GQG Partners Inc. (GQG) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon to our U.S. stockholders, and good morning to our Australian CDI holders. We are pleased to welcome you all to our Annual Stockholder Meeting, which we're holding virtually to increase access and participation. My name is Rajiv Jain, and I'm the Executive Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of GQG Partners. On behalf of the GQG Board, it is my pleasure to address you at our 2024 Annual Meeting. Before we proceed with the business of the meeting, I would like to introduce my fellow directors. Tim Carver, our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director; Elizabeth Proust, our Lead Independent Director; and Melda Donnelly, an Independent Director. Also present today are Mel Zakaluk, our Chief Financial Officer; [ Alex Staten ] and Anthony Skoda with KPMG, the company's auditor; and Rick Sherley, the company's General Counsel and Secretary, who will act as secretary and voting inspector of the meeting. Finally, the Board would like to recognize Paul Greenwood, who recently resigned as an Independent Director, and thank him for the years of service to the Board. Mel, would you formally commence the meeting on my behalf?

Thank you, Rajiv. It is now the time set forth in the notice of meeting, which is duly given. Therefore, the meeting is properly convened. As set forth in the notice of meeting and the proxy materials, this meeting has been called for the purpose of considering and acting upon the reelection of Rajiv Jain and Tim Carver to serve as Class III directors. Stockholders and CDI holders may submit questions at any time during this meeting. [Operator Instructions] I encourage you to submit questions as soon as possible. We will also address questions received prior to the meeting at the appropriate time during the meeting. Stockholders may vote at any time until polls are closed. However, holders of CDIs were required to submit their voting instructions prior to the meeting as set forth in the meeting notice, and will not be able to vote during the meeting today. Please refer to the online portal guide if you have questions. The result of the vote will be declared and released to the ASX as soon as possible after this meeting. We will give a presentation about GQG's business and respond to general questions asked about GQG after the vote. Rajiv, would you share some of your thoughts about GQG?

Thanks, Mel. As many of you know, we founded GQG with the vision of building an enduring institution that would outlive us, that our clients view us as partners. We hope every client and every shareholder sees, in our behavior, that we take seriously the stewardship of their capital. As we have said before, an important part of this is being co-investors. Not only are we majority shareholders in the business, but our team has invested meaningfully in our strategies alongside our clients. We continue to believe that we must adapt our thinking constantly in our pursuit of investment returns. This culture of adaptability permeates our organization, and we hope it will continue to make us nimble and responsive as the markets continue to evolve. Of course, we won't always get our investment decisions right. And in short term, there will be many times that we lag markets, but we believe that our strength of the team -- of our investment culture has been a driving force in our long-term outperformance. I'm very proud of the Board we have assembled. As you know, our Board is made up of highly skilled, highly engaged people. Tim and I continue to be thrilled to serve our shareholders, and our independent directors bring deep experience, knowledge and care to the Board. As the largest shareholder of GQG, I remain aligned with you in my expectations that the executive team will remain completely focused on delivering to our clients and thereby creating long-term shareholder value. I'm very happy with the execution of our team in 2023 and will endeavor to continue to drive a culture of engagement and focus from our professional staff. With that, I will turn it over to our CEO, Tim Carver. Tim?

Thanks, Rajiv. As always, I feel I must begin my remarks by acknowledging the skill and care that our team brings to bear for our clients. The team's commitment to excellence can be seen in their continued strong performance. As I've said before, in my opinion, we have the most talented and most committed team in the marketplace, and we will continue to do our best to develop and field a team committed to excellence. I believe our team's performance emanates from our beliefs and from our culture. We continue to believe investment management is among the most competitive businesses in the world, and we must, therefore, come to compete every day. I also believe that alignment is among the most underrated attributes in investment firms. We feel every client should ask how much is your PM invested in the strategy that you are asking me to buy? Because of this belief, we have a culture of co-investment alongside our clients. Finally, we believe that adaptability is critical to long-term success, and we therefore celebrate open-mindedness and teamwork in the pursuit of growing and learning every day. The good news is we remain confident that if we are successful in creating a sustaining, adaptable and intense investment culture, our business can continue to succeed in this very competitive market. I'd like to go a bit deeper on our alignment with you, our shareholders, as well as our alignment with our clients. Our management team owns over 70% of the shares of our company. And Rajiv and I take absolutely 0 bonuses, personally. We get paid as shareholders and are therefore focused on creating shareholder value. Moreover, our team, excluding Rajiv and me, has millions of dollars of exposure to our strategies. This is exemplary in our industry. And of course, Rajiv and I personally have invested hundreds of millions of dollars alongside of our clients in GQG strategies. As many of you know, I believe this business begins and ends with performance. At the end of 2023, all of our strategies have outperformed their respective benchmarks on a 3- and 5-year basis. Importantly, we've been able to achieve this with substantially lower volatility than our benchmarks as well. This is an extraordinary result, and I believe underscores the health of the business. With all of this said, we recognize that these are yesterday's achievements, and to continue to thrive, we must show up again tomorrow to do our best to perform. Thanks for your continued trust in us. It is now time to note the record date and quorum for the meeting and to commence the business of the meeting. Rick, would you please do so?

The Board of Directors set April 1, 2024, as the record date for this meeting. The partial count of the shares of common stock represented at the meeting, in person or by proxy, shows that the holders of more than a majority of the outstanding shares of common stock of the company entitled to vote at the meeting are represented. Therefore, I declare a quorum present, and the meeting ready for the transaction of business. Rajiv, would you declare the polls for voting to be open?

I declare the polls for voting to be open.

I note that the polls are therefore opened as of 7:08 p.m. U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. Stockholders are being asked to vote in 2 proposals, which are to reelect Rajiv Jain to serve as a Class III director and to reelect Tim Carver to serve as a Class III Director. For these proposals to be approved, each nominee must receive the affirmative vote of the holders of a plurality of the votes cast by stockholders present in person or by proxy and entitled to vote the meeting. All stockholders are entitled to vote at this meeting and have the ability to do so online. If you're a stockholder entitled to vote this meeting and have not yet voted or if you want to change your previously cast vote, please do so through the website used to access this meeting. If you already voted by proxy, it is not necessary to vote again. If you are a CDI holder, you may not vote at this meeting. All shares represented by proxy will be voted as specified in the formal proxy. Shares represented by proxy where no vote is specified will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the Board of Directors, which is in favor of each proposal. Rajiv, would you discuss your background and suitability to serve on the Board of Directors with our stockholders and CDI holders?

Thank you, Rick. My role as Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of GQG Partners, combined with my 30 years of industry experience, makes me a strong candidate for reelection to the Board of Directors. I cofounded GQG Partners 2016. I have served as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of GQG Partners, Inc. since the company was established and listed on ASX in October of 2021. I have full attendance to all Board meetings and have sufficient time to devote to the Board now and in the future.

Thank you, Rajiv. Tim, would you discuss your background and suitability to serve on the Board of Directors with our stockholders and CDI holders?

Thank you, Rick. I've served as Chief Executive Officer of GQG Partners since co-founding the firm in 2016. In this role, I am responsible for firm leadership and management of the firm's business functions. I have served as an Executive Director of the Board of Directors since GQG Partners Inc. was founded and listed on the ASX in 2021. I also am a member of the Board's Risk Committee and have full attendance at all committee and Board meetings. With 29 years of industry experience, I'm well qualified to be reelected to the Board and have sufficient time to devote to the Board now and in the future.