NZSA Branches
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New Zealand Shareholders Association Inc. |
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What's Happening
Welcome to Waikato Branch for 2010
We have an exciting programme for you, all welcome
Our next Guest Speaker is Mark Cairns, CEO of Port of Tauranga. This will be at Hamilton Club, 7th September, 5.30 pm sharp
The NZSA company visit programme is sponsored by INFOSCAN
Annual Newsletter 2010 WAIKATO BRANCH NEW ZEALAND SHAREHOLDERS' ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER : FIVE April 2010 The 2010 year starts a new decade. We have passed through the 'noughties' and are beginning the 'one-ders'. This millenium started with the Y2K worries, related to computers not being programmed to cope with four rather than two digits for the specified year ; followed by 9/11 ; the tsunami in Indonesia and the Pacific(2004); the global financial crisis(gfc) of 2007/9, and CDOs and MBSs(if you need help – Collateral Debt Offerings/Mortgage Backed Securities) plus Quantitative Easing! The Waikato branch of the NZSA offers you help related to security for your investments. This newsletter gives you details of activities we have provided during our existence which I believe have given me and many other members confidence in their decisions involving their investments. The branch offers us all the chance to meet with fellow investors who may suffer, but will also succeed. Committee for 2009 – 2010 The committee elected at the AGM on July 21st 2009 is listed below. The appointment of positions in the committee occurs at the first meeting of the committee following the AGM. What follows is an outline of our past activities and information and comment from committee members of the branch activities. Plus some information that may enable you to organise your estate details to the advantage of your relatives and an encouragement to you to visit the NZSA website and explore Bruce Sheppard's and Brian Gaynor's blogs. Below is a summary of our meetings for the 2009 year and a reminder of the guest speakers we have had for our two prominent functions each year since our beginning in 2004. These lists are valuable to all our members to remind us of the opportunities we are able to obtain through membership of the Waikato branch of the NZSA. It is my belief that we have never had a poor meeting – always a speaker of quality and value(to us) and good support from the membership. The opportunity at each meeting for members to mix and mingle has always been appreciated. Waikato Branch NZ Shareholders' Association NZ SHAREHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION WAIKATO BRANCH Waikato Branch NZ Shareholders' Association April 14th Bill Falconer guest speaker Comment from Roger Jennings(committee member) The newsletter continues with reports from Robert Foster(Education, the Scrip and the Portfolio Group) andHelen Glyde(membership). Each Branch of the NZSA runs its own public education courses. In 2009 we ran courses at Hillcrest High under the Community Education program. Each course was held on two consecutive Thursday nights for two hours. With the reduction in funding to this program, courses this year may be in jeopardy. The courses were designed by the late Graham Wilson, a highly qualified investment analyst and teacher, and former Director of NZSA. Each course has a take-home course book, full of useful information and will continue to keep your investments safe. The courses provide a truly independent view of investing. The first two courses are at introductory level and require no previous knowledge or experience. “Investing Basics” gives a simple overview of property, shares, fixed interest, advisors and agents and the relationship between risks and rewards. “Sharemarket Basics” covers buying and selling, how to read newspaper sharetables, four key financial ratios, some simple options and ways to get started. The courses are presented by and hosted by local committee members using powerpoint supplied by NZSA. The course books support the powerpoint material, and are worth the cost of the course alone. Any members interested or experienced in the delivery of educational material and wish to assist with the courses please get in touch with a committee member. Share Portfolio Competition Reports from Helen Glyde Membership We have 78 current members of the Waikato Branch and 31 members who have been allocated to Waikato but have not paid the branch membership fee of $20. Many of these people are too far away to come to our meetings, however the AGM and Christmas dinners in particular, attract a large number of non-members. In order to show our appreciation to our loyal group of branch members we have decided to charge more to the rest of the attendees. You will have noticed that we have already decided to charge non-branch members more for the monthly meetings at the Hamilton Club and this will be extended to cover our dinner meetings. We have been advised by National Office that membership fees for future members will be $110, which includes membership of a chosen branch, and this will help our funds in future years. However, it will make no difference as regards non-NZSA attendees. Costs have been a concern to your committee this year as we found that our outgoings, mainly room hire, have exceeded our income from these meetings for some years, and our reserves are becoming depleted, especially since the purchase of a projector for power point presentations. We had applied unsuccessfully to charity trusts for a grant for this projector. Since then we have applied for a grant to buy a laptop and screen, which if we cannot get a grant will cost us a further $1600 or more. These IT purchases are necessary if we are to continue with our education courses, and on the occasions when a speaker does not bring his own equipment to the meeting. We have negotiated a better deal with the Hamilton Club, which seems to be the most suitable venue. The committee has looked at other venues, but none matched the Club for accessibility, parking and bar facilities. In order to cut costs we stopped coffee and biscuits, which cost $4.50 per person, irrespective of how many people wanted coffee and biscuits. They can still be ordered at the bar at, presumably, the same charge. Our Treasurer has also managed to get us some free postage so our outgoings are contained as much as possible. We now need to expand our membership to cover capital costs, and also so that we can afford to widen our range of speakers. This is where you come in. Members are invited to bring a non-member free of charge to any of our meetings. This will give that person the opportunity to decide whether he or she wishes to join our Branch (and to join the Association if he/she had not already done so!). You can ask as many people as you like, provided each person is for one meeting only. It would be helpful if you say you are bringing a guest, and the guest’s name, when you reply to the invitation to the meeting. That way we avoid having the same person brought to a different meeting by another member. PROXY VOTES If you are not attending a Company’s AGM – or, indeed, if you are attending but are undecided how to vote – please list the NZSA as your proxy. The only address I give for the Association is “Auckland” and that seems to be sufficient. The NZSA research team will be in a better position than most of us to decide how to vote on the resolution, especially if it is a controversial one. Many forms now have four columns to each resolution “for”, “against”, “proxy holder discretion” or “abstain”. Otherwise there should be a sentence which says “Unless otherwise directed below, my/our proxy may vote as he/she thinks fit.” This means you do not have to tick any of the boxes and this will leave the decision with the NZSA. Of course if you do feel strongly about any resolution you should mark that particular box. Date and sign the form and send it to the appropriate registrar, whose envelope will be enclosed. The last step is to advise the NZSA that you have nominated the Association as proxy, which company and how many votes. This can either be done through the website, following the instructions under “proxies”, or you can email Jacquie Staley at jacquiestaley@xtra.co.nz. Helen Glyde Matters Pertaining to my Estate NZSA website www.nzsharehoders.co.nz This website provides you with information concerning the actions(correspondence etc) taken by the board;branch news and programmes etc. Worth a visit from time to time. Bruce Sheppard blog Brian Gaynor blog I have listed my details of contact for you to send queries, questions, suggestions, if you wish. A guarantee of a response, but no guarantee of a solution!
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WAIKATO BRANCH COMMITTEE MEMBERS
=================== (John) J.R. Davies ===================
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Martin Watson
(Alex) A.R.Eames |