90% of shareholders will never attend an annual shareholder’s meeting in their life. Yet, I firmly believe there are great benefits to attending an annual meeting. You get to travel, meet with the stewards of your capital, and even network around with successful people. I have had a ton of fun going to these meetings over the past few years and hopefully some of you will as well!

What Is An Annual Shareholder’s Meeting?

The Annual Shareholder’s meeting is a yearly gathering of a Company’s stockholders. At the meeting, eligible shareholders will be able to vote on important matters such as electing the board of directors, approving executive compensation, and other issues.

The information for the Annual Meeting (including time and location) will be disclosed in the Company’s proxy statement. This is usually mailed out by your brokerage (or emailed if you elect for electronic delivery).

The Meeting will typically take place at the Company’s headquarters or at a hotel/conference center.

The format at the Annual Meeting differs on a company by company basis. I have been to about a dozen or so throughout the last few years for companies of all sizes. Some of them are highly disorganized and some of them are very formal.

The Meeting typically starts with a brief introduction of the management team. The board members will also introduce themselves. Some Companies may even read the minutes from last years’ meeting.

Eventually, shareholders will vote on the matters discussed in the proxy. When voting has concluded, some firms will have a brief management presentation. In the presentation, the CEO or CFO might give a quick recap of the year, what they expect from the next year, and other pertinent information.

After that, it’s usually a Q&A session, which can be very formal or quite informal. This is a great time to mingle around with the management team and the board members along with other key shareholders.

Woodstock For Capitalists

One of the biggest Annual Meetings of all time is the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. The event is dubbed “Woodstock for capitalists” for a good reason!

It’s usually a two day event and people from all across the country fly to Nebraska to hear the Oracle of Omaha and his partner in crime, Charlie Munger, distill financial and every day advice to younger generations.

I’ve never been to the Berkshire Annual Meeting, but I have to go one of these years!

My Most Memorable Annual Meeting

Every Annual Meeting is different, however, one in particular stands out to me.

Warren Buffett’s right hand man, Charlie Munger, is the Chairman of a LA-based newspaper business, Daily Journal Corporation (DJCO). The Annual Meeting for Daily Journal is really like a mini-Berkshire meeting. It only lasts for a few hours and the festivities aren’t as grand, but it is still worthwhile event to attend.

I took a day off work, bought one share of DJCO, rented a car, and drove up to LA to attend the event.

It was great watching Charlie Munger speak in person. He’s one of the most successful businessmen of all time and he’s very blunt when speaking his mind. Plus, it was really cool watching him eat a box of the famous See’s Candies Peanut Brittle 🙂

After the meeting, I networked with a few fellow investors and we went out for Mexican food for lunch. I had a blast and learned a lot in the process. After eating, I decided to head over to Santa Monica and check out the beautiful world famous pier 🙂

As a funny side story, after the meeting concluded, I wanted to get a picture with Charlie so I started walking up to him. Another fan had beaten me to the punch and asked Charlie to sign his Berkshire Hathaway 50th anniversary annual report.

Charlie politely declined and looked to be somewhat in a hurry. He was quickly escorted out by three or four bodyguards. Maybe next time!

Why Attend An Annual Shareholder’s Meeting?

From speaking with others, I found out that most don’t attend meetings because (1) it requires travel and they can’t take time off work, (2) they’re intimidated to go, (3) they own .0000000001% of the shares outstanding so their vote won’t matter, or (4) they don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to go.

I think more people should definitely attend a shareholder’s meeting. Maybe I’m boring, but I love these events because you meet very successful people and have the opportunity to get face time with a management team.

Here are three reasons why you should attend an annual meeting:

1. You Get To Travel!

I think the best thing about attending an annual shareholder’s meeting is traveling. As I mentioned before, I love to take a mini vacation every few months to just detox and relax a bit.

I usually use an annual meeting as an excuse to take some time off work and see a new city. Over the past two years, I have attended annual shareholder meetings in Toronto, Dallas, Oklahoma City, LA, and others.

One of my favorite places I visited after an Annual Meeting was Casa Loma in Toronto. It was formerly the GIANT mansion of Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. At 64,700 square feet, it is the largest private residence ever constructed in Canada!

Most companies have a December year-end and thus have the annual meeting sometime between April and July. That’s prime weather season for many parts of the country!

If you can’t fly to another city to attend an annual meeting, I would highly suggest attending one in the city you live in. There are probably hundreds of public companies around. All you have to do is buy one share and show up! It’s a great experience to attend and I would highly recommend it.

2. Meet Other Successful People 

Have you ever wondered how some people get on boards? I mean it sounds like a cushy job right? Meet half a dozen times a year and vote on a few shareholder measures and collect a six figure retainer! Sign me up!

Well at the annual meeting you’ll have the chance to meet the board of directors at your company. They should all be present absent any unusual circumstance.

Based on my experience, all of the board members of companies I have invested in have been pretty nice. A few of them do talk your ear off, but it’s great to talk with people that have been successful.

Most board members are obviously older and more experienced. That’s why they get asked to serve on them! Many of them have built multi-million dollar businesses themselves. Talking with such successful people is very refreshing and extremely motivating!

The Meeting is also a great place to network around with similar minded investors. I’ve meet some pretty interesting people at meetings and we’ve shared ideas and kept in touch over the years.

3. Meet The Management Team

Meeting the management team of one of your portfolio holdings is great. Nothing beats talking face to face with the stewards of your capital.

At the meeting, you will have access to the management team and can ask questions and watch their body language/tone of voice. Plus you can observe very subtle nuances like how each member of the team interacts with each other. These are important factors to consider when investing in a company.

Finally…most companies will spring for some food and drinks at the annual meeting, so it’s just another added incentive to attend 🙂

Conclusion

Annual meetings are a great way to know your investment holdings better. These events are incredible because you can talk to and network around with some very successful people. Plus, it is a very good excuse to go out and travel. I would highly recommend attending one!

Readers, have any of you attended an annual shareholder’s meeting before? Why or why not? Let me know about your experiences in the comments!