Hello, and welcome to EQB's Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. If you participate in today's meeting and disclose personal information, you will be deemed to consent to the recording, transfer, and use of the same. If you disclose personal information of another person in today's meeting, you will be deemed to represent and warrant to Computershare and the corporation that you first obtained all required consents for the disclosure, recording, transfer, and use of such personal information from all appropriate persons before you disclose it. During the meeting, we'll have a question and answer session. You can submit questions or comments at any time by clicking on the message icon. It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to David LeGresley, Chair of the Board and Director of EQB. Mr. LeGresley, the floor is yours.
Good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to call to order this annual meeting of shareholders of EQB Inc. Thank you for taking the time to participate. Your engagement is welcome, encouraged, and most appreciated. Before we get to the formal agenda, and on behalf of all of us at EQB, I wish to acknowledge that our offices are located on the traditional territories of indigenous nations, and we inhabit those lands without consent. Welcoming and respecting indigenous elders and their wisdom they share, past and present, is an honored tradition here. As you heard, my name is David LeGresley. I am Chair of the Board, a Director of EQB, the parent company of Equitable Bank, and a fellow shareholder. Joining me are Andrew Moor, our President and CEO, who will update you on the business progress later in the meeting and host a Q&A session.
Chad Westlake, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Michael Mignardi, the Bank's Vice President and General Counsel, and Linda Dwyer, our Corporate Secretary. In the event of a technical malfunction on my end, Andrew will chair this virtual meeting. As you are aware, and as part of any planned and healthy succession, I'm retiring from the board after reaching my 12-year service milestone. That affords me the opportunity to thank my fellow directors for their dedication and congratulate the entire Equitable team for once again delivering great performance, including best ever earnings this past year and this past quarter. I still remember the remarks my predecessor, Austin Beutel, gave at his final annual meeting of shareholders back in 2014.
He described then how Equitable had come a long way from its origins as a small regional trust company to a bank with assets of over CAD 14 billion. I'm pleased to update that statement by saying Equitable has continued to advance dramatically in the nine years since then. With combined assets under administration and management of well over CAD 100 billion, Equitable is now Canada's 7th largest bank. Many challengers, as we affectionately call our members of the team, are responsible for this progress, not the least of which is our Chief Challenger, Andrew Moor. I thank Andrew and his leadership team for steering the bank skillfully through the pandemic and most recently for bringing the great people, customers, and partners of Concentra into our business. I would also like to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by my fellow direct-director and retiree, Lynn McDonald.
Lynn and I joined the board at the same time back in 2011. She served with distinction as Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee for seven years. She's also been a great member of our audit, governance, and risk committees at various times during her tenure here. In every case, Lynn could be counted on for great insight, thoughtful decision-making, and true passion for progress. Lynn, thank you for your dedicated service. I think Lynn would agree with me when I say what's great about this meeting is that we get to introduce three new directors, people who bring new thinking, relevant experience, expertise, and deep experience to board discussions. I'm speaking now of Michael Hanley, who is slated to become our next board chair, Marcos Lopez, and Carolyn Schuetz. The biographies and qualifications of our new director nominees are included in the proxy circular.
I hope you will agree that they have the board skills to help drive EQB even further in its role as Canada's Challenger Bank. Of course, we have our returning directors, Michael Emery, Sue Erickson, Kish Kapoor, Yongah Kim, Andrew Moor, Rowan Saunders, Vincenza Sera, and Mike Stramaglia, who I want to thank for helping to make the EQ board a model of governance excellence. Not only do they work exceptionally hard to further the interest of all stakeholders, they have also made my role as board chair much easier and one that I will never forget. Their presence provides the continuity that we believe is vital to Equitable Bank's ongoing success and progress in all areas, but not least of which is our ESG best practice journey. I'll conclude these introductory remarks by wishing Michael, Andrew, and the entire Equitable Bank team all the best in the years to come.
It's been my honor and privilege to serve as chair, and like Austin, I expect to remain a dedicated EQB shareholder long into retirement. I will definitely miss not being part of the next phase of EQB's corporate evolution as the teams find new and exciting ways to deliver on our purpose of changing banking to enrich people's lives and doing it differently than the Big Six. I can't wait to see what's next. We'll now begin the formal business of the meeting. In accordance with EQB's bylaws, I, as Chair of the Board, will act as Chair of this meeting, and Linda Dwyer will act as Secretary. I appoint Steve Iftikhar of Computershare Investor Services to act as scrutineer.
I receive proof that notice has been duly given. Also made available through notice and access. Also been provided with a report from the scrutineer which states that over 67% of Equitable's common shares are represented by proxy at this meeting, confirming that a quorum is present. I therefore declare this meeting be properly called and duly constituted for the transaction of business. To facilitate the introductions of motions, Equitable has asked that Linda Dwyer move and Michael Mignardi second the motions for shareholder consideration today. Simple majority of the votes cast is required to pass each of the matters to be voted on today. The report from the scrutineer also confirms that the votes represented by proxy are sufficient to pass all motions.
As a result, for efficiency, there will be no voting at this meeting unless the shareholder or proxy holder requests otherwise. A copy of the scrutineer's report with the tabulated results of the proxy vote will be available upon request after this meeting. I will now proceed with the first item of business as set out in the notice of meeting, which is to receive EQB's 2022 consolidated financial statements and the auditor's report on those statements. Copies of the financial statements were mailed to registered shareholders and non-registered shareholders who requested them on April eleventh, 2023. The financial statements can also be found on our website at excuse me, equitablebank.ca. I therefore declare EQB's consolidated financial statements for the year ending December thirty-first, 2022, together with the auditor's report on those statements, have been received.
We will now proceed with the election of directors. The board has fixed the number of directors to be elected 11, and I confirm that all nominees are eligible for election. I call upon Linda to read the names of the nominees standing for election and to make the motion for their nomination.
Thank you, David. The nominees for election as directors are Michael Emery, Susan Erickson, Michael Hanley, Kishore Kapoor, Yongah Kim, Marcos Lopez, Andrew Moor, Rowan Saunders, Carolyn Schuetz, Vincenza Sera, and Michael Stramaglia. I nominate each of these 11 individuals whose names appear in the management information circular to be elected as a director of EQB until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.
Thank you, Linda. I now call upon Michael to second the motion.
I second the motion.
Thanks, Michael. I'm advised by our scrutineer that the number of shares represented by proxy to be cast in favor of each nominee standing for election is more than sufficient for me to declare, and I do, that the 11 director nominees have each been elected to serve as directors of EQB until the next annual meeting of shareholders. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors. At the last annual meeting held in May 2022, shareholders reappointed the firm of KPMG LLP as EQB's auditors for the 2022 financial year. The board has again recommended the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors of the company until the close of the next annual meeting at remuneration to be fixed by the directors. I now ask Linda to make this motion.
I move that KPMG LLP be appointed as auditors of EQB until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders at a remuneration to be fixed by the directors.
Thank you, Linda. Michael, would you please second that motion?
I second the motion.
Thanks, Michael. The report from our scrutineer states that the number of shares represented by proxy be cast in favor of the appointment of KPMG as auditors is more than sufficient for me to declare, and I do, that KPMG LLP has been reappointed as the auditors of EQB until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders, and the directors are authorized to fix their remuneration. Next, finally, we are pleased to introduce our first-ever advisory vote on EQB's approach to executive compensation. In introducing this advisory vote, the board felt strongly that shareholders should have the opportunity to express their views on this important topic. We reasoned that this would be a good way for us to underline our ongoing commitment to engage with shareholders on the design and functioning of our executive pay program.
Although the vote is advisory and the results will not be binding on the board, the board will consider the results of the vote when making future executive compensation decisions. I would ask Linda Dwyer to make a motion.
I move on an advisory basis that shareholders accept EQB's approach to executive compensation disclosed in the management information circular for the 2023 annual meeting of shareholders.
Thank you, Linda. Michael, would you please second that motion?
I second the motion.
Thank you, Michael. The report from our scrutineer states that the number of shares represented by proxy be cast in favor of the advisory resolution on executive compensation is more than sufficient for me to declare, and I do, that the shareholders have approved EQB's approach to executive compensation. This concludes the formal business of the meeting. As I mentioned earlier, a copy of the scrutineer's report with the tabulated results of the proxy vote will be available upon request after the meeting. A detailed report with the final voting results, including the votes tabulated by the scrutineer at this meeting, will be available on SEDAR and posted to the company's website as soon as practical after the meeting. I now declare the formal part of the meeting terminated. A question and answer period lies ahead, you may submit your questions using the messaging icon on your screen.
First, however, it's my pleasure to yield the virtual floor to Andrew. In doing so, I refer you to our caution regarding forward-looking statements. Andrew?
Thank you, David, good morning, everyone. As always, it's a pleasure to speak to you. I'd like to start with a warm first-time annual meeting welcome to those who recently joined from Concentra. Concentra's team is comprised of some wonderful people who are playing an important role in the bank's overall execution. It's certainly great to have an even stronger voice in the prairies, especially Saskatchewan, with the combination of Equitable and Concentra. A key advantage of Concentra's addition is the opportunity to work more closely with credit unions. We're enjoying really strong engagement with people across the credit union world, and I'm excited about how our combined strengths can be used to bring innovative services to the members of the credit union system and Equitable's customers.
To all of our shareholders on the line, I'd like to thank you for your interest and participation on behalf of our very talented workforce, almost 1,700 challengers. Before jumping into my main remarks, I want to echo David's words of thanks to Lynn McDonald. Lynn has been a wonderful steward of the bank through quite a journey. When she and David joined the board in 2011, EQB had earnings for the entire year that were roughly half of what we earned in just the first quarter of 2023. Lynn's contributions have been numerous. For shareholders, you'll be glad to know that as Chair of the board's HR and Compensation Committee, she was tough on the CEO throughout her tenure.
However, Lynn knew that the secret to being a great director was to challenge, prod, and expect better while being patient and considerate of others. She was always there on top of her brief, representing shareholder interests with a standard of care and concern that took board processes to a higher level. As Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, Lynn's care for our people went well beyond her remit. She went out of her way to get to know and understand our team and its dynamics. Thank you, Lynn, for everything. You were an outstanding director, and we wish you well in the years ahead. As mentioned, David and Lynn joined our board at the same time and complemented each other in many ways. It's fitting this dynamic duo retires together.
David had big shoes to fill in replacing Austin as chair. After seeing David in action since 2014, I can attest to the fact that he was the perfect person for that important role. David's approach substantially advanced the bank's governance and standing in the community. Having a bona fide Bay Street heavyweight as chair also helped as we navigated sometimes choppy waters. In particular, his credibility on Bay Street was a huge asset when market stresses emerged in 2017. Not every bank chair can say they played a critical role in lining up CAD 2 billion of backstop funding over a single weekend. David can. Under David's tenure as chair, our governance processes matured and evolved and amend as it befits a well-established and growing bank.
You can certainly see that in our disclosure documents, a process of continuous improvement for sure. David, congratulations on a job well done, and thank you for making Equitable a better bank. While our business is bigger than by any one person, I think it's telling that from the time David and Lynn joined the board in 2011 to today, our total shareholder return, assuming dividends reinvested, was 442% or 15.1% on an annualized basis. That is the best performance of any major Canadian bank over this period and a track record we are proud to acknowledge. Of course, success is not only measured by shareholder return, but the value we add to our customers' lives and how we ensure that we look after the EQ team.
I'm equally confident that we have done well on these goals over the time that Lynn and David have been on the board. To our newest directors, including Michael Hanley, our incoming Chair, welcome. I look forward to working closely with you and our returning directors as we continue to build a beautiful bank that brings value to our customers with innovative products and fantastic services, engages our team, and provides great returns for our shareholders. As I prepared these remarks, I thought about the fantastic progress that's been made by our team in delivering record-breaking earnings over the past year and growing the dividend. I reasoned you are already well-versed in these accomplishments, having read about them as recently as May third when we reported our Q1 results.
Rather than repeating chapter and verse, I want to drive home a few key messages on themes that I think are particularly pertinent. First, our balance sheet is strong, and we have deep liquidity, both critical foundations for a successful bank. Second, these foundations were built and maintained by a proven team using policies, procedures, and practices that allow us to very effectively manage credit risk, liquidity risk, and interest rate risk. Banks face lots of risks that need to be managed, and we do, but we never lose sight of the big three. As a shareholder, and hopefully also as an EQ Bank customer, you can sleep well at night knowing that we are on the case with a prudent risk-aware culture, top to bottom.
It's why we have enhanced our funding sources and liquidity position over recent years, kept a consistent low, low risk approach to interest rate risk management, and why our credit team has made it possible for Equitable to achieve the lowest loss rate as a percentage of loan assets of any Schedule I bank on the S&P/TSX Banks Index for the past decade, a record we intend to preserve for the decade ahead. Third, we manage for the long term, and we want you to judge us on that basis. Of course, we are rightly proud of setting new records for earnings, which Equitable is doing annually since our IPO almost 20 years ago. Believe the true measure of our success is the ability to generate consistently strong return on shareholders' equity over 5, 10, and 15-year periods.
We are. We call our modus operandi the equitable value creation method, which is how we put your capital to work. On every loan, we use our proprietary ROE calculator and has enabled us to achieve ROE of 16.4% for the past decade. That's well above the performance of our peer group and with consistency to boot. Fourth, we are determined to build a great business that's differentiated from other banks on the basis of fantastic customer service. I believe customer service is undervalued in Canadian business, including at big banks. My thinking, and it's borne out by experience, is that better outcomes result when customers are happy, willing to act as referral sources, and open to sharing insights that inspire new ideas. It's also easier on employees to work with happy customers than dissatisfied ones.
Sadly, we all experience terrible service from big companies all the time. Long call center wait times, off-putting chat experiences, back passing, and inability to help. Fantastic service, on the other hand, stands the test of time. Our Challenger Bank philosophy is deeply rooted in our customer service ethos, which is in turn cleverly expressed in our new Make Bank ad campaign. That campaign plays on the concepts of take and make. While the banking world seems more than happy to take from Canadians the form of ever-increasing fees, we are here to help our customers make money with high interest on everyday banking and no fees. That campaign resonates with the public and is encouraging more and more Canadians to open and rely on EQ Bank accounts for their everyday needs.
I'm proud of the recent introduction of the EQ Bank Card, as it has brought access to our digital services right to our customers' wallets. If you haven't ordered your card, please do so to save money and make money. Fifth, fantastic customer service at scale demands that we constantly evolve as a digital bank. For more than seven years, we have devoted significant time, energy, and capital into building the infrastructure, technology talent, and fintech partnerships to make the whole bank digital. We did that because we know that advanced data analytics and modern cloud architecture enable richer experiences and value for our customers than what other banks with legacy technology can provide. For shareholders, these advantages allow us to scale and diversify our business very efficiently. Today, EQB enjoys a leadership position as a cloud-based digital-first bank that stands out by bringing innovation to the marketplace.
That claim is not just mine. It was reaffirmed by Forbes, which has named EQ Bank the best bank in Canada in each of the last three years based on extensive customer surveys. Going forward, true to our challenger purpose, we will continue to push the digital envelope through advancements that will give Canadians a better deal. For competitive reasons, I'll refrain from offering too much insight into our technology roadmap, but next up is the introduction of a mobile wallet to hold the new EQ Bank Card, and in future, more services for business customers. Payments modernization and open banking also loom large as unique growth catalysts for our bank because of our advanced digital capabilities. Last, but certainly not least, we not only recognize, we embrace the special purpose that banks play in society.
One of the ways we do that is by following best environmental, social, and governance practices. I hope you take a moment to read the very thorough ESG performance re-report on our website, as it outlines the actions we are taking and the contributions we are making to chosen charity partners as a great place to work employer and as Canada's Challenger Bank in important areas such as financial inclusion for underserved communities, financing affordable housing, and environmental stewardship. This report shows we are a bank with a purpose. Putting all this together, my message to you as fellow shareholders is simply this: We have the means and opportunity to create more value next quarter, next year, and for the next decade.
As David said, we are now Canada's 7th-largest bank by assets, and with the scope and scale of Concentra now beginning to be reflected in our results and our larger team hitting stride with our integration activities, we look forward to another record-setting year of service and performance. On a final note, this will be the last time we hold our regular annual shareholders meeting in May. As you know, we are realigning our fiscal year-end to October 31st to mirror our bank peers, which is appropriate since we are now in a league with them on many fronts, including, I'm pleased to say, attention from bank industry analysts. We look forward to hosting our next annual meeting earlier next year. Thank you for listening, and thanks to the entire EQB team, including our dedicated senior leaders, for delivering a great year. David?
Great. Thanks, Andrew. Now it's time for question period. If you wish to ask a question, please select the messaging icon on your screen and follow the instructions. At our end, as we've done in the past, Michael will summarize your question and read aloud your name, and if applicable, the entity you represent. If your question has already been asked by another shareholder and answered, we will move to the next question. We'll pause here momentarily while we compile any questions. Five, four, three , two , one. None. Okay. Well, Michael, it doesn't appear we have any questions. I'm gonna sign off by saying thank you for participating and reminding you that our door is always open for shareholder engagement during the year. Goodbye for now, thank you.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.