Equity Residential (EQR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to the 2020 Annual Meeting for Equity Residential. Our host for today's call is Mark Parrell, President, CEO and Trustee. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Parrell. You may begin, sir.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Mark Parrell, and I will act as Chairman of today's meeting. It is my pleasure, on behalf of the Board of Trustees, to welcome you to the company's 2020 annual meeting of shareholders. The meeting is being held as a virtual meeting to observe social distancing recommendations related to COVID-19. We have shareholders attending via the web portal and we're very pleased to have you here today. Please observe the rules of conduct and procedures for the meeting that are set forth in the web portal. So let me start by making a few introductions. Joining me is Scott Fenster, Equity Vice President, General Counsel -- Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of the company. I would also like to acknowledge the other members of the company's Board of Trustees who are virtually present today. We have an outstanding board. They come from very diverse backgrounds, but are alike in their intelligence, interest and dedication to the company. We are very fortunate to have their services. I would also like to mention the presence of representatives of Ernst & Young, our independent auditor, via the web portal. They will be available during the consideration of the proposal to ratify the selection of our auditors for any questions you may have. Finally, I would like to introduce Jeanne Carr of Mackenzie Partners, who will serve as the inspector of elections. As is our custom, we will conduct the business portion of our annual meeting first. And upon adjournment, there will be a period to raise general questions. Only validated shareholders may ask questions in the designated field on the web portal. Out of consideration for others, please limit yourself to 1 question. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. However, no one attending via webcast is permitted to use any audio recording device. As indicated on the agenda for today's meeting, we will consider 3 items of business. I will describe each item, and you'll have the opportunity to ask questions about such item at that time. Then we will announce the voting results, and the meeting will conclude. So now we'll turn it over to the formal portion of our meeting. Before considering the items of business, we need to address certain matters required by Maryland law. Scott, if you could please report on these matters?

Thank you, Mark. I have received an affidavit of mailing from Broadridge establishing that the notice of this meeting was duly given. Ms. Carr will determine the validity of the proxies, the number of shares represented in person or by proxy and the number of votes cast on the matters voted on. I've been advised that there are present at this annual meeting, votes represented in person or by proxy of more than a majority of the outstanding shares entitled to vote. Based on this count, a quorum is present and this annual meeting is lawfully convened and may proceed to transact business.

Thank you, Scott. Since a quorum is present, I declare the meeting open for business. I will describe proposals 1 through 3, after which time, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions about such proposals. Proposal 1 is to elect the current 12 trustees set forth in the proxy statement to a 1-year term. Proposal 2 is to consider and vote on the ratification of the company's selection of Ernst & Young as its independent auditor for 2020. Proposal 3 is an advisory vote on the executive compensation disclosed in the company's proxy statement. If any shareholder has a question regarding proposals 1 through 3, please submit your question through the web portal. Okay. Okay. No questions were received. Any shareholder who has not yet voted or wishes to change their vote may do so by clicking on the voting button in the web portal and following the instructions there. Shareholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or internet and do not want to change their votes do not need to take any further action. [Voting]

All right. So we've covered each of the proposals in the proxy statement. So Scott, please report on the voting results.

The polls are now closed. The inspector of elections has completed counting the ballots and proxies, and her formal report shows the number of votes cast on each of the proposals before this annual meeting. Based on this report, I declare that the Board's 12 trustee nominees have each been elected for a 1-year term. Ernst & Young's service as the company's independent auditor has been approved. And the company's executive compensation has been approved.

This concludes the meeting to -- the business to come before this annual meeting, and the meeting is now adjourned. So we'd like to open up the meeting the germane questions that are submitted through the web portal on the general business.

If you submit a question, please include your e-mail address for our IR department to respond in case we don't have an opportunity to address it today. So are there any questions? Sure. So we have one germane question. It relates in summary to the increased passive ownership of our company and many other publicly traded companies by large mutual fund complexes, and whether that is a positive or negative development as it relates to long-term corporate strategic planning and performance? We're fortunate to have excellent engagement with these very large shareholders. I think they provide some interesting long-term perspective on matters of governance. It is, at times, difficult to communicate with them, given the number of shareholdings they have. But at this juncture, I'd tell you that they've been constructive shareholders. And I believe that is all the questions we have at this time, and we thank you for your interest in Equity Residential. And thank you very much. And Paul, you can conclude the call.

Everyone else has left the call.

This now concludes the meeting. Thank you for joining, and have a pleasant day.