Hello, welcome to the annual meeting of stockholders of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. During the meeting, we will have a question and answer session. You can submit a written question at any time by clicking on the message icon at the top of your screen. Please note that your registered name will be announced along with your question during the Q&A session following the formal portion of the meeting. Guests will not be able to submit questions. Please also note that all participants are in a listen-only mode. If you experience technical difficulties during the meeting, please click on the support link on the broadcast screen. It is now my pleasure to turn the meeting over to Mr. Randy Smallwood, Chair of the meeting. The floor is yours.
Thank you, operator, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the annual and special meeting of the shareholders of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. The meeting will now come to order. My name is Randy Smallwood, and I am the President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, and I will chair this meeting. I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. At this time, our government and public health authorities continue to recommend that all Canadians do not congregate in large groups and that we continue to practice social distancing to assist with reducing the impact of COVID-19 on our communities.
As a result, in-person attendance at our meeting today is limited, and appropriate measures have been put in place to facilitate physical distancing and other precautions to assure the health and safety of attendees. The board recognizes the importance of in-person engagement with its shareholders while also being mindful of the health and safety of Wheaton shareholders, employees, and the community. As a result, for this year's meeting, Wheaton has adopted an online virtual meeting platform, and we have strongly encouraged all of our shareholders to participate in the meeting using this online platform. I am happy to welcome our shareholders that are joining this meeting today through the virtual meeting platform. We are pleased to have your virtual participation in this meeting. Please note that following the formal part of our meeting, there will be an opportunity for questions. Please input your questions through the virtual meeting platform.
Let us now proceed with the business of the meeting. For the purposes of this meeting, Wheaton Precious Metals has appointed Asheesh Joshi on behalf of AST Trust Company of Canada to act as scrutineer. Curt Bernardi, the Senior Vice President, Legal and Corporate Secretary of the company, will act as secretary for this meeting. I have been advised that the notice calling this meeting, together with the notice -and- access notification and the form of proxy, were mailed to shareholders of record as of March 19th, 2021, in accordance with applicable law. AST Trust Company (Canada) has filed with me proof of service of such mailing, and I direct that a copy of such proof of service be annexed to the minutes of this meeting as a schedule.
The scrutineers have also advised me that prior to the meeting, proxies were received from the holders of a sufficient number of common shares to constitute a quorum. I therefore declare the meeting to be regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. I direct that the formal report of the scrutineers be annexed to the minutes of this meeting as a schedule. I would like to take a moment to comment on the voting procedures to be used at today's meeting. Voting for the directors of the company and accompanying proposed executive compensation will proceed by way of ballot. Otherwise, voting will proceed by way of a show of hands and voting through the virtual meeting platform.
If you are a registered shareholder or proxy holder who is attending in person at the meeting, you should have received a ballot on blue paper and a ballot on yellow paper upon checking in with AST Trust Company (Canada). If you are a registered shareholder or proxy holder and do not have these ballots, please raise your hand. If you're a registered shareholder or proxy holder attending the meeting through the virtual meeting platform, you will not require the ballots, but will instead record your votes through that platform. There will be a short pause on each matter to allow registered shareholders and proxy holders to record their votes. With respect to each matter to be considered at today's meeting, I will ask for a motion and a second.
Only registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders can make or second a motion or address the meeting with respect to a pending motion. Once a matter has been seconded, I will ask for discussion as to the pending matter. In order to allow for timely and orderly consideration of the business to come before today's meeting, each registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder wishing to speak as to a pending motion will be allocated two minutes to present their position. As the first item of business of this meeting, I now present to the meeting the company's financial statements as at and for the year ended December 31st, 2020. Copies of the financial statements were mailed to those shareholders who requested to receive copies of them in accordance with applicable law. Now, unless there is an objection, I do not propose to read them to the meeting.
The next item of business is the election of directors by the company shareholders to hold office until the close of the first annual meeting of shareholders following such election, or until their successors are elected or appointed. The company's bylaws include an advanced notice requirement for the nomination of directors by shareholders in certain circumstances. The company did not receive notice of any director nominations in connection with this meeting. Accordingly, the only persons eligible to be nominated for election to the board at this meeting are the management nominees. Management nominees, George Brack, John Brough, Peter Gillin, Chantal Gosselin, Glenn Ives, Charles Jeannes, Douglas Holtby, Eduardo Luna, and Marilyn Schonberner, and Randy Smallwood as directors for the ensuing year whereas held in successors are elected or appointed. I declare the nominations closed.
As a result of the company's majority voting policy, it is necessary to vote by ballot for the election of each director, and therefore a direct poll will be taken. Each shareholder or proxy nominee should record your vote in respect of the election of each director nominee. If you are participating in the meeting through the virtual meeting platform, please record your vote now. For those registered shareholders and proxy nominees here in person, please record your vote by marking the appropriate box beside each director's name and by signing and printing your name on the blue ballot. Once you have done so, please raise your hand, and the ballot will be collected from you. I will now pause briefly to allow for online and in-person voting.
I have been advised by the scrutineers that the proxy deposits for the meeting have overwhelmingly voted for the election of each of the directors. Therefore, I declare George Brack, John Brough, Peter Gillin, Chantal Gosselin, Glenn Ives, Charles Jeannes, Douglas M. Holtby, Eduardo Luna, Marilyn Schonberner, and Randy Smallwood to be elected as your board of directors to serve in that capacity until the company's next annual general meeting, or until their successors are elected or appointed. Rather than hold up the business of this meeting for the final tabulation of votes cast, I direct that the result of the poll for the election of the directors be included with the minutes of this meeting and be filed on SEDAR and EDGAR. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors for the ensuing year and the authorization for the board to fix their remuneration.
I ask that someone move and someone second the following resolution. Resolved that Deloitte LLP, independent registered public accounting firm, be and they are hereby appointed as auditors of the company to hold office until the close of the next annual general meeting of shareholders, or until their successors are appointed at such remuneration as may be fixed by the directors and the directors be and they are hereby authorized to fix such remuneration. Will someone move that resolution? I so move. Will someone second the motion? I second the motion. Is there any discussion? If you are participating in the meeting through the virtual meeting platform, please record your vote now. For those registered shareholders and proxy nominees here in person and in favor of the resolution, please so signify by raising your hand. I will now pause briefly to allow for online and in-person voting.
Are there any votes to the contrary? I declare the resolution carried. The next item of business is the approval of the company's approach to executive compensation, as more particularly described in the management information circular. The resolution to approve the company's approach to executive compensation is set out on page 88 of the management information circular. In order to be effective, this resolution must be approved by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the votes cast at this meeting. I am advised by the scrutineers that over 5% of the shares already voted by proxy were voted against the resolution to approve the company's approach to executive compensation as set out on page 91 of the management information circular. We will proceed to vote by way of ballot.
Each shareholder or proxy nominee should record your vote in respect to the company's approach to executive compensation. If you are participating in the meeting through the virtual meeting platform, please record your vote now. For those registered shareholders and proxy nominees here in person, please record your vote by marking the appropriate box and by signing and printing your name on the yellow ballot. Once you have completed your ballot, please raise your hand, and the ballot will be collected from you. I will now pause briefly to allow for online and in-person voting. Presently advised by the scrutineers that the proxies deposited for the meeting have been voted for the confirmation of the company's approach to executive compensation. As sufficient votes have been cast in favor of this resolution, I declare the resolution carried.
Rather than hold up the business of the meeting for the final tabulation of votes cast, I direct the results of the poll be included with the minutes of this meeting and filed with SEDAR and EDGAR. Before proceeding with the termination of the formal part of this meeting, I would ask all shareholders and registered proxy voters to please take a moment to ensure that you have inputted your vote into the virtual meeting platform before online balloting is closed. I will now pause briefly to allow for online and in-person voting to be completed. Is there any further business? As there is no further business, I ask that someone move and someone second the resolution that this meeting now terminate.
I so move.
Will someone second the motion?
I second the motion.
I declare that the formal portion of this meeting is now terminated. We will now proceed to answer any questions received through the virtual meeting platform. We will now pause briefly to give shareholders a moment to input questions through the virtual meeting platform.
Mr. Chair, we have received the following question. You are generating close to $1 billion at current commodity prices. What do you plan to do with it in terms of capital allocation?
Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Yes, this year looks very promising. It looks like we will be producing close to $1 billion in free cash flow in the course of this year, a combination of strong commodity prices and good organic growth in our portfolio. We are very, very active on the corporate development front. In fact, we closed three transactions in the last nine months. We're very, very busy looking at new opportunities to continue putting it in. Our primary focus is to try and put that cash flow back into the ground and continue growing our company and our portfolio of top-tier, low-cost, long-life assets. We do have a real strong focus on ensuring that these acquisitions are accretive to our shareholders, though. We won't just chase deals for the sake of deals.
We will make sure that they are attractive and that they're good quality assets that definitely add to our portfolio of what I consider one of the best portfolios of mining assets in the world from a quality perspective. If we're not effective in terms of being able to put all that cash back to work, it goes to the dividend. Currently, 30% of our cash flow goes to shareholders. That's delivered on a quarterly basis, averaged over the previous four quarters. We've seen some good strong growth with mostly organic growth and the commodity prices pushing that up on a per share basis. That 30% is a number that is open for being moved.
If we start building up too much cash on the balance sheet, we will increase the amount of money that goes back to our shareholders if we can't put it back into the ground. Our preference is to continue growing the company and adding new assets and expanding our portfolio. If we can't effectively do that in an accretive manner that delivers value to our shareholders, then we will return the capital to our shareholders through the dividend. Is there any other questions?
Mr. Chair, we have no further questions from shareholders.
Well, thank you. On behalf of everyone here at Wheaton, thank you to our shareholders for attending and participating in our meeting today. As we have no further questions, this concludes our meeting today. Please, everyone, stay safe and stay healthy.
This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.