At its annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, Sceptre Investment Counsel announced a series of changes aimed at enhancing its corporate governance. The company also announced changes to its senior management.

Douglas Grant will step down as chairman of the company. He will remain a member of the board of directors. Grant is one of the founding partners of Sceptre.

Ross Walker was appointed chairman. Walker, who has been an independent director of Sceptre since 1997, is the former chairman and chief executive of KPMG Canada.

The company also announced its intention to seek shareholder approval to change all share classes to rank equally in all areas, including voting rights. Currently, Sceptre has a dual-class share structure.

Grant noted that both of these initiatives are in response to Sceptre’s desire to promote best practices in corporate governance.

CEO William Malouin announced his intention to retire this year. Richard Knowles, who was previously the president and COO, has been appointed the new CEO.

The company also announced its board of directors has approved its intention to apply to regulatory authorities for permission to purchase up to 10% of its public share float over the next 12 months by way of a Normal Course Issuer Bid. As at May 7, there were 13,556,930 Class A Non-Voting Shares issued and outstanding.

Sceptre expects to purchase its Class-A Non-Voting Shares at certain times over the course of the year when it believes the share price is attractive and that the purchase of shares would be an appropriate use of corporate funds.