Quilter clarifies political donation position after opposition from SA shareholders

Quilter updated the market on its annual general meeting on Friday after it noticed certain voting patterns emerging between its South African and UK-registered shareholders.

The FTSE 250 company successfully passed a resolution seeking authorisation for political donations or expenditure at its AGM in May.

It said the resolution received the required majority of votes but faced significant opposition, with 25% of votes cast against it.

That outcome followed a pattern seen at the 2022 AGM, where there was a notable divergence in voting results between the South African and UK share registers concerning the same resolution.

While the UK share register showed overwhelming support at 99.92%, the South African register displayed significantly lower support at 58.88%.

Under the UK Corporate Governance Code, Quilter said it had been actively engaging with its largest South African shareholders on the matter since its listing in 2018.

The firm was aiming to gain a better understanding of their perspectives and address concerns.

Quilter emphasised that it had no intention of making political donations and had refrained from doing so since its listing.

It said the authorisation aligned with the practices of other listed UK companies and served as a precautionary measure to avoid unintentional breaches of UK company law, given the broad scope of the provisions.

Quilter said that recognising the sensitivity surrounding any connection between business and politics in the current South African context, it was committed to fostering dialogue and effective communication with its shareholders.

It said on Friday that it wanted to clarify that it viewed the authorisation as a safeguard to prevent accidental breaches of UK company law in the UK, South Africa, or anywhere else globally.

In its 2024 notice of the annual general meeting, Quilter said it would explain why the board considered this resolution crucial for protecting the company's interests.

At 1141 GMT, shares in Quilter were down 1.79% in London, at 87.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.