2013 AGM of FFH - some newbie questions

[lance2210]

Hi everyone from Australia.  :)

 

I just love this board and learning so much more about value investing and am definitely coming to the 2013 Meeting. Just a couple of questions from a newbie.

 

a) Does the whole of the Roy Thompson Hall fill out with shareholders? Do they check for shareholder credentials?

b) How long does the whole meeting take and what time does it start. I have only been to Berkshre Hathaway's meeting once in 2010.

 

Thanks I will definitely go to Parsad's awesome pre-meeting dinner and look forward to meeting you all.

 

I look forward to your learned answers!

 

[giofranchi]

I was at the 2011 AGM. Unfortunately, I could not attend the 2012 AGM. In 2011 the Roy Thompson Hall wasn’t completely filled out, and they didn’t check for shareholders’ credentials. The meeting started early in the morning and was finished by noon (if I remember correctly!). Of course, many people on this board can be of much greater help to you than I can!

 

giofranchi

 

[racemize]

it was pretty packed this year, seems like people are taking more notice in general.

[Parsad]

Hi Lance,

 

a)  Roy Thomson Hall was pretty full this year and I suspect it will be nearly the same again in 2013.  They don't check for credentials or share ownership, but there is a registration where they will get your name, email, etc. 

 

b)  The meeting starts about 9:30am and Prem runs through the whole corporate AGM stuff in about 5-10 minutes like Berkshire.  He then introduces the executives, board of directors and does a presentation which usually lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to about 50 minutes.  After that, there is a Q&A for about 1.5-2 hours.  After the meeting, Prem and all of the executives and board are available for more meet/greet and Q&A in the reception/lobby area where they have a cocktail party...the whole thing ends around 1:30pm. 

 

Our dinner the night before is honestly fantastic!  We have great attendees and great guests that Fairfax brings.  I'm very proud of it, and very thankful for the support and the great fundraising we now do through it for the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of Canada in memory of Prem's assistant, JoAnn Butler.

 

NormR's pre-dinner get together is also growing.  I believe there were about 15-20 people at it this year, and Francis Chou, Andy Barnard and Sam Chan made a brief appearance.  We'll try and get his pre-dinner a little closer to the Fairmont Royal York next year. 

 

Fairfax has numerous booths of investee companies or non-profits they support at their AGM now.  This year they gave away $25 gift cards to Fairfax-owned restaurants and $50 gift cards to "The Sporting Life".  Hopefully Prem acquires a few more non-insurance companies this year, and they give out more gift cards.  We were all very happy to spend money at those stores!  Cheers!