Good day and welcome to the TFS Financial Corporation 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Marc Stefanski, Chairman and CEO. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to our first ever virtual annual meeting. We're live here in Cleveland, Ohio, at our world headquarters at 7007 Broadway. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Cleveland. Again, I'd like to welcome you. A representative from Broadridge is available if technical issues do arise for the shareholders who are online. This meeting is officially come into order. Paul Huml, our Chief Financial Officer of the company will act as secretary of the meeting and will keep the minutes. Paul, good morning.
Good morning, Marc, and thank you. Just want to say the voting polls are now open. If you've already voted online, through mailing in, or phone, no further action is required. Shareholders may now cast or change their vote by clicking on the voting button and following the instructions listed there. Shareholders may submit questions using the web portal, and we will respond to questions by email after the meeting.
Will the secretary present to the meeting a list of stockholders of record at the close of business on December 28th, 2020?
Mr. Chairman, I have and hereby present to the meeting a complete and alphabetical list of the stockholders of record at the close of business on December 28th, 2020, the record date fixed by the board of directors for the determination of the stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at this meeting.
Will the secretary present to the meeting a copy of the notice of the meeting, together with the proof of the mailing of such a notice?
Mr. Chairman, I have and hereby present a copy of the notice of the meeting, along with the affidavit signed by a representative, Broadridge Financial Solutions, showing the mailing of the notice of internet availability of our proxy materials on January 14th, 2021, to each stockholder of record at the close of business on December 28th, 2020. The notice provides that the meeting will be held for the following purposes.
One, to elect four directors, each to hold office for a three-year term until his or her successor has been duly elected and appointed. Two, to conduct an advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers. Three, to ratify the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent accountant for the company's fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. Four, to transact all other business that properly comes before the meeting.
I now direct the secretary to cause these documents to be filed and preserved with the records of the company. We will dispense with the reading of the minutes of our annual meeting of the stockholders held last year, February 27th, 2020. I now appoint Jodi Hajduk and Debbie Fronius as inspectors of election for today's meeting. Will the secretary now determine if a quorum is present for today's meeting? Paul?
Yes. An affidavit has been delivered attesting to the fact that either, one, the notice and access notice for today's meeting was provided in the 2020 annual report to shareholders, or that, two, the documents themselves were mailed on or about January 14th, 2021, to all shareholders as of the record date and will be incorporated into the minutes of this meeting. The inspectors have reported that 274,880,512 shares of common stock are represented in person or by proxy at the meeting, representing approximately 98% of the total 280,567,023 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. A quorum is present.
Thank you. The first order of business is the election of four directors. The following individuals were nominated by the board of directors to serve as directors of the company for a term expiring in 2024. First, we have Barbara Anderson, Anthony Asher, Ben Stefanski III, and Meredith Weil. The proxy committee will vote all the shares as directed for this and all other voting matters today. The inspectors of election have counted the ballots and provided the preliminary report to the secretary for this and all the other voting of matters today. Paul?
Thanks, Marc. The preliminary report of the inspectors of election on the election of the four directors for terms expiring in 2024 is that the following nominees received the highest vote, with each individual receiving over 96% of the vote. Barbara J. Anderson, Anthony J. Asher, Ben S. Stefanski III, and Meredith S. Weil.
Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen. I declare each of these persons just referred to by the secretary as duly elected director of the company to serve till 2024 and until his or her successor has been duly elected and appointed. The next order of business is to vote on the advisory vote on the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers.
Thanks, Marc. The preliminary report of the inspectors on the advisory vote of the approval of the compensation of our named executive officers shows that approximately 97% of the votes cast were in favor of this issue.
I declare that the advisory vote has passed. The next order of business is to vote on the ratification of the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as a company independent accountant for the company's fiscal year September 30th, 2021.
The preliminary report of the inspectors on the ratification of the selection of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company's independent accountant for the company's fiscal year ending September 30, 2021, shows that over 99% of the votes cast were in favor of this issue.
I declare that the selection of Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent accountant for the company's fiscal year ending September 30th, 2021, has been ratified. Now I declare voting polls closed, and I direct the Secretary to incorporate with the records of the company a copy of the proxy statement, the definitive additional materials to the proxy, a form of proxy, the annual report of the fiscal year ended September 30th, 2020, the final reports and the inspectors of election, as well as a certified list of Broadridge of stockholders that took any voting action today. This concludes the formal part of the meeting. Is there a motion to adjourn?
I move to adjourn .
I second the motion.
We need a second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye.
Aye.
Aye.
Ladies and gentlemen, the meeting is adjourned. This ends the formal part of our meeting. I would like to thank each of the directors and the management team who are all on the call today and officially welcome Barbara Anderson as a new board member. I would also like to recognize, a special recognition goes out to Kurt Karakul and Emily Thome. They are directors and manage our foundation, the Third Federal Foundation, which makes significant investments in the communities that we serve.
Also the representatives from BakerHostetler and Deloitte & Touche who are also on the call. That will end the official part of our meeting today. I do have a couple brief comments if you want to stay on for another five minutes or so. 2020 presented many challenges from many perspectives for all of us. Of course, Third Federal was no exception.
It seemed like every time we turned around, there was another roadblock thrown in our way in terms of our business plan and model. Very unusual circumstances for sure. I think the fact that we've built a very strong corporate culture. We make decisions and base our whole livelihood here at Third Federal on a set of values. Values of love, trust, commitment to excellence, treating one another with respect, and trying to have a little bit of fun along the way.
I can't say enough about how those values and our corporate culture helped get Third Federal through this very strange 2020 year. In a book called Built to Last by Jim Collins, he talks about how corporate culture in companies that are built to last are almost cult-like. Everyone thinks about cults as being something bad or scary.
We think of it as just a way of doing business here. We treating each other with respect and with love. When I talk about love, Excuse me. When we talk about love, we're talking about genuine concern for others. Boy, did we pick each other up during the course of the year. There was an old brewery called Stroh's Beer back, very popular in the 1960s, 1970s, and part of the 1980s.
There's a book written by one of the sons, or daughters actually, of the Stroh family. It was called Beer Money. The way it was described in the book and what happened that got that company in trouble and eventually they were phased out or bought out of existence. They thought that chasing a return was more important than building their brand.
They got involved in investments and different things that had nothing to do with their business and eventually had to sell that company. Speaking from experience, I really enjoyed Stroh's Beer and miss it very much, but it just goes to show with a lack of focus how things can go awry and how quickly your corporate culture can be destroyed and that with the company itself.
Our mission is to help people achieve the American dream of homeownership, creating financial security while creating value for our customers, our communities, our associates, and our stockholders. We haven't wavered from that from our inception way back in 1938. I want to share with you just one quick story that actually comes from a religious background. Buddhism actually is where it comes from. It's a story about a prince who once lived in Persia.
I'm just going to read this briefly. At the age of 21, he married a beautiful princess, and for one year they lived a life of sheer bliss, and then unexpectedly she died. The prince mourned grievously and had her body placed in a silver casket. A short time later, he decided to put the casket in a small garden and surrounded it with roses. Not long after that, he thought a small pond would enhance the setting.
Still later, several trees were added, and so on. Two years later, he sat gazing at the acres of lakes and swans and elaborate flower gardens, elegant tree arrangements, and beautiful terraces. In the center lay the silver casket. After contemplating the scene for an hour, the prince said, there's only one thing spoiling this garden. He pointed to the silver casket and had it removed.
Like many things in life, we can lose our focus. I can assure our stockholders and all of our associates that Third Federal was based on the premise of creating value for our communities, and now our stockholders as well. We're not going to waver from that. When my father first started Third Federal, we lent money to Polish and brick. Polish people in brick houses, and we couldn't go wrong. Of course, we've evolved and changed over the years, and we've been able to now serve a wealth of communities across the country.
We're very proud of that fact, but we haven't lost our focus, focusing in on the people that really need our help, focusing on our communities, especially the inner city communities, who at this time are very much in need of companies like Third Federal and everyone and anyone else who can lend a hand. Our commitment hasn't wavered. We don't have to put that in writing necessarily.
Our word is good, as my father's handshake and word was good way back in 1938 when he and my mom started the company. With that, unfortunately, we're not going to be taking any questions here in person. We will answer your questions online as you send them in. I'd like to thank all of you for tuning in today, and God bless. Stay healthy, breathe some clean air, and thank you very much for your time.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.