Losing interest: The curious case of absent shareholders at company AGMs

Companies see turnout at AGMs decline despite post-pandemic surge in shareholder numbers

Only one of every 10,000 shareholders of companies attended an annual general meeting (AGM) this calendar year, shows early data from large companies. This had been five-eight times higher in 2019. The drop comes even as companies have seen an increase in the number of shareholders. 

The AGM is an opportunity for shareholders to interact with the company management, ask questions, and raise issues they deem important. The number of attendees dropped to 2,278 in 2025 as against 4,217 in 2019 across 10 blue-chip companies whose AGM attendance data Business Standard analysed. The AGMs conducted in 2025 are for 2024-25 (FY25) and 2019 meetings similarly correspond to FY19. The median company had one attendee per 10,000 shareholders compared to five per 10,000 in 2019. 

Including other available BSE Sensex companies for 2019 shows attendance before the pandemic was at eight per 10,000 shareholders. The 10 companies have added between 300,000 and 5.6 million shareholders since then. 

The likely reason for attendance thinning is that shareholders realise there is very little on offer in virtual events, according to Shriram Subramanian, founder and managing director of domestic proxy advisor InGovern Research Services.  Refreshments may have been a reason for some retail shareholders to attend, but physical events also provided opportunities for share­holders to come together and find allies on areas of concern through conversation on the sidelines and opportunities for connection, which are absent in a virtual space, he suggested.

 

Online events can make it easier for companies to keep out shareholders raising contentious issues. He pointed to United States short-seller Viceroy Research’s allegation of Vedanta’s AGM being “stage-managed”, coming days after Viceroy’s report containing allegations including accounting irregularities. The company has denied wrongdoing. 

Major global companies still hold AGMs with an option for physical attendance, something which many Indian companies have preferred to avoid since the pandemic set in. Cost and convenience cannot be major factors for listed companies, said Subramanian. 

“India should try…hybrid,” he said. 

Fraser Perring, co-founder of Delaware-based US short-seller Viceroy Research, told Business Standard that holding AGMs offline would allow for greater accountability. He said stage-management appears to be a noticeable feature with AGM performances reduced to theatre; likely contributing to thinning crowds. 

"No wonder it's thinning; how much TV or theatre are you going to watch? The charade of management orchestrated scripts needs to end," he said. 

A hybrid model would allow access for those unable to attend physically, he added; while also allowing for in-person interaction in an AGM. 

Even physical AGMs had companies sidestepping questions and avoiding controversial topics, noted Amit Tandon, founder and managing director of advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services India, suggesting that the problem might run deeper than the fact that AGMs had gone online. As part-owners of the company, shareholders retain the right to the company’s profit pool and to ask questions. There was enthusiasm when virtual meetings first began since they allowed participation in events even if they were taking place in two different cities. But this has since petered out, according to him. The nature of shareholder engagement with the company has changed with management meetings often happening outside AGMs, and electronic voting taking place before the AGM, noted Tandon. 

“Very clearly, shareholder meetings are dead.” 

Globally, there is a shift to online meetings. Companies like Apple and Exxon Mobil conducted their 2025 meetings virtually. Others like Berkshire Hathaway and energy major Shell had physical meetings though with options to watch online are also available. 

Banking giant HSBC reportedly considered moving to online reportedly to cut costs and avoid disruption by climate protesters. The company denied the proposal during its AGM. 

Each of the 10 companies under consideration has seen a drop in participation relative to its investor base. For example, Hindustan Unilever has seen attendance drop from 14 per 10,000 shareholders to two. 

State Bank of India has seen a drop from 10 to less than 1. In the case of Asian Paints, attendance dropped from nine to one over the same period. 

Emails sent to the 10 companies, as well as Vedanta on July 30, did not receive a reply.