Like most large annual meetings, it's likely to be a fairly sedate affair, attended mostly by superannuitants and those with nothing more important to do at 10am, with less than three weeks until Christmas.
But there is also a possibility this year's meeting of our largest private health insurer could prove more memorable than most, with crucial issues up for debate which will potentially affect the lives of more than 800,000 New Zealanders.
As it happens, this year is the 50th anniversary of the founding of Southern Cross. And on the face of it, the "friendly society" appears to be facing middle age in pretty good shape.
In the year to June, its members handed over more than $662 million in premiums, and claimed back just $577 million in health-care costs, allowing the society to declare a surplus of just over $28 million, after absorbing other expenses.
A surplus is necessary to ensure the society maintains sufficiently large reserves to smooth the bad years, and to provide a buffer in case of any unusual circumstances. In 2009 and 2010, those reserves proved their worth.
Higher than expected costs led to a deficit two years in a row, prompting the board to dip into the reserves to help keep premiums down. But some members grumble premiums are still too high, particularly for older members, and are questioning whether the board is being as prudent as it claims.
At next week's meeting, high-profile Auckland accountant Bruce Sheppard intends to force the issue, after succeeding in placing several items on the agenda that question fundamental management strategies.
Mr Sheppard believes the board spends too much on marketing and that there are signs of "gold plating" with its new head office at Britomart. He is also keen for the board to re-examine ways of reducing premiums for long-term members and to rethink its affiliated provider programme, which strikes fixed-price deals with preferred service providers.
Auckland real estate agent Michael Pinkney is also keen for the board to investigate a major restructuring. Some believe this could lead to the organisation becoming a takeover target.
And another disgruntled member, Kerikeri businessman Robert Sintes, is determined to protest what he claims is the board's blatant disregard for democratic principles in its governance.
As if that is not enough, rising health care costs, an ageing population, and a trend for members to downgrade to much cheaper policies mean there are questions over the organisation's long-term future. And hovering in the background is Australia's largest health insurer, Medibank, which has made it all too clear that it wouldn't mind being a part of the answer.
For that to happen, Southern Cross would almost certainly have to demutualise, in other words, transform from a co-operative owned by its members to a registered company.
Many members seem to be under the misapprehension that if that were to happen, they would receive a generous windfall. But in fact, if the society were dissolved tomorrow, its hundreds of millions of dollars worth of reserves would be distributed to various trusts and charities.
"Someone has stumbled across the fact that the reserves don't belong to members and raised the question whether they should," explains chairman Graeme Hawkins.
It is not demutualisation itself that will be discussed at next week's meeting, he insists. However, the ownership of its assets does need to be resolved, so the board is open to investigating the matter.
Fittingly, from his soon-to-be-vacated office in the AMP Centre in Auckland's CBD, Mr Hawkins looks down on Southern Cross' next biggest rival, Tower.
There are more than 10 players in health insurance in New Zealand, but the industry is dominated by Southern Cross, Tower, Sovereign and UniMed.
With about 61% of the market, Southern Cross is the leader by far and remains fiercely proud of its not-for-profit status. That status, says Mr Hawkins, allows it to be more generous than its fully commercial rivals, and enabled it to fund 70% of all health claims paid out by the industry in the past year.
In fact, Southern Cross has recently increased its market share, after a torrid period in the 80s where its members left in droves, spurred by higher premiums, a government decision to slap fringe benefit tax on employer contributions, and new rivals luring members away.
At its peak, more than 1.1 million New Zealanders belonged to the scheme, but these days membership has stabilised at about 835,000, or so the society hopes. After steady increases last decade, numbers have dropped in the past couple of years. And many existing members have downgraded to surgical-only policies. Last year 25,000 members decided to downgrade and this year another 27,000 joined them.
Before he joined the board three years ago, Mr Hawkins spent several decades in the commercial sector, including senior management roles at Fletcher Challenge and Dominion Breweries. He has sat on the board of Fonterra, was chairman of Auckland Healthcare (now the Auckland District Health Board), and remains a director of Ports of Auckland and Cavalier Corporation.
"From my point of view, the last couple of years have been the toughest I've ever seen in New Zealand business, quite frankly," he says.
Health insurers are coming under increasing pressure to fund more and more services. Three years ago, for example, Southern Cross agreed to provide radiation oncology as a private option, a service that was previously only available in the public sector.
"Last year that cost us $8 million from something that didn't exist and wasn't a burden on us two years ago. We have that debate every year about adding benefits."
One way he believes costs could be contained is through far more co-operation with the public system. As for Bruce Sheppard's hints that the society could indeed be a little overweight, and could do with a bit more exercise, Mr Hawkins concedes there is still some work to do in but he has been impressed at the society's overall efficiency.
