Great-West Lifeco Inc. (GWO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We were delaying a minute or 2. I don't know if you knew -- I just learned the Canadian government is sending texts out on your phone for the emergency system. So I'm anticipating at some point as we're speaking, we're going to hear some sort of loud alarm as it might come in at different times apparently. So in any event, I am Jeffrey Orr, I'm the Chair of Canada Life and Great-West Lifeco. And it's my pleasure to welcome [indiscernible] Canada, Great-West Lifeco. [Foreign Language] So today, we are gathered in Toronto on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, the Wendat peoples and the Mississaugas of the credit. Toronto is now home to many diverse first nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. We acknowledge the DISH with One Spoon Covenant a tree whose spirit is one based on a collective stewardship, and sharing of land and resources and one which extends to all nations living in present-day Toronto. And the life acknowledges the harms of the past. We respect the history, people and land in the areas we live and operate, and we're committed to building relationships and moving forward in the spirit of truth and reconciliation guided by shared principles and respect the equality [indiscernible] as we said, excuse me, last year, we were hoping to get back together. It's been 3 years since we've been together, and it is fantastic to have everybody together in person. The energy of a meeting in person, you just can't replace it with a virtual meeting. Technology is great but it is fantastic that we've got everybody here in person to attend the meeting. And as well, this is a virtual meeting. So we also have people that are participating virtually to give greater access and they can ask questions as well through that process. The last few years have been crazy. We came out of COVID. There was a fair bit of optimism after we got through the worst of COVID and then 2022 was not exactly an easy year either. Obviously, the war in Europe inflation hit levels we haven't seen in for -- but those issues are around. So it's been an absolute crazy year. But through all of that, there's also lots of room for optimism. And one thing, when you go through stress, you go through periods of risk, it underscores what we do in our company, what we do across the Great-West Lifeco companies, what we do at Canada Life in terms of helping people, guiding people, listening to them, helping with their financial security, helping with their well-being. What we do as a company is critically important to society and to people. And it's through times of stress that you help people through it, that we earn our medal and that we also have people looking forward over the long term and not making decisions that are short-term focused, but not in their long-term interest. We also come at these periods of time with a very strong balance sheet with very strong resilience and ability to stand the test of time. So we're well positioned through strong times and through good times to help our clients. In 2022, we delivered strong organic growth. We also made significant investments to strengthen and expand our diversified portfolio of companies. We have been steadfast in our commitment to create sustained value for all our stakeholders, including our customers in Canada, the United States and Europe. And throughout the year, our Board has been actively engaged with our management team as they've implemented both strategic and financial plans that allow us to be nimble and responsive to an ever-changing world. Collectively, the Board and the management understand that supporting our communities has long been a core value of our company, it's who we are. And we're also keenly aware that our strategies with respect to the environment, diversity, equity, inclusion and sustainability are critical to our success as an organization going forward. So as we look forward, we remain focused on creating even greater value for our stakeholders and delivering responsible growth as we all strive together for a better tomorrow. And I really believe that as a group, we do that and as a group of companies, employees, advisers, that is exactly where our hearts at. So this year, we're going to hold, as I said, our annual meetings in hybrid format. That means that shareholders, policyholders and proxy holders have the flexibility to attend online or in person, and we've taken steps to allow you to participate that way. Hopefully, your experience will be as comparable as it can be if you are online. You'll have opportunities to vote, ask questions, provide direct feedback to the Boards and the company's management. So with some participants joining the meeting online, I'll pause at certain points during the meeting to allow for online voting, and I thank everyone in advance for their patience on that. Canada Life is a subsidiary, excuse me, of Great-West Lifeco, and we're going to hold the annual meetings of both companies concurrently. In our remarks today, we may make statements -- some measures. So, please refer to the cautionary statement on the screen, but you may have more success if you refer to the statement in our annual meeting online. So I'll call the annual meeting to order right now. The scrutineer has confirmed the required quorums of shareholders and policyholders are represented at these meetings. And further that notices of these meetings were mailed to shareholders and policyholders as of record as of March 15, 2023. So I declare these meetings duly constituted for the transaction business. In a few moments, we will hear from Paul Mahon, following Paul's address, we'll attend to the formal business of Great-West Lifeco, followed by the formal business of Canada Life. But at this point, I'd like to ask Gord Peters to address several procedural aspects of today's meeting. Gord?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon, everyone. For those attending online, the polls will open shortly for voting on all items of business at the Great-West Lifeco meeting. This allows you to vote on each item immediately if you wish to do so. You may vote online during the meetings by clicking on the voting icon at the top of your screen. To submit a vote, simply click on your choice displayed on screen. For those attending in person, the voting at today's meetings will be conducted by ballot. Policyholders, shareholders and proxy holders here in person who have not already voted by proxy have been given ballots in the following colors: Canada Life, blue and Great-West Lifeco, white. To vote by ballot simply place an X in the appropriate box and ensure that you print and sign your name clearly and that you provided the additional information where required. During each item of business, we will pause to respond to the relevant questions we have received either in person in advance of the meetings or through the online platform. For those attending in person, if you wish to ask a question, please proceed to the microphone located at the back of the meeting room. Before asking your question, please give your name and identify whether you are a Canada Life policyholder, a Lifeco shareholder or a proxy holder. If you require assistance, please raise your hand and [ Arshil ] will provide you with a microphone. Shareholders, policyholder and proxy holders attending online can submit questions through the Lumi platform by clicking on the messaging icon at the top of their screen, typing in their telephone number and the subject of their question and then clicking the send button. If your question relates to a specific item of business to be considered today, please clearly indicate which item your question relates to so that we can ensure that it is addressed at the appropriate time. The Lumi platform will then dial you into the meeting. To prevent any delay or feedback, please mute your computer and listen to meeting only on your phone. When called upon to ask your question, you will be unmuted and may address the meeting. Please provide your name and indicate whether you are a shareholder, policyholder or a proxy holder. Once discussion has concluded on all items of Great-West Lifeco business, we will declare voting closed for that meeting. We will then attend to the Canada Life meeting at which point the online polls will open for voting on all items of Canada Life business. After voting ends, the in-person ballots will be collected, and the results will be tabulated by our scrutineer. We will then have a general discussion and answer question, following which I will announce the preliminary voting results. If your question relates to a personal matter or if we're unable to answer your question during the meeting, we invite you to proceed to the registration desk after the meeting, where a client service representative is available to meet with you. If you have asked your question through the online platform, a company representative will call you after the meeting. If you did not include contact information with your question, please reach out to us following the meetings with your questions using the contact information found in the management proxy circular. We will do our best to respond to all questions during the meetings. Mr. Chair, that concludes my comments on the conduct of the meeting.

You see that again, Gord? I told Gord as we started that I didn't intend to follow the script exactly because I didn't really like to do that. And the first consequence of that is I realized I forgot to introduce Paul and Gord. So that was Gord Peter's, Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. And of course, beside Gord is Paul Mahon, President and Chief Executive Officer of Great-West Lifeco and of Canada Life. And there's also members of the Board right here and management and also Kyle Gould, who's a representative of Computershare Investor Services, who is acting as scrutineer of the meeting. I had you worried there for a bit Gord, but I'll -- if I miss it, if I don't remember, you'll come and correct me as you normally do, I'm sure. Okay. So with that, I'm going to declare that the polls are open on all the items of business for the Great-West Lifeco meeting. And Paul is now going to provide his remarks on the performance of the companies for 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. Paul, would you take the voting.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to all those who are joining our meetings here today in person. Let me also welcome those of you who are joining virtually today. Our last in-person meeting was actually 4 years ago in May 2019. And since that time, so much has changed in our world. From the global pandemic that ravaged communities, families and countries, and the impact of war and economic dislocation, we've all been challenged to respond. Over the last 4 years, our companies and teams across Great-West Lifeco have leaned in to support and lift up those that have been most impacted by these circumstances. At the same time, we've not lost sight of the fact that it is our responsibility to meet the evolving needs of our customers and deliver value for our shareholders while ensuring the resilience of our business. To achieve these goals, we've successfully been repositioning our portfolio of companies for continued growth in a changing world. In the U.S., we've deployed over USD 8 billion of capital through acquisitions that position us as a market leader in retirement with significant opportunity for organic growth in Personal Wealth Management. In Ireland, we've divested IPSI, our third-party administration platform and redeployed this capital to build our recently launched Unio Wealth Management business through the consolidation of 3 companies. And in Canada, we divested DLC Asset Management Group and established a strategic supply arrangement with Mackenzie Investments to support the significant growth opportunity we see in the independent wealth management channel. Consistent with that strategy, Canada Life recently announced the acquisition or the intention to acquire the leading wealth manager Investment Planning Counsel. In combination with Canada Life's existing wealth management platform, this positions us as one of the largest independent wealth managers in the country. Taken together, these strategic investments are focused on sustained value creation across our diversified portfolio. Turning to 2022. I want to acknowledge the challenges experienced by so many. Colleagues, customers and communities grappled with hardships brought on by global challenges, not seen from many generations. In the face of these hardships, Great-West Lifeco delivered for our stakeholders, shareholders, employees, customers, advisers and communities alike. Our performance reflects our commitment to our purpose, to build stronger, more inclusive and financially secure futures. Across our portfolio of companies, we are providing the tools, advice and insights to empower our customers through all of life's moments. Put simply, we're here for life. For over 175 years, we've been guided by our purpose with the goal of being there for our customers. This past year, we remain focused on what matters delivering the advice, solutions and services that help our customers achieve greater financial, physical and mental wellness at every stage of life. We've built leadership positions with trusted brands, we're investing in market-leading digital capabilities to deliver advice-centered solutions. Our diversification, risk discipline and expertise, support our stability and strength in the face of economic uncertainty. This provides customers with the confidence that they need and to know that we will be there to deliver on our promises. These strengths make us a trusted partner for so many as they build and secure their futures, whether it's insurance for a young family, benefits for a small business or retirement solutions for millions of hard-working individuals, we're there to support our customers. This is also what makes us the right choice for investors. Great-West Lifeco has a record of stable long-term growth and value creation. And with that heavily increasing dividends for our shareholders, we believe in the fundamental value of advice. Evidence shows that advice has a positive impact for individuals as they work to achieve their goals. That's why we are constantly evolving and expanding our services to meet customers where they are, no matter where they live. By investing in both digitally enabled advice and the tools to support advisers, we're expanding access to investing, insurance and retirement security. Through our leading workplace solutions, we've built millions of trusted relationships with customers, and it's allowing us to provide advice at scale to help individuals better meet their retirement, investment and wellness needs. In 2022, we made it easier for parents to save for their children's education through Canada Life's group RESP. By adding new and enhanced digital tools, Canada Life's freedom experience is helping more Canadians build health and wealth plans to meet their needs. This campaign is helping break money -- Irish Life is now offering its workplace customers community-based chronic disease care through a blend of remote monitoring, digital and in-person care. This saves time and reduces stress associated with unnecessary hospital visits. Canada Life U.K. is supporting the physical and mental well-being of 2.9 million customers with the exclusive launch of the U.K.'s first health-regulated smart dental app and a virtual tool that helps build resilience and mental well-being. Here in Canada, our Canada Life team is gearing up to support approximately 1.5 million new customers under the public service health care plan, the largest single plan in the country. Across our businesses, we're working to deliver sophisticated solutions with personalized advice to meet customers' most complex needs. Lifeco is proud to support more than 230,000 adviser relationships worldwide. We're investing in digital tools to enable those advisers and help them deliver insurance and wealth solutions to better meet the needs of their clients. A great example is the recent launch of Empower Personal Wealth. An important business extension of the broader Empower franchise in the U.S. This new business is working to make money management simpler, clearer and more accessible. It brings together everything people own and owe in one comprehensive dashboard from credit cards and cash to loans, investments and retirement accounts. This data paired with adviser insight makes it easier to take control of personal wealth. It's the next step and empowers mission of helping hard-working Americans save for their best retirement. Speaking of next steps, Empower recently launched an innovative marketing campaign called Empower What's Next? This campaign is helping break money taboos, encouraging Americans to talk more openly about challenging financial situations and providing answers to their most pressing money questions. And as I mentioned previously, Irish Life recently consolidated 3 businesses into the new entity called Unio Wealth Management. This new company will provide expert advice for individuals who are seeking to more effectively manage their wealth. Underpinned by market-leading digital platforms, Unio will provide personalized client advice and investment solutions to a growing and underserved population. In Canada, we reached an agreement to acquire Investment Planning Counsel, a leading independent wealth management firm. This acquisition accelerates our strategy of building the leading wealth platform for independent advisers in Canada. With this acquisition, Canada Life will be one of the largest nonbank wealth providers in the country. These 3 moves reflect our commitment to help our customers grow their personal wealth through customized advice-based solutions. With our sophisticated risk and capital management expertise, we're helping organizations manage their risks and deliver sustainable customer solutions. Canada Life Reinsurance is helping businesses deliver retirement income solutions for their employees. It is also helping other insurers help providing protection from extreme and unlikely events. Our reinsurance business diversifies our portfolio, offsets counterbalancing risks and creates value for stakeholders, including strong financial performance. Over the past year, we've expanded our capital and risk solutions to new markets across the globe, including Israel, Japan and Indonesia. This focus on investing to support our customers is driving growth and having a positive impact on the value we deliver to our shareholders. Today, I'm pleased to report that Great-West Lifeco delivered strong results, reflecting organic growth, the benefits of recent strategic acquisitions and disciplined capital deployment. Our full year 2022 base earnings were $3.2 billion. Net earnings per common share were up -- were $3.46, up 3% from a year ago. We're performing well against our medium-term financial objectives, including increasing dividends by 8.6% in 2022 and maintaining our strong capital position. We grew market share across our business segments and continue to make significant investments in future success. This overall performance illustrates our ability to respond to opportunity and adapt in the face of uncertainty. Let me take a moment to highlight this quarter's results. Of note, this is the first quarter that our companies and the overall Canadian industry will be reporting under the new International Financial Reporting Standard 17 insurance accounting regime. This is the culmination of a single -- of a significant multiyear enterprise-wide initiative. I'm proud to say that Great-West Lifeco is one of the first companies in the world to report under this new standard. I'm also proud of the more than 1,000 employees who've shown resilience and commitment to delivering this program. Turning to our financials. We delivered strong results that reflect the successful execution of our integration programs in the U.S. and continued focus on delivering consistent performance in each of our core businesses. Base earnings and EPS were up 14% over the same quarter last year, and we ended Q1 with a capital ratio of 127% above our target range. We continue to be positioned for strong performance supported by a diverse portfolio and responsible growth. I'd like to thank our more than 31,000 employees who serve our over 38 million customers worldwide for their strong performance. Not only are our strategies creating value, they're also having a positive impact on the communities where we live and work. Guided by our purpose, we've been focused on what we can do to build stronger, more inclusive and diverse companies today, with a view to an even better tomorrow. In 2022, Lifeco Asset Management affiliates managed over $127 billion in ESG-related strategies and invested over $6 billion in wind, solar and hydroelectric renewable energy projects. In the U.S., Putnam launched new actively managed ESG ETFs and sustainable investment options to give customers even more choices to invest in their future responsibly. We're on track to achieve our target of 50% women in management roles by 2030, and we're making solid progress to achieving our goal of 25% underrepresented groups in management by 2030. Supporting our communities has long been core to who we are. Our businesses and our people as members of communities, know that we can only deliver on our purpose as fully engaged partners and citizens. Through targeted funding, we've been helping create quality career paths for diverse talent in the bipart community, including through the James W. Burns Leadership Institute in Manitoba, and the new BioPak legacy award at Western University. We've contributed to greater financial security for underserved populations, made investments in arts and education and helped ensure the delivery of aid in the wake of global crises, including support for Ukrainian refugees. As a Canadian company, we recognize our responsibility to Canada's first peoples and our commitment to truth and reconciliation. We continue to take steps to promote indigenous ways of knowing and education. This year, we took further steps and responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's call to action #92 by providing a paid day away from work for all employees to engage meaningfully in Truth and Reconciliation. In the U.S., both in Power and Putnam Investments recognized June 10 as a company holiday. They continue to provide educational resources and inspiring speakers to honor the history, culture and contributions of Black and African Americans. As we look forward to the future, Great-West Lifeco is focused on creating even greater value for all stakeholders based on our commitment to responsible growth. In a world grappling with uncertainty, we have proven to be a steadfast partner providing sound advice to support our customers, ongoing opportunities for our people and investments that build thriving communities. Our dedicated expertise, along with our ability to stay nimble and look forward, allows us to create solutions that help individuals and businesses achieve financial security and wellness today and for future generations. I'd like to thank our employees and our advisers for their dedication and ongoing support. And to our customers, policyholders and shareholders, thank you for your confidence and continued trust. I'm grateful for all the relationships we have built and strengthened over the past year as these are the foundation of our collective future success. Thank you. [Foreign Language].

4 glasses of water for 3 people, and I have really mixed up. I don't know what to do with that. Thank you, Paul. Let me add my words of thanks on behalf of the Board to you and your senior leadership team and to the employees and the advisers of Great-West Lifeco and Canada Life for all the great and hard work that you do and looking after our business, looking after our various stakeholders, our shareholders, our customers, our people, it's great, and I want to make sure that you know that and that the shareholders and the people here at the meeting hear that. And normally, we end the meeting with that. And I normally end by thanking people, but we have a lot of most things to go through. And I thought that you might have a little more attention to me saying that right now than you will in the 15 minutes from now. But maybe I'm just -- maybe I'm being too negative. We have a lot of motions to go through on the various points. So I'm going to turn right away to the first item of business which is the submission of the financial statements and the reports. The annual reports for both companies were mailed to shareholders and policyholders who requested them. They both contain the audited financial statements of the companies and the auditor's reports and the Canada Life annual report also contains the actuaries report and the summary of the participating account, dividend and management policies. So these documents can be accessed on our websites. The next line of business is the consideration of the resolution to amend Lifeco's articles to increase the number of directors from 18 to 19. The resolution is in the management proxy circular. And I would ask Gord Peters to present the motion.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I move that the articles of the corporation be amended to increase the number of directors from 18 to 19 and the Corporate Secretary be authorized to execute and deliver all documents and to do all other acts as may be necessary or advisable to give effect to this resolution.

Thank you, Gord. So as noted in the management proxy circular, this year one new candidate is being proposed for election as a director; and Dhvani D. Shah, who is Group Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of JM Family Enterprises, previous -- that's a privately held diversified company. She previously served as the Chief Investment Officer of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. She's a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of Chicago, the CFA Society of Miami, and so Dhvani, I wonder whether you just do -- I shouldn't do this, but do a quick stand up and just have people recognize you. Thank you. Without [ sanctioning ] the vote, we're all delighted to have you join the Board. With the nomination of Dhvani, therefore, the Board on the recommendation of the Government and Nominating Committee is proposing that the number of directors be increased to 18 to 19. So are there any questions on those attending first of all in-person that relates to this -- the amendment of the articles? And I see there is a question of this gentleman. Did you want to go to the microphone or maybe we can bring it to you? Trying to bring it to you. The reason for the microphone, we'll hear you, but people online won't hear you. So it's important that you have the mic.

Why are you seeing the number of Directors to 19 when you have Manulife, Sun Life, MetLife in the states, all have directors no more than 12? Why is it necessary -- increase?

Yes. Thank you. It's a very good question. We get the question a lot. And just to underline, we have, I think, a different situation and a slightly different governance model at Great-West Lifeco than we have at our other companies and potentially that they have at Manulife and Sun. I won't speak exactly to their governance. But as you may or may not be aware, we've always had a philosophy that we should have strong Boards locally in the different countries in which we operate. And we believe that we'll get better connectivity by sending and having participants from the main Lifeco board -- Great-West Lifeco board on our U.S. board, on our Power board, on our Putnam board, on our Canada Life board in the U.K., on our Irish Board. And so we -- and we can't possibly do on all those boards. So we have different directors from our Boards, populate those boards so that when they get back to the Great-West Lifeco board, we have a lot of interaction. We do that. When you do the math on that, it doesn't work when you have 12 or 13 or 14. So that's one of the examples of the constraints. We are sensitive at this point, and I appreciate you bringing it up. We were 22 or 23 directors not that long ago. We've moved it down. We are conscious that it is a large board, but it works for us, and we managed to make it work. So I respect your views. We get it a lot. I understand it, and we're conscious of it, but that we are where we are, and we're making those recommendations. So -- thank you. Are there questions on the matter. So then we received any questions or comments online, Gord?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have not.

Okay. If that is the case, then we will proceed -- getting my pages mixed up again. Great. So if there are no comments, then we proceed to a vote at this point. And the Board of Directors and the management recommends voting for the amendment of the Lifeco articles. The motion must be approved by at least 2/3 of the votes cast and only agree with Lifeco common shareholders or first preferred shareholders or the proxy holders are entitled to vote on a Great-West Life matter. So if you're a Canada Life policyholder attending online, you're going to see a voting option pop up but it's just a tease. You're not allowed to vote actually. It's only goes for Great-West Lifeco shareholders or their proxy holders will be counted. If you're here, if you haven't already done so, please vote now. For those attending online, please select a voting option on the voting panel displayed on your screen. For those attending in person, you can use the ballots by placing an X in the appropriate box in the section entitled Amend the Articles of the Corporation. You may vote for or against by selecting the appropriate box. I'm just waiting for online, what's the right time to wait, Gordon? Now, okay. Very good. All right. We're going to move to the next item of business. That's the election of the Great-West Lifeco directors. This year, there are 19 individuals, as we just talked about, identified in the proxy circular, and I'll name them. They're Michael Amend, Deborah Barrett, Robin Bienfait, Heather Conway, Marcel Coutu, André Desmarais, Paul Desmarais Jr., Gary Doer, David Fuller, Claude Généreux, Paula Madoff, Paul Mahon, Susan McArthur, Jeffrey Orr, Timothy Ryan, Dhvani Shah, Gregory Tretiak, Siim Vanaselja and Brian Walsh. So Gord, would you please present the nominees for election?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I nominate for election as directors of Great-West Lifeco Inc. the 19 individuals listed in Lifeco's management proxy circular, each for a term ending at the close of the next annual meeting unless they resign or otherwise vacate office.

Great. Thank you. Are there any questions or comments from anyone attending in person that relate to the election of Great-West Lifeco directors? Okay. Great. Thank you for going to the microphone. I appreciate it. We have another one up here, I think, if -- for future questions.

Hello, good afternoon. My name is Daniel Engels. I'm a shareholder of Great-West Lifeco, both the common shares and the preferred shares. I just noticed on the management proxy circular when they talked about the biographies of each of the directors, I really have a concern about one specific director, and that's Mr. Paul Desmarais, Jr. Mr. Desmarais -- Mr. Paul Desmarais Jr. attended 6 of the 12 Board meetings in 2022. And if you look at all the meetings, including the meetings of the committees that he was a member of, he attended 8 out of the 19 meetings, which is less than half the meetings that he as a director should have attended. His attendance is far less than any of the other Board members in 2022. Before I continue, I would just appreciate if the Chair could communicate to us, is there a reason for Mr. Paul Desmarais, let's say, lack of attendance to the meetings.

That's your question? Or would you...

That is the first question. If you can...

Yes. So obviously, Board attendance is something we're all aware of. And I would say in the case of Mr. Desmarais, he is and his family, obviously, has a very major stake in the company, and he has a very long and deep understanding of the business. He is also on a number of other Boards in our group that at times conflict so that is one reason. And in this year, in particular, there were some other reasons that he was not able to attend that I won't go into for personal reasons. The -- when that occurs, he is well briefed on all of the matters and I and others brief him so he's -- so you could interpret from that a lack of engagement. And I can assure you, there is no lack of engagement awareness or contribution from Mr. Desmarais to the activities of Great-West Lifeco. The related point as well is often when you get questions on this, you think -- one would think that the only contribution somebody makes is at the Board meetings as a director. And our directors contribute meaningfully. And often, it's at 2 or 3 meetings where they kind of jump on -- they're on an issue and really contribute. And so not to say attendance isn't important, but it's not the only measure of contribution. And certainly, in Mr. Desmarais case, he makes a very large contribution. So that's my answer to the question.

Thanks for clarifying that. I would just like to suggest that if the Board members are all making -- I realize attendance may only be part of reflecting how committed they are to being on the Board. But nonetheless, when you see this, it's really not a good reflection of the Board as a whole. And unfortunately, it's also not a good reflection on Mr. Desmarais. So I'd like the Board as a whole and the Chair to consider this, especially when making nominations in future years to determine who should be nominated for the Board.

Thank you, Mr. Engels, for your thoughts. Appreciate it. All right. Gord, are there -- any questions or comments online?

Mr. Chair, there are not.

Okay. The only thing I did is took my pages out of the book, which was not a good idea. So we're now going to proceed to the vote. The vote for the Board, excuse me, and directors and management recommend voting for the director nominees listed in the Great-West Lifeco proxy circular. So if you haven't already done so, please vote now. Those attending online, please select the voting option on the voting panel displayed on your screen. For those who are attending in person, please use your Lifeco ballots and vote in the election section entitled Election of Directors. You can vote for or against the election of each nominee by selecting the appropriate boxes. And for those with paper balance, you can vote or withhold from all 19 by placing an X in the appropriate box above the dotted line, and if below the dotted line, there are 19 names, and you can vote individually, I think, below the line. I'm going to give it just a few minutes for those online here, give a bit of time. Okay. So we're going to move then to the appointment of our Lifeco's auditors. The next sort of business is the appointment of the auditors, is proposed the current auditor Deloitte LLP be reappointed as auditor of Lifeco. Gordon, would you please present the motion?

Mr. Chair, I move that Deloitte LLP be appointed auditor of Great-West Lifeco Inc., for the 2023 financial year to hold office until the close of the next annual meeting, its remuneration to be fixed by the Board of Directors.

Thank you. Are there questions or comments for anyone attending in person that relate to the appointment of the auditors? Okay. And have we received any questions or comments online, Gord?