Minutes of the 2007 AGM

Minutes of the 9th Annual General Meeting held on 15 August 2007 in St John's Grove, Beeston, Nottingham


1. All members were present.

2. The minutes of the 2006 AGM held on August 11 2006 had been circulated and were taken as read. There were no matters arising except to note that the final sum raised for Dilla Clinic was £1700, of which £1500 had been sent to Ethiopia.

3. Re-appointment of officers for 2007-08:
a. Chairman: Daniel
b. Treasurer/secretary: John

4. Financial report for the year from 1 August 2006 to 31 July 2007
a The Assets Statement (with graphs, filed) showed a portfolio value of £19,354, a 6% rise over the year. New investment during the year had been made in First State China Growth Unit Trust, BP and Experian; Biffa had been spun off from Severn Trent. African Platinum had been taken over at a profit to us of £2440. Our other speculative stock, Island Oil and Gas, had struck gas in the Celtic Sea but their shares had disappointed. No sales had been made. We hold £2,379 in cash, i.e. 9% of our funds. The Unit Value is 124.72, i.e. 25 % above par and another 10% up from a year ago. Our total assets are worth £21,732, a decrease of 3% over the year because of a member’s withdrawal of funds, representing a capital gain (after adjustment for subscriptions and withdrawals) of £4,875 (29%).

b Unit Valuation Report (on file). All members except one are showing profits (maximum £1,131) overall.

c Dealings Account for the year (on file):
(i) income: Subscription income for 12 months was £4,020; dividends amounted to £425, and interest £259 (total £588).
(ii) expenditure: We had invested £4,236 in stock, made a £500 grant to a member for career development, and spent £161 on the annual dinner and outing at Barrow–on-Soar. We spent £88 on web-hosting for www.patrickfamily.org.uk
(iii) loans: We had made loans totaling £900 to two members, £400 of which is outstanding.
(iv) withdrawals: One member had withdrawn £6850 of his stake.


5. Proposals

a. Declaration of dividend. It was agreed (a) to declare a dividend equivalent to the sum of the interest and dividends received, totalling £588, and (b) to split it between members in proportion to their share-holding on June 30 2007. It was agreed to base future calculations on the average proportional share-holding over the twelve months.

b. Subscriptions for 2007-08. No change, each member paying at least £50 per calendar month. One member was excused subscriptions for 12 months, but these would be covered by the excess subscription (over £50) paid by other members.

c. It was agreed to make an immediate grant of £2000 to one member.

d. Investments agreed:
Sales: it was agreed to sell our holdings in BP, Experian, and BSkyB, the three companies with the poorest overall gain to release funds and simplify the portfolio.
Loan: £2000 loan to LorneStreetBakery.com [Daniel] in the autumn
Purchases:
• £1000 in Mission Marketing [David] when the loan was repaid
• £500 each in F&C Multi-manager Growth Unit Trust and in First State China Growth Unit Trust from the proceeds of Reuters take-over.

6. Charitable activities: none this year as three members were still working for Chilwell Road Methodist Church’s efforts for the Dilla Clinic in Ethiopia.

7. AGM in 2008
It was agreed to mark the tenth anniversary of the Club’s founding with an event perhaps at Tyn-y-Waen and [from 2006 AGM] a professional portrait photograph.

8. Amendments to Constitution and Rules: none had been proposed

9. There was no other business, and the family set off for Elvaston Castle for a rainy picnic.

AGM 2006: minutes

Minutes of the 9th Annual General Meeting held on 11 August 2006 at the Hunting Lodge, Barrow-on-Soar


1. All members were present.

2. The minutes of the 2005 AGM held on July 24 2005 and the minutes of the semi-annual meeting on January 28 2006 had been circulated and were approved. There were no matters arising except to note that (a) the Frequent Trader account had not been utilized and would be closed, that (b) Google shares, being on the US stock market, were too expensive to trade, and (c) the target of $1000 for Dilla Clinic had been exceeded by 100%.

3. Re-appointment of officers for 2006-07:
a. Chairman: Daniel
b. Treasurer/secretary: John

4. Financial report for the year from 1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006
a The Assets Statement (with graphs, filed) showed a 52% rise in the portfolio value (including new investments) over the year, with all stocks except the Treasury bonds improving. New investment during the year had been made in F&C Multi-manager Growth Unit Trust, Speedy Hire, African Platinum and Island Oil and Gas. No sales had been made, but we had taken cash on the take-over of O2. We hold £4,301 in cash, i.e. 19% of our funds. The Unit Value is 113.11, i.e. 13.1 % above par and 10% up from a year ago. Our total assets are worth £22,478, an increase of £4,188 over the year, representing a capital gain (after adjustment for subscriptions and withdrawals) of £414.

b Unit Valuation Report (on file). All members except Joseph are now showing profits (maximum £472) overall.

c Dealings Account for the year (on file):
(i) income: Subscription income for 12 months was £3,997; dividends amounted to £187, and interest £241 (total £428).
(ii) expenditure: We had invested £5,658 in stock, donated £75 each to Chichiri prison and the NSPCC, made a £500 grant to a member for career development, and spent £20 on the annual dinner at 16 Devonshire Avenue.
(iii) loan: We had made a £2000 loan to a member which has since been repaid in full.
(iv) withdrawals: Two members had each withdrawn £1000 from their stakes.


5. Proposals

A. Declaration of dividend. It was agreed (a) to declare a dividend equivalent to the overall capital gain of £414, and (b) to split it equally between members rather than in proportion to their share-holding. Each member would therefore receive a dividend of £70, and some agreed to donate theirs to the Dilla Clinic.

B. Subscriptions for 2006-07. No change, each member paying in at least £50 per calendar month. Members were encouraged to review their subscriptions each year.

C. Investments: it was agreed to invest £1000 in each of these companies/funds
a. BP [proposed by Joseph]
b. First State China Growth Fund [John]. A further £300 would be invested each quarter.

D. Charitable activities
We agreed to continue to support the Dilla Clinic in Ethiopia, with a more ambitious target and fund-raising initiatives.

E. AGM in 2007
It was agreed to mark the tenth anniversary of the Club’s founding with a professional portrait photograph and explore the possibility of a wider family celebration gathering.

F. Website [www.patrickfamily.org.uk, with the Blog and the Flickr photo portfolio]
It was agreed to widen the scope of the family website.

G. Membership. There was some unresolved discussion of the merits of extending the Club’s membership.

6. Amendments to Constitution and Rules: none had been proposed

7. There was no other business, and lunch was served before embarking for a barge trip on the river Soar.

Minutes of the semi-annual meeting held on 28 January 2006

All 6 members were present, with Daniel in the chair and John writing the minutes.

1. A career development grant of £500 for Joseph was agreed to.

2. An immediate top-up investment in the F&C MultiManager Growth Accumulator Fund of £300 was agreed, plus a further £150 every quarter.

3. No new rules for buying and selling stock would be put into operation, but Daniel would operate the Frequent Trader Account to benefit from short-term market swings.

4. We agreed to sell our holding in Vodaphone which was showing an overall loss of 27% and falling, and to double our speculative holding in African Platinum which was showing positive signs.

5. We agreed to a new investment of £1000 in Google.

6. An annual PIC Charity was instituted, to which we would give some of our profits and do some fund-raising. It would raise our awareness of charitable/developmental issues and be a focus for some joint activity. For 2005-06 it was agreed to support the development of a rural health centre near Aira in Ethiopia that Janet had visited recently, and we aim to raise $1000 by July. Two members offered personal donations. See progress on "Our Charitable activities" page.