Last checked at 15 Oct 2019 15:06
STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
JPMORGAN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC
UPDATE STATEMENT
Legal Entity Identifier: 549300QNAI4XRPEB4G65
Information disclosed in accordance with provision 1.D.4 of the 2018 UK Code of Corporate Governance and principle 5.2.4 of the 2019 AIC Code of Corporate Governance.
At the Company's AGM held on 2nd May 2019, the Company received the following votes in respect of resolution 14: to approve the Company's new Investment Policy:
Resolution | For | Against | Total Cast (excluding votes withheld) | Withheld |
14. To approve the new Investment Policy | 90,957,517 | 23,898,101 | 114,855,618 | 89,433 |
Percentage of votes cast | 79.19% | 20.81% | 100.0% | - |
Following the AGM, the Board was pleased to announce that shareholders approved the Company's new investment policy, which incorporated the changes required to move the Company's large-cap equity portfolio to a higher-conviction investment approach combining the best ideas from JPMorgan Asset Management's US growth and value investment teams. Furthermore on 5th June 2019, the Board announced that the Company's portfolio had been transitioned to a portfolio reflecting the new investment process.
Since the results of the AGM and in light of the votes against the resolution to approve the new investment policy, which equated to 20.81% of the total shares voted by proxy, the Board, via the Chair and the Manager's investor relations team has been in frequent dialogue with major shareholders, including recent meetings with the two key dissenting shareholders to address their concerns.
The Board continues to believe that the change in investment process is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. Shareholders are reminded that alongside the changes in investment process, the Board negotiated amendments to the fees paid to the Manager, through the removal of the performance fee element of the fee, and a short-term fee waiver through to the end of February 2020. The Manager is also bearing the transaction costs associated with the reorganisation of the portfolio to the new investment strategy.
Future steps
In light of the Company's meetings with shareholders since the AGM, the Board will not be taking any further specific action regarding this vote, other than to continue with its ongoing engagement with shareholders.
The full text of all the resolutions can be found in the Notice of Annual General Meeting contained in the Annual Report and Accounts which is available for viewing at the National Storage Mechanism which can be located at www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM and on the Company's website, www.jpmamerican.co.uk.
A summary of the proxy votes received is also available on the Company's website, www.jpmamerican.co.uk.
15th October 2019
For further information, please contact:
Alison Vincent
For and on behalf of
JPMorgan Funds Limited - Secretary
020 7742 4000