Good morning, everyone. Thank you for attending this meeting. Before I officially call this meeting to order, we are going to be showing you a brief video.
Hundredth anniversary. I hope you will all enjoy it.
Depuis cent ans, nos équipes représentent la force derrière toutes nos réalisations. Leur dévouement, leur loyauté et leur travail acharné nous ont propulsés à travers des décennies de croissance durable. Notre culture est axée sur l'esprit entrepreneurial, le mentorat et des relations solides et empreintes de respect et de collaboration. Cette culture permet à nos employés de s'épanouir et d'innover tout en façonnant l'avenir de notre organisation. L'humain est au cœur de nos activités. Nous développons des partenariats à long terme qui sont au centre de tout ce que nous faisons. Nous collaborons avec des équipes de direction et des experts chevronnés pour créer des synergies entre les sociétés de notre groupe, les aider à croître et à générer de la valeur à long terme.
Depuis des décennies, nous améliorons la vie des Canadiens en investissant notre temps et nos ressources afin de renforcer nos communautés et d'y faire une différence significative. À Montréal et à l'échelle du pays, nous croyons en l'importance de communautés dynamiques, bienveillantes et inclusives, et nous nous efforçons de faire notre part. Forts de nos succès passés, nous écrivons maintenant les prochains chapitres de notre histoire. Power Corporation du Canada, tournée vers l'avenir depuis 1925.
Good. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Mesdames et messieurs, comme il est maintenant l'heure fixée pour le début de l'assemblée annuelle des actionnaires, je déclare l'assemblée ouverte.
The meeting of shareholders has come. I hereby call the meeting to order. As you can see, simultaneous translation is available for anyone who needs it.
Si vous avez besoin d'une traduction en anglais, if you need interpretation from French to English, it is also available. My name is Andrée Desmarais. Beside me are Mr. Jeffrey Orr, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Stéphane Lemay, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the Corporation. As Deputy Chairman of the Board, I am responsible for chairing this meeting. Mr. Lemay will act as Secretary. We are delighted to welcome you today and also welcome those of you who are watching the meeting via webcast. Power Corporation is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary this year, and we are very proud of that, as was demonstrated in the video you watched a few moments ago. I will return to this topic later in my remarks. We have also invited Power Corporation retirees to present and second the motions submitted to shareholder vote at this meeting.
I will introduce them at the appropriate time. At this meeting, we may make statements containing forward-looking information. I draw your attention to the cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements, a copy of which is available outside this room or which can be viewed online on our website by those of you watching the meeting via webcast.
Meeting shareholders who have specific questions for a formal item of business will have the opportunity to ask those questions before we proceed to a vote on the specific item. We will also have a question period after the formal part of the meeting. I note the presence of Ms. Leah Gribilas and Mr. Matthew Welczynski of Deloitte, the Corporation's auditors.
Je nomme par les présentes Madame Pina Pacifico et Madame Teresa De Luca de Computershare, Inc, comme scrutatrices pour cette assemblée et je leur demande de soumettre le registre de présence. Les scrutatrices pourraient-elles s'il vous plaît soumettre leur rapport? Monsieur le Président, nous aimerions confirmer que les actionnaires inscrits ou les porteurs de procuration assistant à cette assemblée représentent, en personne ou par procuration, 79.55% du total des actions admissibles à un vote lors de cette assemblée.
Proxy holders present at this meeting, representing in person or by proxy, 79.55% of the total eligible votes at this meeting. Merci. Thank you.
Merci. Le secrétaire m'a informé que la vie compte-
Thank you. The secretary has informed me that the notice of meeting and related documents have been sent in accordance with applicable requirements. I confirm that a quorum is present and that the notice of this meeting has been sent in accordance with the applicable requirements. Therefore, I declare that the meeting is regularly convened and duly constituted. I also declare the vote open for all items on the agenda.
Business is the presentation of the financial statements. As permitted by applicable law, we have used notice and access to deliver our 2025 management proxy circular and our annual financial statements and related management discussion and analysis. Shareholders have received by mail a notice and access notification providing information on how to access these documents. Copies of the annual financial statements are available on our website and under our profile of SEDAR+. I invite anyone up here who wants to say this to be welcome to do so.
À ce moment, avant de passer aux autres sujets... Before I move on to the other items on the agenda, I would like to call on Mr. Jeffrey Orr for some comments. Mr. Orr?
Thank you.
Otherwise, I'll try and repeat what you've just said a moment ago. You after all, invited me to do so. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Good morning to each and every one of you, including those who are attending this meeting online through the webcast. This year marks our one hundredth anniversary.
To the chairman, and welcome everyone here today, and those joining us online for our hundredth anniversary AGM.
Andre and Paul will be speaking to our one hundredth anniversary, as you just heard from the chairman, later in the meeting. I'm going to offer a few of my own observations, but I will start by describing what Power is today.
Focus on financial services in North America, Europe, and Asia. We have over forty-two million clients worldwide, forty thousand employees, and $3.6 trillion of assets on our various platforms. Our group of companies are anchored by our controlling interests in Great-West Lifeco and IGM. We also own a significant interest in GBL, Belgium-based GBL, in partnership with the Ferrer family. These three public companies alone have a market capitalization of over $70 billion. Over the last several years, we've also supported the growth of our alternative asset management businesses, namely CIGAR and Power Sustainable. Now, Great-West Lifeco and IGM operate in the marketplace through different businesses and different brands, each focused on their own segment and geography. Our group owns some of the leading financial service companies in their respective markets.
These businesses all contribute to helping people build and maintain financial security. For instance, by offering services that facilitate saving for retirement, protecting one's family from risk through various forms of insurance, or by managing health and wellness programs through employer programs or directly to individuals. As I reflect upon Power's one hundredth anniversary, I think of two attributes in particular that I think make us stand out, that distinguish us, and have been instrumental in building the company that we are today.
Oriented. The control positions that we hold in Great-West Lifeco and IGM were established in the early seventies. That's over five decades ago, even though these companies have been transformed dramatically in the years since. The ability of our companies to take a long-term view as a result of having a long-term controlling shareholder has helped us build very strong franchises. I'll give you just one example: The investments that Great-West Life made to strengthen the Empower business constrained its profitability growth over several years, but set the stage for Empower's current leadership position and strong momentum in the US retirement and wealth management business. The strategy also allowed us to attract innovative talent. I'm going to go back for a second. Secondly, there's a strong entrepreneurial DNA that's alive in Power Corp.
An example is the response that we had to the threat that FinTech companies were making to the incumbent players like ourselves. We launched a strategy ten years ago that was different from most of our major competitors. We did it within Power Corp itself, but in close partnership with Great-West and IGM, who were both investors and also active participants in the strategy. This allowed us to attract the innovative talent that was essential to winning. Its success is evidenced by our group's current ownership position in companies like Wealthsimple and many others, whose capabilities are now embedded into the offerings of Great-West Lifeco and IGM. Our long-term orientation and the entrepreneurial DNA flow directly, in my view, from the ownership of Power by the Desmarais family.
Coupled with their commitment to our long-held values, we've been able to attract and retain great talent across the group and create a team culture that reinforces our success.
These core values are trust, respect, integrity, and corporate citizenship. Corporate citizenship is deeply embedded in our group companies. In 2024 alone, we contributed close to $50 million to charitable organizations across Canada. The desire to give back to the community is a shared value among our employees, and Power supports them through volunteer hours that it recognizes and by matching their contributions to the causes they care about. For many years, Power has also followed a set of investing principles that our businesses have been built upon. In addition to taking a long-term perspective, we endeavor to build leading franchises with attractive growth profiles. We provide active governance, oversight, and strategic support to our companies, and we maintain a strong financial position and a prudent approach to risk management.
The current economic and political environment... We're obviously living in a time of high stress with the imposition of tariffs and evolving global relationships, potentially threatening the world as we know it. Power and our group companies, firstly, are not directly impacted by tariffs. However, our financial results would be impacted if the situation were to lead to an economic slowdown or a recession. But even if it were, we are very well positioned. Power's businesses are well diversified by industry, geography, and currency, and our balance sheet is strong, including high cash balances and low levels of debt.
Even if an economic slowdown were to occur, people still need to save, protect their families, and have access to health and dental programs. In other words, the services we provide are fundamental to people's financial, physical, and mental well-being.
Some success has required adapting to changing environments in different economic periods. Our strategies have evolved over time to seize new opportunities and to manage emerging challenges. A little over five years ago, Power announced a renewed strategy, one that was more highly focused upon financial services, that sought to simplify our business and our structure and enhance our communication to our various stakeholders. Strategy included increasing the organic growth of our main operating businesses, adding to that growth through acquisitions and disposing of non-core businesses, and taking a number of steps at the Power level to add additional value. I'm pleased to report that the Power Group has been vigorously executing on the strategy ever since for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Since the launch of the new strategy, Power shareholders have realized annual total returns significantly in excess of relevant benchmarks.
Yield strong results in 2024. Power's net earnings from continuing operations reached $2.8 billion, or $4.31 per share, up 25% from 2023, and our adjusted net earnings were up 13% over the prior year. Power's adjusted net asset value per share increased by 13% in 2024 to reach $60.44, and at the end of the first quarter of 2025, had reached $69. Power has a long history of increasing its dividends per share, and with the release of the 2024 fourth quarter results in March of this year, we announced a further 9% increase in the quarterly dividends, which will annualize to a rate of $2.45 per share. Power also has been returning capital to shareholders by purchasing shares.
We purchased over $430 million of our shares in 2024, excuse me. Over the past five years, Power has sold $3.6 billion of companies and assets out of Power itself. I'm not talking about Great-West and IGM. At the Power level, we sold $3.6 billion of assets. Roughly half of that has been used to fund share buybacks, and these share buybacks increase our earnings per share, they increase our net asset value per share, and they allow us to increase our dividend at a faster rate. Along with the dividends, we've returned over $8.2 billion to shareholders over the last five years. Yesterday afternoon, after the markets closed, we announced our first quarter earnings.
We had earnings per share of $1.07, compared to $1.17 in 2024, and adjusted net earnings per share were at $1.22, up 12% from the prior year. The participation of Power on Great-West Life Co.
Power's ownership position in Great-West Life Co. represents 68% of the total value of Power's assets. Great-West Life Co. operates in Canada, the UK, and Germany, with Canada Life through Empower in the US and with Irish Life in Ireland. Great-West Life Co. has leading positions in each of its geographic markets, and while Empower has led the growth, each segment has clearly articulated strategies and has strong momentum in its respective markets.
And is experiencing strong growth. For example, its base earnings grew from $2.7 billion to $4.2 billion over the five years. But you can see the remarkable change in the makeup with the United States, the blue, dark blue bar there, now representing 31% of its earnings, actually larger than Canada and the largest contributor to overall Great-West Life earnings. Several years ago, Great-West Life announced medium-term financial objectives, including targeted earnings per share growth of 8% to 10%, a return on equity of between 16% and 17%, and reducing its dividend payout ratio from 60% to between 45% and 55%. The company in, over the ensuing years, has successfully met or exceeded all of its medium-term objectives.
At its recent Investor Day, held in April, it recommitted to its earnings per share growth, it raised its return on equity target to 19%, and it also introduced a new base capital generation measure. Great-West Life is performing extremely well.
Power's ownership position in IGM Financial represents 15% of Power's asset value. IGM has two segments: its wealth management segment is anchored by IG Wealth Management, with strategic investments in Wealthsimple and Rockefeller, and its asset management segment, which is anchored by Mackenzie Investments, with strategic investments in China Asset Management and Northleaf Capital.
Several years with a focus on client and financial advisor experience, industry-leading financial planning, highly competitive products supported by a modern technology platform. Now, in late 2023, IGM also announced its own medium-term financial objectives, targeting a 9% growth in earnings overall, with solid earnings from its two core platforms and very strong growth from its strategic investments. Now, the growth of these strategic investments is highlighted by the incredible, and I will use the word incredible, which you don't hear a lot at an annual meeting, growth in the client assets of these businesses. Wealthsimple grew assets over 106%, doubling its assets in 2024. Notwithstanding all the challenges in China, China Asset Management, 43% growth to roughly $500 billion in assets in Canadian dollars. Very impressive growth across the IGM platforms.
From an earnings point of view, IGM also produced 12% earnings growth last year, ahead of its 9% target. Turning to GBL, over the past several years, GBL has successfully executed its strategy to rotate its portfolio from primarily publicly held companies towards private assets. It's also been increasing the dividend that it's returning and the capital it's returning to shareholders. In addition to completing nearly €300 million in share buybacks in 2024, GBL increased its dividend by 82% on the dividend that will be paid in 2025.
Last fall, as part of its own investor strategy, GBL announced that it was targeting a total annual shareholder return in excess of 10%, in double digits. GBL recently announced that after fourteen years as chief executive officer, Ian Gallienne will become Chairman of the Board. On behalf of the Power Group, I would like to extend my thanks to Mr. Gallienne for his impressive contribution to the transformation of GBL and his commitment to the success of the company. Paul Desmarais, who was the Chairman of the Board since 2019, becomes the Vice Chairman, and Johannes Huth has joined GBL and has taken on executive responsibilities as Managing Director. Mr. Huth joins us after twenty-five years at KKR, where he was Chairman of the group's operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. We look forward to working closely with him in pursuing the GBL strategy.
Will scale in 2024 through fundraising, strategic partnerships, and acquisitions. Assets under management have grown from $5.6 billion five years ago to $42 billion at the end of 2024. A great majority of this new capital is coming from third parties, in other words, parties other than Power, consistent with the plan that we had communicated to the market. At Segar, in addition to fundraising, they've been growing through acquisitions, and in 2024 acquired leadership stakes in Performance Equity Management and Halsey Point, adding to their product offering. In 2025, they recently announced the acquisition of European-based Bex Capital.
It also announced that GBL was acquiring a 5% interest in Segar and committing additional capital to fund Segar strategies. Power Sustainable recently announced the successful closing of its fourth strategy, a decarbonization private equity fund, with the backing of EDC, the Power Group, and the Fund Solidarité FTQ, among other investors.
Power Sustainable announced that Bruce Heyman had been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, joining Chair Olivier Desmarais and newly appointed COO Delia Chrystia. Mr. Heyman is a former partner at Goldman Sachs and former U.S. Ambassador to Canada. Together with their other management colleagues and their experienced and talented investment teams, Power Sustainable is highly focused on adding scale to its attractive product lineup.
As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, across the Power Group of companies, we have energized teams building upon the momentum that has been created. While we are in an environment of heightened risk and uncertainty, we're also in a very strong position. We will continue to pursue our value creation strategy with determination and confidence.
Group, we have strong momentum across all of the companies. The management teams are engaged and enthused by the momentum they're creating, and even though we're in a challenging environment, we're in a strong position, and we're continuing to execute our value creation strategy with confidence and determination. Before concluding, I'd like to acknowledge the contributions of Paul Mann, who was the CEO of Great-West Lifeco for the past twelve years, and we've announced his retirement after thirty-nine years with the company. Paul's contributions have been extraordinary. Under his leadership, the company has been repositioned and strengthened, and as you've seen today, he's experiencing very strong growth and producing record results. As great as the financial results have been, I think Paul's contribution has been the depth of talent that now exists at the company and the culture, which is a culture of achievement based upon respect and transparency.
We want to thank Paul for his principled leadership, his devotion to the well-being of our clients and our people, and his passion for giving back to his community.
David Harney will become CEO effective July first. He joined Irish Life a little bit over thirty years ago and has held increasingly important roles within the group, including President and CEO of Irish Life, and more recently, being COO of Great-West Lifeco's European operations and its reinsurance business.
Continue to build upon Great-West Lifeco's success, and we congratulate him on his appointment.
In closing, I would like to thank our employees for their outstanding work, our clients and the advisors who work with them for the trust they place in us, and you, our shareholders, for your continued confidence.
Incredible efforts for our clients and the financial advisors who work with them, for the continued trust that they place in us, and to you, our shareholders, for your continued confidence. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
It is unfortunately my turn. Or fortunately, I guess. Very exciting, a hundred years. Doesn't happen every day. There we go.
So merci, Jeff.
Thank you, Jeff. Today, in this year marking our centennial, I wish to discuss Power Corporation's rich history and promising future. Over the past century, we have achieved steady growth through sustainable long-term investments, responsible management, and exceptional leadership. Power was founded in 1925 by Montreal financiers, Mr. Nesbit and Mr. Thompson, who recognized the potential in Canada's burgeoning electrical infrastructure. During the 1950s, the company acquired minority stakes in electricity power companies across Canada, including, for example, the Shawinigan Water and Light and Power Company, which at the time was among the world's largest privately owned hydroelectric producers. As a personal aside, while Shawinigan Water played a key role in the history of our company, it's more my little girl from Shawinigan, and my wife, also, has truly energized my life.
The 1960s ushered in a period of dramatic change as governments across Canada nationalized the hydroelectric industry. Under the leadership of the founder's sons, Power diversified its holdings, expanding into energy, finance, industry, and real estate.
History. That year, my father, Paul Desmarais Senior, acquired control of Power Corporation. In my humble view, my dad had more to do with Power Corporation's success than any other person in the company's history. He was a man of exceptional grace and elegance and of incredible intelligence. His ability to befriend everyone he met was nothing short of remarkable. He had one of the best global networks known. He leveraged his relationships to question and to discuss the issues of the day so he could make the best decisions possible in the interests of the corporation. This, in my view, was one of his greatest strengths. I will always remember the way he lived his life, balancing a strong work ethic with a healthy dose of play. My father believed that ownership brings a keen sense of responsibility and respect for all shareholders.
He instilled a strong culture of entrepreneurship and of giving back to the community. What started as a tradition of giving has grown into a powerful force for community impact, with over $1 billion invested by our group companies in communities across Canada, and I think that's something that we can all be extremely proud about. Very few corporations, I don't know that they've given that much money around, but Power has been definitely a leader, and it's been done in form of financial contributions and obviously some employee volunteering also over the past forty-five years.
One cause that may also be close to my father's heart was Montreal Old Brewery Mission, and on the occasion of our one hundredth anniversary, I am proud that Power Corporation, in collaboration with my family, is working on a special legacy project in support of the Old Brewery Mission's initiatives in our city. Our landmark donation will help the Old Brewery Mission implement its innovative approach to tackle the homelessness crisis that we are unfortunately witnessing at this time.
My father was also a proud Canadian, deeply attached to his adopted home of Quebec. He viewed his business success as a contribution to Canada's development and an example for young Canadians. Thanks to his economic and philanthropic efforts, Power has made a positive difference in Montreal and, in fact, throughout Quebec and across Canada. Despite our global expansion and the domestic, political, and economic challenges we faced over the years, our company has always maintained a strong connection to Quebec. While many companies chose to relocate their headquarters outside Montreal, ours have always remained here. This is not only a symbol of our deep-rooted commitment to this province, it is also a source of pride for all of us. My father's visionary leadership transformed Power Corporation, emphasizing prudent risk management and a long-term perspective.
Still today, this responsible management philosophy remains core to Power and allows us to continue generating sustainable value for our employees, clients, shareholders, and society at large.
An investment of $1,000 in Power Corporation on December 31st, 1967, just before my father purchased Power, was worth approximately $1.8 million at the end of 2024. I wish I'd put $10,000, but anyhow. Assuming the reinvestment of dividends, of course. Throughout this period, thick and thin, shareholders have enjoyed an average annual return of 14.1% compound. To illustrate further, we decided to look at the S&P, which only started in 1977, and in this case, you would have had, for $1,000, $1.024 million, and if you had bought the index, you'd have had $54,000. Now, I have redone these calculations often. Jake Lawrence has redone them. Everyone has redone them.
It's the power of compounding, of the outperformance on our share price, as well as the outperformance on the dividend that makes that much difference over that period of time. So it's impressive, and I think something to be proud about. Anyhow, I think it's great. This is the power of compounding.
In the early 1980s, my brother Paul and I joined Power Corporation. This partnership between Paul and myself has always been based on trust and respect. While our approaches may differ, we actually complement one another very well, and when it comes to making important decisions for our group, we are invariably on the same page. It has been a wonderful and most successful partnership. I want to acknowledge my brother's presence this morning, and I would like to thank him for his invaluable contribution and collaboration. Thank you, Paul. When Paul and I started at Power, it was a diversified business with holdings spanning resources, transportation, and financial services. Over time, the company's focus shifted to financial services, leading to the founding of Power Financial by my brother in 1984.
In the years that followed, we monetized many non-financial holdings, consolidated businesses, among others, thus driving value through businesses closer to our renewed focus. In addition, my brother was asked to oversee our European investments alongside our father. Through an exceptional partnership with the Frère family of Belgium, which has been ongoing for thirty-five years and counting, we transformed GBL into one of Europe's leading holding companies. Ms. Nicole Frère is with us here today, and I welcome her to our meeting. Paul has guided our efforts for the majority of those years, and more importantly, he has maintained and cultivated an excellent relationship with the Frère family throughout this time, which is an achievement of which we are all very proud.
I was tasked with overseeing the developing of our industrial assets and more particularly, our investments in China, a role I embrace with pride and through both prosperous and challenging times. I'm particularly proud of the success we have achieved in China over the many decades, highlighted by 28% of China AMC, the country's second largest money manager, in which IGM Financial today holds. China AMC today has close to $500 billion in assets and has more than 200 million clients. All this was achieved in less than 30 years. In 1994, our father passed the reins to us. Our first major transaction after becoming Chief Executive Officers, Co-Chief Executive Officers, Paul and I, came in 1997 with the acquisition of London Life. The pivotal milestone solidified Power's leading role in consolidation of the financial services industry in Canada.
Building on this momentum, in 2001, Investors Group acquired Mackenzie Financial, creating Canada's largest mutual fund organization. Two years later, 2003, Great-West Life acquired Canada Life, securing its position as Canada's leading life and health insurance company. The years that followed saw continued growth, both organically and through acquisitions. 2013, Great-West Lifeco expanded its footprint in Europe by acquiring Irish Life. In 2014, we further strengthened our position in retirement services market with Great-West Life's acquisition of JP Morgan's retirement plan services known as Empower. 2018, we rebranded Investors Group as IG Wealth Management, reflecting IG's emphasis on helping clients grow their wealth and achieve their financial goals. It hasn't always been a smooth journey, and we have faced our share of challenges.
Putnam, which was sold to Franklin Templeton in 2024, is an example of that, comes to mind. We acquired Putnam on the eve of 2008 financial crisis. Absolutely fabulous timing, and one of the worst financial crises in the history of the last century. As you all know, the crisis created enduring challenges in years that followed. However, we persevered, and we transformed Putnam into a premier investment manager. We also integrated its retirement business, in part through acquisitions, into what eventually became Empower. So ultimately, with persistence and long-term vision, we forged a strategic partnership with Franklin Templeton in connection with the sale of Putnam, bringing Putnam's strong investment capabilities to an already scaled global asset manager.
Interestingly, without our investment in Putnam and its highly talented leadership team, led by Bob Reynolds, we would never have ended up with the exceptional talent pool, industry knowledge, and invaluable expertise that subsequently allowed us to develop Empower into what it is today. Empower now ranks as the second-largest retirement services provider in the United States and has become our fastest-growing company, delivering more than $1 billion in earnings in 2024, and managing $1.8 trillion in retirement savings for 19 million Americans.
Another prime example of perseverance is La Presse. We are proud of our efforts to secure the future of this influential media outlet. La Presse serves as an essential reference for many and plays a crucial role in Quebec society. It is this deeply held conviction that led my family and Power Corporation to support La Presse for more than 50 years, even through the toughest times. At a time when the worldwide newspaper industry was struggling, we supported La Presse in its digital transformation and adoption of a new business model, including by providing readers with free access to content and making a financial commitment to ensure its continued success. Changing La Presse's ownership structure in 2018 was not an easy decision. However, given the challenges faced by quality journalism, it was the only responsible choice.
It was also the right decision to secure the future of La Presse, ensuring its long-term viability and its essential role in maintaining the vitality of democracy in Quebec.
On financial services by announcing a significant reorganization to streamline its structure and unlock shareholder value. Today, nearly all of Power's assets are in the financial services industry. As part of the reorganization, Jeffrey Orr became President and CEO of Power Corporation, and we are grateful to Jeff for his vision, his drive, his value-based leadership. Over the past five years, he has masterfully navigated the global pandemic and subsequently, inflation and economic uncertainty, steering Power towards consistent growth and stability. Paul and I remain active as Chairman and Deputy Chairman. We alternate the chairmanship of the company on an annual basis, and I'm most honored that the one-hundredth anniversary annual meeting of shareholders is being held in a year during which I am serving as Chairman. Power Corporation's journey has been one of outstanding leadership and extraordinary people, all of whom have contributed to its remarkable achievements.
At our core, we are a people business. By attracting the very best people in the industry, we have cultivated a dynamic and innovative workforce, fostering loyalty and excellence throughout our organization and our wider group of companies. By collaborating with strong management teams, we develop synergies in our group, grow our businesses, and deliver long-term value to you, our shareholders. I extend my profound gratitude to all employees at Power and our group companies. We have the great privilege of working with some of the best people in the industry.
I wish to express my deepest thanks to all the employees of Power Corporation and our group companies. We have the privilege of working with some of the very best talent in the industry.
I wish to extend my gratitude to the visionaries and the builders who shaped Power Corporation, Power Financial, and other current and past group companies. Their contributions to Power's success at every step of its history has made a tremendous difference. We are forever grateful to them. To name just a few, in alphabetical order: Jim Burns, Peter Curry, Robert Gratton, Frank Knowles, Jean Parisien, The Honorable Michael Pitfield, Michel Plessis-Bellair, and John Ray. This is not by any means an exhaustive list. Throughout our history, Power's success has been shaped by the vision and dedication of countless individuals, many of whom I have not mentioned. Displayed on the screens behind me now are the names of some of those that I refer to as the unsung heroes.
Some of you are present in the room today, and I would ask that you stand to be recognized, as we are profoundly grateful to each and every one of you. So please stand, those of you who are on the list. That applause was very long and worthy, but I don't want anybody to get any ideas that they should retire in order to get the applause next year. We need you. We need you for many years to come. All right.
Certains d'entre vous êtes présents dans la salle aujourd'hui, c'est déjà.
Some of you are present, as we've already seen.
Due to the past directors of Power Corporation, and we express our sincere thanks to their contributions. Their names will also appear on the screens behind us, and will bring back, I'm sure, a lot of memories for many of you who have been with the corporation for a while.
Et puis, j'aimerais également souligner la façon-
I would also like to emphasize the way in which our group companies are currently positioning themselves to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. Power Corporation and our subsidiaries are stronger than ever, financially, technologically, and most importantly, in terms of people and their talent. Looking ahead, we remain committed to creating sustainable value and making a positive impact for our employees, clients, shareholders, and society at large. We will continue to support our communities in line with our values, recognizing that strong communities are essential for successful businesses and a prosperous Canada. We're very excited about the future, and we remain committed to working tirelessly to deliver results that will not only match, but in fact, surpass those of the past one hundred years. In closing, to you, our shareholders, we sincerely thank you for your continued confidence in our group.
Your unwavering support has been crucial to our success. It has helped us deliver strong results and positively position our business for the future. I would now like to invite my brother, Paul, also to say a few words. Paul, do you want to come up?
Merci, André, d'avoir si bien ra-
Thank you, Andre, for having so brilliantly taken us through the history of Power Corporation over the past one hundred years, including by mentioning our family's stewardship of the company. Thank you to you as well, Jeff, for your continued outstanding leadership year after year, including for the terrific results achieved over this past year. Let me also thank all of you, our shareholders, colleagues and friends, who are joining us here today on this historic occasion.
Gratitude. It feels really appropriate on this occasion, for as we think about all that we have been built and all the wonderful people that have contributed to it, we have, and I certainly have, so much to be grateful for. So I would like to express here my profound appreciation, certainly to our parents, for their unflagging support, for their leadership example of philanthropy and caring for our community that they gave us. They instilled in us a profound belief in this great country of Canada, this great province of Quebec, and a belief in Montreal as a thriving, wonderful community, plus a belief and responsibility to give and to provide leadership. They also instilled a pride in our Francophone heritage, the importance of embracing bilingualism and equal rights and opportunities for Francophones and Anglophones alike. I also thought of...
I also thought our dad planted a seed, the seeds, really, of our success when he gave Andre and me space and identified separate areas of the company and separate geographies for us to work in. He gave us each an opportunity to expand our vision and to develop, frankly, a global perspective. I'm grateful for the opportunity, in fact, to have lived in Europe with my family for four years, to build and cement a relationship with the Fair family. We are now three generations building great companies together in Europe, still having a great time and continued success. I'm also grateful to the late Jim Burns for his mentorship as we worked together to create Power Financial. It turned out to be an amazing foundation for our future redefinition of Power Corporation, focused on financial services.
In fact, my first board of directors was Montreal Trust, where I got to know Robert Gatton, who convinced us to sell the company. With those proceeds, we were able to further invest in Projects of GBL at the time and end up with a balance sheet strong enough to initiate the takeover of London Life. I enjoyed tremendously my partnership with Robert for over two decades, and I'm grateful for his invaluable contribution to this company. But most importantly, I'm deeply grateful to my brother, Andre, for the partnership we have been able to forge. We achieved our vision of transforming Power Corporation into a leading international financial services holding company, and this has been our shared success. I appreciate how well that partnership has worked, as alongside Jeff Orr, we continue to build the company we have today.
My gratitude towards Jeff Orr is almost beyond words. We have worked together for over thirty years now. He is a truly gifted leader, visionary, savvy, and to me, most important, humane. It gives me great pleasure to see him in the CEO position, leading us for five years now and taking Power Corporation, our group of companies, to new heights, as you could see. Jeff, thank you.
We believe profoundly in giving, in helping build thriving institutions that serve our communities. This is work that brings its own rewards. It also demonstrates one's gratitude for what one has, and it shows our commitment to sharing it with others. As I learned when working with the Centraide United Way, building bridges within the community is crucial to a successful society. Finally, let me say a few words about this great country of ours. I am such a proud Canadian. We all favor the beauty of our great, unmatched geography, and there are people south of the border who are coming to realize this fact as well. As Francophone Canadians, I would also like to say that I look with enormous pride at how our three founding cultures have learned to live together.
This is what has allowed us, I believe, to be more tolerant, more respectful, and more generous towards our fellow human beings. With the robust foundation we have built at Power Corporation over the past one hundred years, we are confident that we will be able to prosper over the coming decades and thus continue contributing to the prosperity of this wonderful country. To our shareholders, thank you once again for your faith in our company and for investing with us. I am also deeply grateful to you, to our employees, our colleagues. I feel so blessed to know you, to be partners with you, and to have been able to benefit over so many years from your insight, your guidance, your hard work, and your commitment. I thank you. I am looking forward to Power Corporation's continued success in the decades to come. Thank you.
That's it for the speeches, ladies and gentlemen. The next item on the agenda is the election of directors. This year, Mr. Pierre Beaudoin is not standing for re-election. On behalf of the board and shareholders of the company, I would like to thank Pierre for his invaluable contribution over the past twenty years. We are very grateful to him.
Executive Vice President to propose the nominees. Mr. Ray?
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I nominate the following thirteen persons for election as directors of the corporation: Monsieur Marcel Coutu, Andre Desmarais, Paul Desmarais Jr., Gary Dewar, Madame Segolene Galienne-Frere, Mr. Anthony Graham, Madame Sharon McLeod, Paula Madoff, Isabelle Marcou, Monsieur Geoffrey Orr, Timothy Ryan Jr., Slim Vanes Selja, and Ms. Elizabeth Wilson.
Thank you very much, Mr. Ray. Are there any further nominations or questions from shareholders specifically on this item? Okay, I now declare the nominations closed and would ask Mr. Ray to present his motion.
Mr. Chair, I move that those nominated be elected director of the corporation to hold office until the next meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected, subject to the provisions of the corporation's bylaws.
Thank you, Mr. Ray, and I will ask Mr. Morimano,
Mr. Chairman, I second this motion. Thank you, Paul, and I'm very happy to see you. Moving on to the vote. Only shareholders of record or their proxy holders may cast their vote on this ballot. If you have not yet voted and have not received a ballot at the registration desk, or if you wish to change your vote, please raise your hand, and a scrutineer will give you a ballot, a blue ballot.
French on one side and then English on the other.
Have all the ballots been handed in? All handed in. Good. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors. I now call on Mr. Maurice Fréchette, former Tax Manager at Power, to present the proposal. Mr. Fréchette, over to you.
Mr. Chair, I move that Deloitte be appointed auditors of the corporation to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders.
Wonderful. Thank you. I now invite Ms. Diane Holly, my brother's former Executive Assistant, to second this proposal.
Mr. Chairman, I second this motion.
Thank you very much, Ms. Holly. Are there any questions from shareholders specifically on this motion? If not, we will now proceed to the vote. Only shareholders of record or their proxy holders may cast their vote on this ballot. If you have not yet received one, please raise your hand, and you will be given a salmon pink ballot. It's French on one side and English on the other, as I've already pointed out. Have all the ballots been handed in? All right, very good.
Advisory resolution, the corporation's approach to executive compensation. I would ask that Mrs. Marina Speck, former executive assistant to Stefan Lemay, to present the motion.
Mr. Chair, I move the non-binding advisory resolution on the corporation's approach to executive compensation, as articulated in the management proxy circular, be approved.
Great. Mrs. Douglas, would you like to second that motion? She was the former assistant to my father, and she was the reason he bought the company, because she's the only employee who was actually with the company before my father bought. Yeah, I second the motion. Thank you, Lynn. Thank you. Only registered shareholders can vote for this also. It's kind of very much repetition here, except the green ballot. And then after that, one side is English, one side is French. Same thing. Has anyone needed to vote for this? We're okay.
The next item on the agenda is the approval of the adoption of the Power Performance Restricted Share Unit Plan. I now call on Miss Celine Cote, former executive assistant to Michel Plessy-Bellair and Denise Levasseur, to present the motion. That's quite a mouthful. Mr. Chair, I move that the adoption of the Power Performance Restricted Share Unit Plan, as set forth in the management proxy circular, be approved. I'd now like to call on Louise Gagnon, speaking of hard workers, to second the motion. She kept my father in line for many years. She was his assistant. Please second this motion.
I second this motion.
Thank you so much for being with us, Louise. We're so happy to see you. All right, are there any questions from shareholders, specifically on this particular item? All right, we will now proceed to the vote, and this time, you're going to be given a lilac-colored ballot. Once again, it's bilingual, English on one side, French on the other, and only shareholders of record, etc., can vote. Have all the ballots been handed in? Thank you. Perfect. So we now come to the shareholder proposals. Another person named Daniel is now going to take the floor. The company received three shareholder proposals to be submitted at this meeting, each of which is set out in the management proxy circular. The board of directors' recommendations are also set out in that circular.
Following the presentation of the proposals, shareholders of record or their proxy holders will be given the opportunity to vote on the three proposals that are put to a shareholder vote. Before continuing, I would ask the representative of MEDAC to keep his comments brief and confined to the proposal in question. Good morning, Mr. Gagnon, our best friend within the Desmarais family. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Willie Gagnon. I'm acting as a proxy holder for MEDAC and for another shareholder. I am, of course, a shareholder, and we're here at your AGM, as we are every year. I'm very happy to see that you are chairing this meeting. I'm going to make a few comments, but it'll take no time at all. I'm happy to see you chairing this meeting, and I'm happy to see to have heard the chairman of the board.
He's not at the head table anymore, but I believe that this doesn't change anything in the company's organizational chart, unless I'm much mistaken. I'm also happy to see all of you present here today. It's very nice to be here in person. Generally speaking, yours is the last shareholder meeting of the season, and it's certainly the AGM with the greatest attendance that I've witnessed this year. So hats off to you. It's very important for us to be able to see people in person, in the flesh, and to be able to talk to them directly. So it's very nice to have people sitting to our left or right, rather than staring at a screen where we don't see our neighbors. So we've put forward three proposals.
We came to an agreement on one, so I'm going to make a brief comment on the reasons why we agreed on it. First proposal, we asked that Power join the voluntary code of conduct on the responsible development and management of advanced generative AI systems. This is a federal code that any company can sign up for. In your answer, you say that, of course, you've taken all kinds of steps, you've adopted all kinds of policies with respect to AI. That's fine, but that wasn't the point of our proposal. We believe that the policies that you've adopted are excellent, but we don't see the reason why you don't want to sign on to this code of conduct. We've agreed not to go to a vote at other AGMs on this particular proposal.
I'm sorry? No, I'm just finding it rather hard to hear you, that's all, but please proceed. We accepted from other companies that we would not submit this to shareholder vote on the basis of the fact that they committed to examining the possibility of signing on to this code of conduct next year. We would like to get the same response from you, depending on the outcome of the vote. But, you know, you can join the voluntary code of conduct even if we don't win our proposal. We'd like to ask all shareholders to support this. Second proposal, we ask that the languages that the company requires employees to master be disclosed. Now, you understand that this is an issue of corporate social responsibility. When a company conducts business in a certain language, it provides jobs in that language, language X, language Y, or whatever.
That is the basis for our shareholder proposal. A recent survey was conducted with Léger Marketing among Quebecers, and that expressed massive support for this proposal. 70% of respondents were in favor. We didn't receive the same outcome on this vote from the other companies. We understand that we're realistic. Now, you say that according to the new provisions of the French Language Charter in Quebec, you have to justify why you would demand that people have a mastery of a language other than French when you hire, and that you have this information. It would therefore be simple to disclose it. So we're calling on all shareholders to support this proposal. Proposal number three, we ask that Power adopt a policy on an annual advisory vote with respect to environmental and climate objectives and action plan. We've already said this.
We got close to 12% support last year. We're coming back this year with the same proposal and the same arguments as last year. We call on all shareholders to support this. You're very familiar with our arguments. The fourth proposal. Now, we asked for something, and you gave it to us. We ask that the skills matrix of its directors take specific account of experience and expertise in environmental and climate change issues, and that this be put into the DNA or in the circular. We were happy to see that this has happened, and we're going to use you as an example to get other companies to follow suit. In conclusion, I listened closely to everything you said earlier.
You did not invite any questions or comments on the advisory vote on the executive compensation, but I could raise this issue during the Q&A, if you permit. Thank you so much for giving us so much speaking time every year. That's very kind of you. Thank you very much for your comments. Of course, the board's recommendation is to vote against the three proposals submitted by Mr. Daniel, by MEDAC. We always try to be very reasonable, but at some point, you have to come to a decision. We're now going to move on to a vote on these three proposals. Please note that all three proposals are listed on a single ballot. Only shareholders of record or their proxy holders may vote. If you have not yet voted or received a ballot, please let us know, and you will be given a yellow ballot.
One side in English on the other.
Have all the ballots been handed in? I declare the vote closed for all items on the agenda, and I ask the scrutineers to present their preliminary report. There may be slight differences between the results communicated this morning and those that will be disclosed after the meeting.
On the results of the ballots.
Mr. Chairman, as scrutineer, we confirm the following: All thirteen persons who have been proposed for election as directors of the corporation have been elected by the majority of votes in favor. The motion to appoint Deloitte LLP as auditors is carried. The motion for executive compensation is carried. The motion for the adoption of the Power Performance Restricted Share Unit Plan is carried. The motion on shareholder proposals numbers one, two, and three has been defeated. Thank you.
Thank you very much. I'm not going to repeat everything that Madam has just said, except to say that everything seems to be in order and done, and I thank you all for attending. This ends the formality of the meeting, but we now have a question period, and I believe Mr. Gagnon-