U-Haul 2005 Annual Report Download - page 20

19 I AMERCO ANNUAL REPORT
Business Description
The฀Board฀and฀its฀committees฀meet฀throughout฀the฀year฀
on฀ a฀ set฀ schedule,฀ and฀ also฀ hold฀ special฀ meetings฀ and฀
act฀ by฀ written฀ consent฀ from฀ time฀ to฀ time฀ as฀ needed.฀
The฀ Board฀ has฀ delegated฀ various฀ responsibilities฀ and฀
authority฀ to฀ different฀ Board฀ committees฀ as฀ generally฀
described฀ below.฀ Committees฀ regularly฀ report฀ on฀ their฀
activities฀and฀actions฀to฀the฀full฀Board.
Board Committees
The฀ Board฀ currently฀ has฀ Audit,฀ Executive฀ Finance,฀
Compensation,฀and฀Independent฀Governance฀Committees,฀
as฀well฀as฀an฀Advisory฀Board.
Audit฀ Committee.฀ The฀ Audit฀ Committee฀ assists฀
the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ in฀ fulfilling฀ its฀ oversight฀฀
responsibilities฀ as฀ to฀ financial฀ reporting฀ and฀ audit฀
functions฀ and฀ risk฀ management.฀ The฀ Audit฀ Committee฀
monitors฀ the฀ financial฀ information฀ that฀ is฀ provided฀
to฀ stockholders฀ and฀ others,฀ the฀ independence฀ and฀
performance฀of฀the฀Company’s฀independent฀auditors฀and฀
internal฀ audit฀ department฀ and฀ the฀ systems฀ of฀ internal฀
control฀established฀by฀management฀and฀the฀Board.
The฀ members฀ of฀ the฀ Audit฀ Committee฀ of฀ the฀ Board,฀
Charles฀ J.฀ Bayer,฀ John฀ M.฀ Dodds฀ and฀ John฀ P.฀ Brogan,฀
each฀ qualify฀ as฀ “independent”฀ under฀ special฀ standards฀
developed฀ by฀ the฀ Securities฀ and฀ Exchange฀ Commission฀
(SEC)฀and฀NASDAQ฀for฀members฀of฀audit฀committees,฀
and฀ the฀ Audit฀Committee฀ includes฀ at฀least฀one฀member฀
who฀is฀determined฀by฀the฀Board฀to฀meet฀the฀qualifications฀
of฀ an฀ “audit฀ committee฀ financial฀ expert.”฀ Mr.฀ John฀
P.฀ Brogan฀ is฀ the฀ independent฀ director฀ who฀ has฀ been฀
determined฀ to฀ be฀ an฀ audit฀ committee฀ financial฀ expert.฀
Stockholders฀ should฀ understand฀ that฀ this฀ designation฀
is฀ a฀ disclosure฀ requirement฀ of฀ the฀ SEC฀ related฀ to฀ Mr.฀
Brogan’s฀ experience฀ and฀ understanding฀ with฀ respect฀ to฀
certain฀accounting฀and฀auditing฀matters.฀The฀designation฀
does฀not฀impose฀on฀Mr.฀Brogan฀any฀duties,฀obligations฀or฀
liability฀ that฀ are฀ greater฀ than฀ are฀ generally฀ imposed฀ on฀
him฀as฀a฀member฀of฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀and฀the฀Board฀
of฀Directors,฀and฀his฀ designation฀as฀an฀audit฀committee฀
financial฀ expert฀ pursuant฀ to฀ this฀ SEC฀ requirement฀ does฀
not฀affect฀the฀duties,฀obligations฀or฀liability฀of฀any฀other฀
member฀of฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀or฀Board฀of฀Directors.
Executive฀ Finance฀ Committee.฀ The฀ Executive฀ Finance฀
Committee฀ is฀ authorized฀ to฀ act฀ on฀ behalf฀ of฀ the฀ Board฀
of฀ Directors฀ in฀ approving฀ any฀ transaction฀ involving฀ the฀
finances฀ of฀ the฀ Company.฀ It฀ has฀ the฀ authority฀ to฀ give฀
final฀approval฀for฀the฀borrowing฀of฀funds฀on฀behalf฀of฀the฀
Company฀without฀further฀action฀or฀approval฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀
Directors.฀The฀Executive฀Finance฀Committee฀is฀composed฀
of฀Edward฀J.฀Shoen,฀John฀P.฀Brogan฀and฀Charles฀J.฀Bayer.
Compensation฀Committee.฀The฀Compensation฀Committee฀
reviews฀ the฀ Company’s฀ executive฀ compensation฀ plans฀
and฀policies,฀including฀benefits฀and฀incentives,฀to฀ensure฀
that฀they฀are฀consistent฀with฀the฀goals฀and฀objectives฀of฀
the฀ Company.฀ It฀ reviews฀ and฀ makes฀ recommendations฀
to฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ regarding฀ management฀
recommendations฀for฀changes฀in฀executive฀compensation.฀
The฀Compensation฀Committee฀also฀monitors฀management฀
plans฀ and฀ programs฀ for฀ the฀ retention,฀ motivation฀ and฀
development฀ of฀ senior฀ management.฀ The฀ Compensation฀
Committee฀is฀composed฀of฀John฀P.฀Brogan฀and฀John฀M.฀
Dodds,฀independent฀directors฀of฀the฀Company.
Independent฀ Governance฀ Committee.฀ The฀ Independent฀
Governance฀Committee฀is฀chaired฀by฀John฀P.฀Brogan,฀an฀
independent฀ member฀ of฀ the฀ board.฀ Thomas฀ W.฀ Hayes,฀
the฀ former฀ State฀ Treasurer฀ of฀ California,฀ and฀ Paul฀ A.฀
Bible,฀ a฀ partner฀ in฀ the฀ Reno-based฀ law฀ firm฀ of฀ Bible,฀
Hoy฀ &฀ Trachok,฀ are฀ also฀ members฀ of฀ this฀ committee.฀
Neither฀ Mr.฀ Hayes฀ nor฀ Mr.฀ Bible฀ are฀ members฀ of฀
the฀ Company’s฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors.฀ The฀ Independent฀
Governance฀ Committee฀ evaluates฀ specific฀ corporate฀
governance฀ principles฀ and฀ standards฀ and฀ proposes฀ to฀
the฀ Board฀ any฀ modifications฀ deemed฀ appropriate.฀ In฀
addition,฀this฀committee฀may฀review฀potential฀candidates฀
for฀Board฀membership.฀The฀committee฀may฀review฀other฀
matters฀ as฀ referred฀ to฀ it฀ by฀ the฀ Board.฀ The฀ committee฀
has฀ the฀ authority฀ to฀ and฀ a฀ budget฀ from฀ which฀ to฀ retain฀
professionals.฀ The฀ committee฀ membership฀ term฀ is฀ one฀
year฀ and฀ each฀ member฀ is฀ determined฀ by฀ the฀ Board฀ to฀
be฀ free฀ of฀ any฀ relationship฀ that฀ would฀ interfere฀ with฀
his฀ exercise฀ of฀ independent฀ judgment฀ as฀ member฀ of฀฀
this฀committee.
Advisory฀ Board฀ Members.฀ In฀ addition฀ to฀ the฀ four฀
committees฀ described฀ above,฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀
authorized฀ up฀ to฀ two฀ (2)฀ Advisory฀ Board฀ Members.฀
On฀ June฀ 4,฀ 2003,฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ appointed฀
Michael฀ L.฀ Gallagher฀ as฀ a฀ member฀ of฀ the฀ Advisory฀
Board.฀Mr.฀Gallagher฀is฀a฀senior฀partner฀in฀the฀law฀firm฀
Gallagher฀&฀Kennedy.฀Mr.฀Gallagher฀is฀also฀a฀director฀of฀
Pinnacle฀West฀Capital฀Corporation,฀Action฀Performance฀
Companies,฀Inc.฀and฀the฀Omaha฀World฀Herald฀Company.฀
On฀June฀9,฀2004,฀the฀Board฀appointed฀Daniel฀R.฀Mullen฀
as฀ a฀ second฀ Advisory฀ Board฀ Member.฀ On฀ February฀ 23,฀
2005,฀Mr.฀Mullen฀left฀the฀Advisory฀Board฀and฀became฀a฀
member฀of฀the฀AMERCO฀Board฀of฀Directors.
Recent Developments
Preferred Stock Dividends
On฀ May฀ 4,฀ 2005,฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ of฀ AMERCO฀
declared฀ a฀ regular฀ quarterly฀ cash฀ dividend฀ of฀ $0.53125฀
per฀share฀on฀the฀Company’s฀Series฀A฀8฀1/2฀%฀Preferred฀
Stock.฀The฀dividend฀was฀paid฀on฀June฀1,฀2005฀to฀holders฀
of฀record฀on฀May฀15,฀2005.