Report on the MAS Annual General Meeting 2020

MAS's Annual General Meeting for 2020 was held on 26 August and, for the first time it was conducted, entirely online. 

We thank all those Members who attended the meeting, and who cast votes on the various resolutions. We appreciate the views of our Members and are grateful to them for setting aside the time to contribute to the future of our mutual. 

The meeting opened with Chairman Harley Aish taking Members through the Annual Report, and offering his thoughts on some of the highlights of the 2019-20 Financial Year, and what MAS will focus on in the year ahead. 

The meeting then heard from Jenny Gill, Chair of the MAS Foundation Trustees, who reported on the MAS Foundation's activities, including its inaugural round of grants to organisations involved in the battle against COVID-19 in New Zealand. 

To review the Annual Report, click here.

The second half of the meeting was taken up with discussion of the proposed resolutions, which you can read about the resolutions in more detail in the Notice of Meeting. 

All of the resolutions were approved:

• The minutes of the 2019 AGM were accepted. 
• The 2020 Annual Report and Financial Statements were approved. 
• The remuneration to be divided among all the directors of MAS increased from $690,000 per annum to $710,000 per annum.
• Lindsay Knowles and Suzanne Wolton were appointed as Commercial Trustees.
• Dr Harley Aish and Steve Merchant were appointed as Practitioner Trustees. 

Income protection policies and mental health

Towards the end of the AGM, we discussed some questions raised by several Members in advance of the meeting, regarding how our income protection policies deal with mental health. 

Concerns raised at the AGM included whether the exclusions or loadings on income protection policies regarding mental health issues potentially discouraged policyholders from seeking help. 

We made a commitment to holding a series of forums around New Zealand to discuss these concerns with Members in more detail, to see how we might progress our approach.