just like to give you our gratitude and on behalf of the board and all the shareholders, thank you so much, Sara.
Thank you. We continue with agenda item 17, where we have two resolutions. We have 17 A, long-term variable remuneration program for employees within Investor, excluding Patricia Industries. We also have 17 B, where we have the board's proposal for a long-term variable remuneration program for employees within Patricia Industries. These proposals have been distributed here today, and they've also been available at the company's website, and have been sent out to those shareholders who have requested it. Are there questions or comments? I then find, based on the postal votes that have been cast, that the meeting has voted in favor of these proposals from the board of directors concerning variable remuneration program for Investor and for Patricia respectively. That takes us to agenda item 18, where we have 18 A and 18 B.
We have the board's proposals concerning purchase and transfer of own shares. These proposals in their entirety have been distributed here today and have been available at the company website. It's also been sent to the shareholders who have requested so. I ask if there are any questions or comments relating to these two proposals. Let's start with the resolution concerning 18 A. Here we have a requirement of 2/3 of shareholders and shares represented voted in favor of this proposal. Based on the postal votes that have already been cast, I find that the meeting has voted in favor of these proposals concerning purchase of transfer and own shares. We continue with 18 B.
Here we have to have at least 9/10 of votes cast and the shares represented at the meeting. We are going to use the voting devices that have been handed to you. If you could find your voting devices. If you're in favor of the board's proposal, you press one for yes, and if you're against, you press no, and you can also abstain if you want to do so, and then you press three. The vote is open. We will close the vote in a few seconds. The vote is closed. We will soon see the outcome of the vote on the screen behind me. We can see, and I find that the meeting has voted in favor of the board's proposal with the necessary majority.
That takes us to the last agenda item, where I would like to hand over to the Chairman of the Board.
Yes. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. With this AGM, we can officially close 2021. As the CEO talked about, we can conclude that it's been a very good year for us as shareholders. I spoke in the beginning about this being the day of the shareholders and this unique opportunity every year to meet in this manner now that we are permitted to gather together again. Also to have an opportunity for an exchange, that shareholders can ask questions, we can discuss different matters that are of importance to our company. I think we've seen plenty of that here today, and I find that excellent. It's very dynamic. With that, I would like to thank you all for attending, for participating in the conversations and the dialogue earlier and this AGM itself.
I'd like to take the opportunity, Johan, to thank you and all your colleagues and Investor for all the excellent work that you have done in the past year. Thank you. With that, I return to all of you, all co-shareholders of Investor. Thank you so much for coming. I hope to see you again in one year. Thank you.