An investor gripes about the Annual Giam-siap Meeting

THE annual general meeting (AGM) season is upon us again.

And as if the depressed Singapore market is not already off-putting enough to investors, some giam-siap (Hokkien for stingy) companies must be so scared of hordes of hungry, equally cheapskate investors showing up at their door, that they have resorted to various means to cut down on costs.

Exhibit A is a Straits Times Index (STI) company with a name beginning "S" and ending with "G". In previous AGMs, shareholders received S$15 NTUC or restaurant vouchers, a pretty nice touch.

Not this year though. Its latest note to shareholders says: "Please note that we will not be distributing any vouchers at the forthcoming AGM as well as at future AGMs. Coffee and tea will be served after the event."

Huh? No more vouchers? No more shareholders complaining that S$15 isn't enough to feed them? And probably no buffet or bento boxes to compensate, right? What are AGMs for, then?

I jest. Giam-siap-ness is fine with me - as long as it extends to corporate acquisitions and the salaries of those in the C-suite.

Exhibit B is another STI component whose name begins with "W".

Now, some background first. I am an old school pen-and-paper guy. I like my annual reports sent to me as a heavy booklet.

I can then go through the financial statements and make big circles over things I do not understand. I can dog-ear pages for future reference. I can flip back and forth easily to refer to notes to the financial statements.

Try doing that on a PDF file.

No, I don't want a CD sent to me either. I will never use it. Unfortunately, most companies, including Exhibit B, are doing this now.

Just e-mail me the PDF, if you will. Have me sign up for a mailing list. It is cheaper, better and faster than a certain minister can say "cheaper, better, faster".

And as some kids can tell you, online learning is fun, but the truth is you retain things more when you read out of a solid textbook.

Never mind. I usually do what I do for some companies that don't understand my investing habits: I fill out a form on which I state that I want my annual report in hard copy.

Now, back to Exhibit B.

Most companies provide the option for me to get the annual report in hard copy this year and for all future years that I am a shareholder. I appreciate that.

Moreover, most companies let me post this letter to them for free, with the note "Postage will be paid by addressee".

But Exhibit B must really not want investors to get a hard copy of their annual report ahead of their AGM.

When I looked at the form I had to fill out, there was only one option to get the printed copy of the annual report - and for that year only.

OK, fine. I will keep doing this every year.

After I overcame my annoyance - it took me three days - and duly filled out the form, I flipped out a little when I turned the page and saw the words "Affix postage stamp".

Argh! This is, of course, partly about the 30 cents for the stamp, which I, equally giam-siap, am reluctant to pay.

As it is, it is troublesome enough to find a letter box.

And I also need to buy stamps - all this, just to get my hard-copy annual report ahead of the AGM. Who uses stamps nowadays, anyway?

Certain developments in the corporate world for minority shareholders have to be lauded, such as electronic polling instead of voting by a show of hands, but there is still plenty of room for improvement elsewhere.

One more thing . . .

Retail investors are busy people, especially in the next two weeks. Some are just incapable of cloning themselves to attend multiple AGMs at the same time to, you know, grab multiple vouchers. Husband-and-wife tag teams can only cover so much ground.

Get a live webcast going. Provide a transcript of the proceedings.

After all, if a former STI company with an "N" name can do a webcast and put detailed transcripts of earnings calls with analysts on the Internet too, so can you, you giam-siap company with the superior free cash flow and debt-to-equity ratios.

It all doesn't cost that much. And even if you are so giam-siap - and it hurts the interests of my belly and the hungry hordes of Singaporean retirees to say this - I'd rather you scrimp on dim sum and nasi lemak and those NTUC or mall vouchers, so I can get my webcasts, earnings calls, and question-time transcripts.

And yes, my annual reports in hard copy. Yes, just send me my copy already. I will read it on the way to your AGM. Promise.