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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): June 14, 2022

 

Midwest Holding Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

delaware   001-39812   20-0362426
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)
  (Commission File Number)   (IRS Employer Identification No.)

 

2900 South 70th Street, Suite 400

Lincoln, Nebraska 68506

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

 

(402) 489-8266

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

 

  Not Applicable  
  (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)  

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

¨Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
  

¨Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
  

¨Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2 (b))
  

¨Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4 (c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered
Voting Common Stock, $0.001 par value MDWT NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company ¨

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

 

 

 

 

 

 

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

 

See Item 5.07 for information regarding the election of directors at the June 14, 2022 Annual Meeting (as defined below) of stockholders of Midwest Holding, Inc. (the “Company”).

 

In connection with the Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) made its annual equity award to each of the outside, non-employee directors of 2,674 restricted stock units (“RSUs”) which equated to a value of $30,000 based on the average price of the Company’s voting common stock on June 14, 2022 of $11.22 per share. Each RSU vests on the earlier of the first anniversary of its date of grant and the date of the next annual meeting of stockholders, subject to the terms of the RSU agreement and the Issuer's Long-Term Incentive Plan. Upon vesting, each RSU will convert to one share of voting common stock of the Company.

 

Under the Company’s Outside Director Compensation Policy (a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1) for the current annual term ending as of the date of the 2023 stockholder annual meeting, the compensation for the non-employee members of the Board is as follows:

 

·An annual retainer of $30,000;

 

·An additional $30,000 fee to the independent Board Chair;

 

·For every committee other than the Audit Committee, each member (other than the Chair) shall receive an additional $2,000 annually and the Chair shall instead receive an additional $4,000 per annum;

 

·Each member (other than the Chair) of the Audit Committee shall receive an additional $3,000 annually and the Chair shall instead receive an additional $6,000 per annum; and

 

·RSUs with a value of $30,000 as of the date of grant, or equivalent equity ownership, with up to one-year cliff vesting.

 

The description of the Outside Director Compensation Policy is qualified in its entirety by reference to the copy thereof filed as Exhibit 10.1 to this Form 8-K, which is incorporated by reference.

 

Item 5.07 – Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.

 

The Company’s annual meeting of stockholders was held on June 14, 2022 (the “Annual Meeting”) at which the Company’s stockholders voted on the proposals indicated below. Record holders of voting common stock at the close of business on April 20, 2022 (the “Record Date”) were entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. On the Record Date, there were 3,737,564 shares of voting common stock outstanding and entitled to vote. In total, 2,479,740 shares of Company voting common stock were represented at the Annual Meeting, which represented approximately 66.3% of the shares outstanding and entitled to vote as of the Record Date. These proposals were described in detail in the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting (the “Proxy Statement”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 5, 2022.

 

Election of Directors:

 

The first proposal was the election to the Board of three directors named in the Proxy Statement. John Hompe was re-elected as a Class I Director and Yadin Rozov and Kevin Sheehan were also elected as Class I Directors. The votes for these elected directors were as follows:

 

Nominee  Number of
Votes For
   Withheld/Abstain   Broker Non-
Votes
 
John Hompe – Class I Director   1,573,611    367,283    538,846 
Yadin Rozov – Class I Director   1,901,169    39,725    538,846 
Kevin Sheehan – Class I Director   1,751,597    189,297    538,846 

 

The Company’s continuing directors after the Annual Meeting include Georgette Nicholas, Michael Minnich, Douglas Bratton, Nancy Callahan, Diane Davis and Firman Leung.

 

Amendment to the Midwest Holding Inc. 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plan

 

The second proposal was a vote to amend the Midwest Holding Inc. 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plan, primarily to add 150,000 shares of voting common stock issuable under the plan, which was approved by our stockholders. The votes on the proposal were:

 

For   Against   Abstain   Broker Non-Votes 
 1,502,953    431,311    6,630    538,846 

 

 

 

 

Non-Binding Vote to Approve the Frequency of the Advisory Vote on the Compensation of the Company’s Named Executive Officers

 

The third proposal was a non-binding vote to approve the frequency of the advisory vote on the compensation of the Company’s named executive officers, which was approved by our stockholders. The votes on the proposal were:

 

1 Year   2 Years   3 Years   Abstain   Broker Non-Votes 
 1,492,473    3,187    31,447    413,787    538,846 

 

Consistent with a majority of votes cast with respect to this proposal and with the recommendation of the Board, the Company will hold a stockholder advisory vote on executive compensation annually until the next required vote on the frequency of stockholder votes on executive compensation.

 

Ratification of the Appointment of Mazars US LLP as the Company’s Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm for the 2022 Fiscal Year

 

The fourth proposal was a vote to ratify the appointment of Mazars US LLP as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for 2022, which was approved by our stockholders. The votes on the proposal were:

 

For   Against   Abstain   Broker Non-Votes 
 2,450,387    28,881    472    -- 

 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d) Exhibits.

 

The following exhibits are included with this Current Report on Form 8-K:

 

Exhibit No.   Description
10.1      Outside Director Compensation Policy of Midwest Holding Inc.
104     Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document).

 

 

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

Dated: June 21, 2022

 

  MIDWEST HOLDING INC.
   
  By: /s/ Georgette Nicholas
  Name: Georgette Nicholas
  Title: Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

Exhibit 10.1

 

Midwest Holding Inc.

Outside Director Compensation Policy

 

Each member of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Midwest Holding Inc. (the “Company”) who is an outside director of the Company (each such director, an “Outside Director”) will receive the compensation described in this Outside Director Compensation Policy (the “Director Compensation Policy”) for his or her Board service.

 

Cash Compensation

 

Commencing with annual periods beginning on or after December 16, 2020, the date the Securities and Exchange Commission declared the Company’s registration statement effective in connection with a public offering, each Outside Director will receive the cash compensation set forth below for service on the Board. The annual cash compensation amounts will be payable in a lump sum in advance no later than the annual board meeting (generally held in June of each year). All annual cash fees are vested upon payment.

 

1.Annual Board Service Retainer:

 

All Outside Directors: $30,000

 

2.Annual Service Retainer for Independent Board Chair: $30,000

 

3.Annual Committee Member Service Retainer:

 

a.    Member of the Audit Committee: $3,000

b.    Member of the Compensation Committee: $2,000

c.    Member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee: $2,000

 

4.Annual Committee Chair Service Retainer (in lieu of Committee Member Service Retainer):

 

a.    Chair of the Audit Committee: $6,000

b.    Chair of the Compensation Committee: $4,000

c.    Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee: $4,000

 

Equity Compensation

 

Equity awards consisting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”) will be granted under either the Company’s 2019 or 2020 Long-Term Incentive Plans (the “Plan”), or any future successor equity incentive plan, as designated by the Compensation Committee.

 

(a)   Automatic Equity Grants.

 

i.                    Annual Grant. Without any further action of the Board or Compensation Committee of the Board, at the close of business on the date of each annual meeting of the Company’s stockholders (the “Annual Meeting Date”), each person who is then an Outside Director will automatically receive an RSU grant with an aggregate value of $30,000.

 

 

 

 

ii.                    Initial Grant for New Directors. Without any further action of the Board or Compensation Committee of the Board, each person who is elected or appointed for the first time to be an Outside Director will automatically, upon the date of his or her initial election or appointment to be an Outside Director (the “Commencement Date”), receive an RSU grant with an aggregate value of $30,000, each multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days between the Commencement Date and the then-scheduled next Annual Meeting Date (or, if such Annual Meeting Date has not yet been scheduled, the first anniversary of the immediately preceding Annual Meeting Date or such other date as is determined by the Board in its sole discretion), and the denominator of which is 365.

 

iii.                  RSU Value. The number of shares subject to RSUs granted under the Director Compensation Policy shall be equal to the dollar value set forth above divided by the Fair Market Value (as defined in the Plan) of the Company’s voting common stock, rounded down to the nearest share.

 

(b) Vesting; Change in Control.  Each RSU granted pursuant to the Director Compensation Policy will vest on the earlier of the first anniversary of its date of grant and the next Annual Meeting Date. All vesting is subject to the Outside Director’s continued service (as set forth in the Plan) through the applicable vesting date. Notwithstanding the foregoing vesting schedule, for each Outside Director who remains in continuous service with the Company until immediately prior to the closing of a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan), his or her then-outstanding RSUs will become fully vested immediately prior to the closing of such Change in Control in which their service is terminated.

 

(c) Remaining Terms. The remaining terms and conditions of each RSU, including transferability, will be as set forth in the Company’s standard RSU agreement, respectively, in the applicable form adopted from time to time by the Board or the Compensation Committee of the Board.

 

Expenses

 

The Company will reimburse each Outside Director for ordinary, necessary and reasonable out-of-pocket travel expenses to cover in-person attendance at and participation in Board meetings and meetings of any committee of the Board; provided, that the Outside Director timely submit to the Company appropriate documentation substantiating such expenses in accordance with the Company’s travel and expense policy, as in effect from time to time. To the extent that any taxable reimbursements are provided to any Outside Director, they will be provided in accordance with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, including, but not limited to, the following provisions: (i) the amount of any such expenses eligible for reimbursement during such individual’s taxable year may not affect the expenses eligible for reimbursement in any other taxable year; (ii) the reimbursement of an eligible expense must be made no later than the last day of such individual’s taxable year that immediately follows the taxable year in which the expense was incurred; and (iii) the right to any reimbursement may not be subject to liquidation or exchange for another benefit.

 

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Administration

 

The Board, or any committee to whom the Board delegates the requisite authority, will administer the Policy. The Board (or such committee) will have the sole discretion and authority to administer, interpret, amend and terminate the Policy, and the decisions of the Board (or such committee) will be final and binding on all persons having an interest in the Policy.

 

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