First Advisers

30 November 2021

Activists in Action

As 2021 winds down, we look at the meetings that we have been tracking over the past 11 months. November is always busy with listed company Annual General Meetings, however, the Extraordinary Meetings that were called this month didn’t come from shareholders, but instead from companies themselves looking to issue additional shares and make changes to their constitutions. For many Australian listed companies 2021 has been a good year with shareholders stepping up to enthusiastically support capital raisings while activism has been very subdued. November was no exception with no new meetings being requisitioned.

New Activism

Activist/s	Target	Approach	Requisition	Lodged
None

Resolved Campaigns

Activist/s	Target	Meeting	Outcome	Resolution Period
None

Three Months Activity

Activist/s Action	Sep	Oct	Nov
New Activist Campaigns	1	0	0
Activists Win at Meeting	0	1	0
Company Wins at Meeting	0	1	0
Settled before meeting / Requisition withdrawn	1	0	0

11 December 2020

2020! A year like no other

First Advisers
All, COVID-19, ESG, Guidance

2020 was a year filled with extreme and extraordinary events. All of which played out in the context of the extraordinary global health crisis that is the Coronavirus pandemic. A year of extremes Here in Australia we endured bush fire disasters, the death of the Holden car brand and the tragedy of SAS war crimes […]

Compliance update: Capital raising relief extended

First Advisers
All, ASIC, Capital Raising, compliance, COVID-19

This month, ASIC extended its temporary relief for capital raisings aimed to assist listed entities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to raise capital in a quicker and less costly way without undermining investor protection. The temporary measures were due to expire in October 2020. The temporary measures will now expire on 1 January 2021. The […]

Activism in 2020

First Advisers
Activism, All, Governance

VICTORIA GEDDES, Executive Director. At FIRST Advisers we pay close attention to the activist space in Australia, having worked on many campaigns for both activists and companies over the past ten years. In our monthly newsletter we have a regular slot that summarises for our readers the various activist campaigns over that month and we […]

AIRA 2018: The FIRST Advisers panel discussion on What Drives Activism in Australia

First Advisers
Activism, AIRA, All

Valuable Advice for Companies from Successful Activists FIRST Advisers hosted the ‘What Drives Activism?’ panel discussion at the AIRA 2018 Annual Conference held in Sydney on the 23rd of November. While the video of the Conference, including this panel session, can be accessed here, there were a number of interesting takeouts from the discussion that […]

Video: No longer a nice to have

First Advisers
All, Corp Comms, video

Giles Rafferty, Corporate Communications Video is a critical part of the communication mix. Video engages an audience visually, aurally and emotionally. If a picture paints a thousand words, then a minute of video paints 1.5 million! There are some *mathematics that underpin this assertion but the point of such a statement is to focus attention […]

Investor Targeting vs Corporate Access

First Advisers
All, Investor Targeting, MiFiID II

Victoria Geddes, Executive Director It’s that time of year when listed companies around Australia are gearing up for results reporting season – finalising accounts, booking conference calls and webcasts, updating their list of beneficial owners to ensure they have identified all key decision-makers and starting to work on the key messages they want to deliver. […]

FIRST Advisers at AIRA 2017 Annual Conference & Best Practice Investor Relations Awards

First Advisers
AIRA, All, Best Practice, Cybersecurity, IR

FIRST Advisers was an event sponsor at the AIRA 2017 Annual Conference and Best Practice IR Awards held in Sydney in late November. FIRST Advisers contribution included moderating a Crisis management panel discussion on managing breaches to cybersecurity and sponsoring the Award for Best Investor Relations by a Company in the ASX “Mid-cap 100”. Opening […]

FIRST Advisers ranked the Number 1 Australian Proxy Solicitation firm

First Advisers
Activism, All, Proxy Solicitation

The FIRST Advisers’ Proxy Solicitation practice has taken a prime position in the 2017 Intermediary Awards, as the top ranked Australian Proxy firm and the 6th ranked globally. FIRST Advisers is the only Australian specialist in Activist campaigns to feature in the top 10 rankings, which are dominated by US and European firms, many of […]

The Evolving Board Role in Determining Corporate Culture

First Advisers
All, Best Practice, Corp Comms, Governance

Philippa Ellis, Governance & Investor Relations Not a day seems to go by without some headline homing in on yet another corporate scandal with its genesis often attributed to a lax or loose corporate culture. In Australia it has most recently focused on the wealth management and life insurances divisions of the major banks. ASIC […]

The Annual Report and the importance of storytelling

First Advisers
All, Annual Report, Corp Comms, IR, Reporting

Philippa Ellis, Governance & Investor Relations “Stories are the most powerful communication tool we have bar none” according to Andy Goodman of The Goodman Centre. We all carry stories in our heads (pre-conceptions) that strongly influence the way we view the world. These stories cause our mind to be closed to alternative viewpoints even when […]

Challenge the “Fitness” of your Investor Relations Plan

First Advisers
All, IR

Philippa Ellis, Governance & Investor Relations People spend an enormous amount of time and money developing new health and fitness plans to reach their fitness and wellbeing goals each year. Applying similar techniques to your annual Investor Relations (IR) plan will keep you energised and focused on achieving successful outcomes. Establish Achievable Goals You may not […]

Presentation Techniques for Senior Executives

First Advisers
All, Coaching, Corp Comms, media relations

Geoff Michels, Senior Adviser – Corporate Communications At FIRST Advisers we are frequently asked to coach senior business executives or managers on presentation techniques. Generally it’s about coming across well at an AGM, or at a roadshow event or in presenting to audiences large and small. There is also a significant demand for advice and […]

Thoughts on the Expanded NSW Cabinet

First Advisers
All, Govt Relations

BOB LAWRENCE, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS Following the resignation of NSW Premier, Mike Baird, and the election of Gladys Berejiklian to replace him, there has been substantial renewal in the NSW Cabinet, with new portfolios established and an additional Ministerial position created. The reshuffle has seen older Ministers Jillian Skinner, Duncan Gay and Adrian Piccoli replaced and […]

ASX Updates Admission Requirements for Listed Entities

First Advisers
All, ASX Listing, Capital Raising, IPO

Following an extensive consultation period, which began on 12 May 2016 with the release of the consultation paper ‘Updating ASX’s Admission Requirements for Listed Entities’ which set out a number of proposed changes to the ASX listing admission requirements, the final ASX admission requirements were released today. The key listings admission rule changes are: For […]

Reconsidering the retail investor

First Advisers
All, Investor Targeting, IR

PHIL MACKINTOSH and JONATHAN MAIRS, IR MAGAZINE Amid the continuing shift in assets to quant funds and passive ETFs, retail investors are a worthwhile target. Oct 6, 2016 At a glance Steady players Amid the shift from active to passive management, and from bottom-up to quant investing, retail investors stand out as a substantial group […]

Innovation: the new paradigm in Registries – or is it?

First Advisers
All, Governance, Registries

RACHEL SAKURAI, COMPUTERSHARE INVESTOR SERVICES GM QUEENSLAND Fintech, blockchain, disruption, innovation – these are the buzzwords and hot topics that currently saturate the airwaves and are almost certainly not ones that would spring to mind when thinking about big process-driven registry companies. For listed companies the process of signing up a registry provider for the […]

The New Turnbull Federal Ministry

First Advisers
All, Govt Relations

BOB LAWRENCE, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS There is only a minor reshuffle in the new Cabinet announced today. All existing Cabinet Ministers retain that status. In selecting a Ministry Malcolm Turnbull had other parameters to keep front-of-mind than the usual balance of numbers between States and the two houses of parliament. The Nationals position was strengthened by […]

FIRST Advisers in Listed@ASX Magazine

First Advisers
Activism, All, IR

FIRST Advisers is featured this month in the Listed@ASX magazine. Our executive director Victoria Geddes writes on the rise of activist investors in Australia, the tactics they use, and what listed companies need to know. Click here to see a PDF of the article.

Follow FIRST Advisers at the World’s Premier Investor Relations Conference

First Advisers
All, Corp Comms, Governance, IR, NIRI

FIRST Advisers will be in San Diego next month at the premier global conference for investor relations professionals, staged by the US National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI). We will be posting live updates from our Twitter account and filing a post conference wrap up on this blog. The NIRI conference often provides a leading indicator for […]

IR Managers: Think your firm has no peers? Think again!

First Advisers
Access IR, All, Analytics, Investor Tracking, Proxy Solicitation

I’ve heard it time and time again. “We cannot target investors based on a peer analysis because we… …have no peers …no direct peers” …no local peers” …no peers of the same size” To you that subscribe to this view I would like to challenge your definition of a peer. Whilst in your eyes a […]

It’s Enough to Give Your CEO Nightmares

First Advisers
Access IR, All, Analytics, Investor Tracking, Proxy Solicitation

FIRST Advisers, Investor Tracking and Solicitation An unknown shareholder has doubled their shareholding in your company overnight but they can’t be identified because they are protected by privacy legislation in their offshore jurisdiction. Or suddenly one day that unassuming one per cent shareholding held in a prime broker intermediary account disappears and is replaced by […]

Why someone on the outside should draft that press release

First Advisers
All, Corp Comms, media relations

FIRST Advisers Corporate Communications Some see it as axiomatic that the people within a company are best placed to draft a press release or other piece of external communication. After all, who better to write the news than those on the inside: the people who were responsible for it, were there from the beginning and […]

The Turnbull Ministry – More Renewal than Revenge

First Advisers
All, Govt Relations

BOB LAWRENCE, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS After a period of soul-searching and hand wringing by Coalition members, new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has produced the first round of healing medicine; a Ministry that includes many Abbott supporters but most importantly a clutch of gleaming, new, hopefully competent, younger Ministers. He described them as the ‘Ministry of the […]

ASX’s New Continuous Disclosure Guidelines Apply From Today

First Advisers
All, Disclosure, Governance, Guidance

Philippa Ellis, Corporate Governance & Company Secretarial ASX Guidance Note 8 Continuous Disclosure (GN8), which expands the guidance on earnings surprises, publication of analyst forecasts and consensus estimates, and investor briefings, comes into force today (July 1). The ASX released its consultation paper outlining its proposed changes to GN8 in March 2015. On June 22 […]

The Right – and Wrong – Way to Target Investors

First Advisers
All, Analytics, Investor Tracking, IR, RORI

Ron Cameron, Senior Adviser, Investor Relations Public companies seeking to court new investors and build relations with existing ones will almost always be told by some register analysis providers that they should focus on targeting those investors with underweight or overweight positions in their stock, relative to a particular index. In other words, it’s those […]

Guidance to go out of fashion?

First Advisers
All, Governance, Guidance, IR

The new ASX guidelines may discourage companies from making earnings predictions public The proposed changes to the guidelines for listed companies on their continuous disclosure obligations (ASX Guidance Note 8) will provide greater clarity and a more pragmatic approach for companies that find themselves facing a sudden change in their profit expectations and want to […]

ASIC Revisits Guidelines on Collective Action by Investors

First Advisers
Activism, All, ASIC, Guidance, IR

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is revisiting its guidelines around collective action by institutional investors and calling for public comment. This has become a hotter topic in the past few years with the increasing assertiveness of activist shareholders and recognition that collective action by investors can be good for financial markets.

The Value of Proactive PR

First Advisers
All, Corp Comms, IR

Outside major announcements like profit results or product launches, many companies find it hard to keep the media interested in what they are doing, especially with the attention span of the traditional media narrowing as journalist numbers fall and publication sizes shrink. It’s true that most companies don’t have significant announcements to make week-to-week or […]

7 tips for Soliciting Shareholder Vote

First Advisers
Access IR, All, Analytics, Investor Tracking, IR, Proxy Solicitation

In an age when the interactions between listed companies and their shareholders are increasingly automated and carried out electronically, the relatively low tech practice of soliciting votes still has a decisive role to play when companies need to win support from investors. The two strike rule at annual general meetings, increasingly bold activist investors and […]

30 November 2021

New Activism

Resolved Campaigns

Three Months Activity

11 December 2020

28 September 2020

31 August 2020

29 November 2018

25 January 2018

25 January 2018

8 December 2017

7 December 2017

1 August 2017

1 August 2017

8 June 2017

10 April 2017

6 March 2017

2 November 2016

6 October 2016

5 October 2016

18 July 2016

1 June 2016

27 May 2016

11 February 2016

30 November 2015

12 November 2015

25 September 2015

1 July 2015

22 June 2015

18 May 2015

18 February 2015

17 December 2014

2 December 2014

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