Communiqué de presse

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Results of the Annual General Meeting of GAM Holding AG

• Dividend of CHF 0.65 per share out of capital contribution reserve approved
• Nancy Mistretta, Ezra S. Field and Benjamin Meuli elected to the Board of Directors; Johannes A. de Gier, Diego du Monceau and Hugh Scott-Barrett re-elected

At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 27 April 2016, the shareholders of GAM Holding AG approved all of the Board of Directors’ proposals. The management report, the parent company’s financial statements and the consolidated financial statements for 2015 were approved at the AGM, and shareholders discharged the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Management Board for the 2015 financial year.

Shareholders approved a dividend of CHF 0.65 per share for 2015, leaving it unchanged from the previous year. The dividend will be distributed from capital contribution reserves, making it exempt from Swiss federal withholding tax for all shareholders. For shareholders resident in Switzerland who hold the shares as part of their private assets, the dividend will also be exempt from Swiss income tax. In total, the dividend distribution will amount to about CHF 103 million, corresponding to approximately 65% of the Group’s underlying net profit in 2015.

In a voluntary consultative vote, the shareholders approved the Compensation Report for 2015. The shareholders also approved the proposed maximum aggregate compensation amounts for the Board of Directors for the forthcoming one-year term of office and for the Group Management Board for 2016.

Nancy Mistretta, Ezra S. Field and Benjamin Meuli were elected as new members of the Board of Directors. Shareholders also re-elected all Board members standing for re-election – Johannes A. de Gier (as Chairman), Diego du Monceau and Hugh Scott-Barrett. The proposed members of the Compensation Committee (Diego du Monceau, Nancy Mistretta and Benjamin Meuli) were also confirmed.

Chairman Johannes A. de Gier thanked Tanja Weiher, who left the Board in January, and Daniel Daeniker, who chose not to stand for re-election at this AGM, for their valuable contributions to the development of the company.

Shareholders approved the cancellation of the 3,100,000 shares bought back during 2015 and the corresponding reduction in share capital.

The current share buy-back programme, launched in April 2014, allows for the repurchase of up to 16.7 million shares over a maximum period of three years. The programme, 31% of which had been utilised by the end of December 2015, represents a flexible means of returning excess capital to shareholders in the absence of other opportunities for investment.

Shareholders approved the creation of authorised capital equal to 10% of GAM Holding AG’s current share capital (before the capital reduction approved at today’s AGM) in order to improve the Group’s strategic flexibility. The Board of Directors was given the authorisation to increase the share capital at any time until 27 April 2018 by issuing a maximum of 16,339,460 fully paid registered shares with a par value of CHF 0.05 each. Of these 16,339,460 registered shares, the Board is authorised to restrict or withdraw the pre-emptive rights of the existing shareholders with respect to a maximum of 8,169,730 registered shares and allocate such rights to third parties in certain cases, such as for acquisitions.

Further information relating to the AGM of GAM Holding AG, including the voting results on all agenda items, can be found at www.gam.com/agm2016.

Forthcoming events:

Media Relations:
Elena Logutenkova 
T: +41 (0) 58 426 63 41     

Investor Relations:
Patrick Zuppiger
T: +41 (0) 58 426 31 36

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GAM is one of the world’s leading independent, pure-play asset managers. The company provides active investment solutions and products for institutions, financial intermediaries and private investors under two brands: GAM and Julius Baer Funds. The core investment business is complemented by private labelling services, which include management company and other support services to third-party asset managers. GAM employs over 1,000 people in 11 countries with investment centres in London, Zurich, Hong Kong, New York, Milan and Lugano. The investment managers are supported by an extensive global distribution network.

Headquartered in Zurich, GAM is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and is a component of the Swiss Market Index Mid (SMIM) with the symbol ‘GAM’. The Group has assets under management of CHF 114.7 billion (USD 119.8 billion) as at 31 March 2016.

This press release by GAM Holding AG (‘the Company’) includes forward-looking statements that reflect the Company’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations and projections about the Company’s future results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects, strategies, opportunities and the industry in which it operates. Forward-looking statements involve all matters that are not historical facts. The Company has tried to identify those forward-looking statements by using words such as ‘may’, ‘will’, ‘would’, ‘should’, ‘expect’, ‘intend’, ‘estimate’, ‘anticipate’, ‘project’, ‘believe’, ‘seek’, ‘plan’, ‘predict’, ‘continue’ and similar expressions. Such statements are made on the basis of assumptions and expectations which, although the Company believes them to be reasonable at this time, may prove to be erroneous.

These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, performance, prospects or opportunities, as well as those of the markets it serves or intends to serve, to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause those differences include, but are not limited to: changing business or other market conditions, legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments, general economic conditions, and the Company’s ability to respond to trends in the financial services industry. Additional factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update of, or revisions to, any forward-looking statements in this press release and any change in the Company’s expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based, except as required by applicable law or regulation.