EQB Inc. (EQB) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Hello, and welcome to the Special Meeting of Equitable Group Shareholders. Please note that today's meeting is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] It is now my pleasure to turn today's meeting over to David LeGresley, Chair of the Board. Mr. LeGresley, the floor is yours.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is David LeGresley, and I am the Chair of the Board of Equitable Group, the parent company of Equitable Bank. Joining me this morning are Andrew Moor, our President and CEO; Chadwick Westlake, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Michael Mignardi, the bank's Vice President and General Counsel; and Linda Dwyer, our Corporate Secretary. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge that Equitable occupies offices on Turtle Island, a name that multiple indigenous nations gave for the land that is more widely known as North America. We gathered together today on land that is steeped and rich in indigenous history, recognizing the enduring presence of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and committing to the process of truth and reconciliation. We'll now proceed with the business at hand. In accordance with Equitable's bylaws, as Chair of the Board, I will act as chair of this meeting; and Linda Dwyer, Equitable's Corporate Secretary, will act as secretary. I appoint Matt Gemmell of Computershare Investor Services Inc. to act as scrutineer. In the event of a technical malfunction, Andrew Moor has agreed to chair the meeting. I received proof that the notice of this meeting has been duly given and that the meeting materials were mailed to shareholders in compliance with applicable securities rules and also made available through notice and access. I've also been provided with a report from the scrutineer, which states that over 82.5% of Equitable's common shares are represented by proxy at this meeting, confirming that a quorum is present. I therefore declare this meeting to be properly called and duly constituted for the transaction of business. The scrutineer's report also confirms that the votes represented by proxy are sufficient to pass the matter that we voted on today. As a result and for efficiency, there will be no online voting at this meeting unless a shareholder or proxyholder requests otherwise. A copy of the scrutineer's report with the tabulated results of the proxy vote will be available upon request after the meeting. I will now proceed with the business for today's meeting, which is to seek shareholder approval of a special resolution authorizing an amendment to Equitable's articles of incorporation pursuant to Section 168(1) of the Ontario Business Corporations Act to change the number of common shares, whether issued or unissued, on a 2-for-1 basis such that when given effect, every share will become 2 shares. In the management information circular delivered prior to this Special Meeting of Shareholders, this resolution is referred to as the "share split resolution." And complete details, including the full text of the share split resolution, are set out on Pages 9 and 10 of the circular. I move that the share split resolution be approved as a special resolution of Equitable Group Inc.

Mr. Chair, I second the motion.

Thank you, Linda. The report from our scrutineer indicates that the number of shares represented by proxy to be cast in favor of the share split resolution is more than sufficient for me to declare, and I do, with more than 99.9% of the votes cast in favor, that the special resolution is approved. A detailed report with the final voting results will be available on SEDAR and posted to Equitable's website as soon as practical after the meeting. I now declare the formal part of the meeting terminated. We will have a question-and-answer period shortly. [Operator Instructions] First, we will hear from our President and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Moor. Andrew will make forward-looking statements, so I will remind you that such statements involve risks and uncertainties that are detailed in our press releases and other disclosure materials. Please consider yourself so cautioned. Andrew?

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. At special single-purpose meetings like this, it's not customary for management to make a presentation. However, in keeping with my role as the CEO of Canada's challenger bank, I want to challenge that thinking by offering a few high-level observations. Today, we have given our Board the mandate to split our common stock. Prior to proposing this move, our Board completed detailed research into stock splits generally and the electronic trading patterns for our common stock specifically. What we found is Equitable tends to experience higher trading volumes outside the confines of TSX in dark pools where large financial institutions trade anonymously, more odd-lot trading, wider bid-ask spreads, high volatility within quarters and possibly lower access to retail investors. Investment dealers have told us that a lower nominal stock price will encourage them to apply more capital to holding in inventory shares which will support liquidity of the stock. The [ stock split ] is part of an overall program of activities designed to close what we believe is the material discount that exists between a fair valuation of the bank and where we trade today. That said, whether our shares trade -- whatever our shares trade at, our job remains the same: to build Canada's challenger bank to meet our broader purpose of driving change in Canadian banking to enrich lives. Unquestionably, we are finding meaningful ways to achieve our purpose, and this year has been particularly noteworthy for the development of our digital platform and fintech-related operations and the emergence of Wealth Decumulation as our fastest-growing asset class. There is significant value creation potential embedded within our journey. And that value is as much to be enjoyed by customers as it is by all fellow shareholders as we move forward. We will take every opportunity, including brief ones like this, to explain why that's so. Starting with our digital journey, it provides us with the means to create differentiated services, compete with larger institutions based on consumer-driven innovation, further diversify our sources of income and most fundamentally add and keep more customers. This year, I'm particularly excited by the recent launch of our EQ Bank US Dollar Account. This all-digital service challenges the status quo in the banking industry and, along with the other new offerings introduced this year, adds real substance to our claim of making EQ Bank the hub bank Canadians can rely upon. The EQ US Dollar Account addresses the needs of financially savvy EQ Bank customers who want real-time exchange rates with full fee transparency and easier, cheaper and faster money transferred in U.S. dollars worldwide. It's a simple yet valuable service with no fuss, no muss. EQ Bank is far more than one product. It's a fully capable digital bank, #1 in Canada on the Forbes ranking. [ Having today advantages of ] the most consumer-friendly U.S. dollar account in Canada, I recommend you give EQ Bank a try. In doing so, you will gain a customer's perspective on our digital advantages, add value to your personal banking experience and support the bank you own. We also continue on our journey to deliver better customer experience. In the last couple of weeks, we launched a new e-transfer service and really stepped up our game in that area. Consistent with our philosophy, our original e-transfer capability was built using a Minimum Viable Product or MVP approach. We replaced this really slick -- this with a really slick service using the insights we gained by talking to our customers. 5 years after going -- after first going digital, our journey is far from over. Next in the queue are exciting innovations in payments, which we will profile on a Q3 analyst call on November 3. Open Banking, which the federal government finally seems intent on legislating, offers significant promise for Equitable because of our cloud capabilities, open architecture and openmindedness to fintech partnerships. I mentioned at the outset that this year has been notable for the development of the bank's Wealth Decumulation business. This business offers Cash Surrender Value Lines of Credit in partnership with 9 leading life insurance companies and reverse mortgages through independent brokers and direct borrower engagement. These report challenger bank services not currently recognized in the valuation of the bank. We size the reverse mortgage market potential as about $30 billion over the next several years as the shift in Canada's demographics, preference to age in place and reduced pension predictability compel seniors to look for simple transparent alternatives to an outright home sale. This is a great business to be in, and our analysis of potential was recently validated by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan acquisition of HomeEquity Bank. Notably, that institution is a monoline without the diverse growth platforms present with Equitable. Our Wealth Decumulation business is just one more reason to own Canada's challenger bank. In summary, Equitable is driving change, and we're doing so in a deliberate manner to enrich lives. I'm excited by the journey we're on together and confident we can create more value in the years ahead that is recognized by customers and the capital markets alike. Thank you for taking the time to participate and vote in today's meeting. We look forward to reporting our Q3 results early next month. Back to you, David.

Great. Thank you, Andrew. Now it's time for question period. [Operator Instructions] At our end, we will summarize the question and read aloud your name and, if applicable, the entity you represent. As we believe strongly in shareholder engagement, we will respond to as many questions as time permits. If your question has already been asked by another shareholder and answered, we will move to the next question. We'll pause here for a short period to compile questions.

Mr. Chairman, there are no questions in the queue.

Okay. Thank you, Michael. As there are no questions, I will sign off by saying thank you for participating and reminding you that our door is always open for shareholder engagement. Have a great day.

Thank you. This concludes the meeting. You may now disconnect.