The theme ofasset management, the engine of everything that revolves around theUnicredit Ops on Banco Bpm, is also at the centre of a game that is played in another part of the city of Milan: the Haid tower in Citylife in Generali where the possible is coming into focus understanding with Natixis Investment Managers.
After the rumors of the Financial Times di a few days ago, now some details are added about the perimeter involved in the negotiation: on one side Generali Investments Holding with a portfolio at the end of June of 650 billion, on the other hand a fraction of the assets managed by Natixis of approximately 1,27 trillion euros, so as to be able to balance the weights. In the meantime, we are starting to think on who will lead the new platform: for the moment it seems that the Italian side will have a greater say and the most accredited candidate is Woody Bradford, current CEO of Conning
According to the Sun 24 Hours nothing has reached the board of directors, but in the meantime the talks continue by putting all the pieces on the table. Everything would revolve around the birth of a new platform whose strategic management (and ownership of the assets under its jurisdiction) would remain in the hands of the Lion of Trieste, while at the level of shareholdings Generali Investment Holding would have 50% (in transparency, given the structure of Gih, it would mean approximately 42% in Trieste and the remaining 8% in Cathay Life) and the French giant the other 50%, the newspaper reports.
The difficult balancing of assets to be brought
The central point of the agreement is evidently the portfolio composition of the new platform. Generali boasts total assets of 840 billion euros, according to the most recent data, while 1.300 billion dollars (approximately 1.200 billion euros) is the dowry of Natixis.
However, it seems that not all of Generali's portfolio would be transferred to the new entity. In fact, the activities that Trieste would "move" would be those held in Generali Investment Holding, which can count on a total portfolio of 650 billion euros. In this way, however, the disproportion between two potential partners, with the clear prevalence of the French contribution over the Italian one. solution could be colourful: on the one hand Natixis could reduce her dowry, on the other hand, considering the different marginality of the two portfolios, one could think of a increase from Leo.
The Lion of Trieste could add another 15 billion
On this last front, in particular, the possibility of Leo putting another 15 billion on the table of new production, although it remains to be seen for how long. This move should allow Generali Investment Holding to bring their participation to the new platform to 50% (42% directly in charge of Trieste if you look at the data in transparency considering the 16,75% held by Cathay Life in Gih).
In pole position at the helm is Woody Bradford, current CEO of Conning
The last piece, far from marginal, will be the governance of the platform for the next few years. According to the reconstruction of the newspaper, the one pulling the strings of the agreement, at least at the beginning, would be Generali. The first hypotheses spoke of the appointment of the CEO by the Lion for three or five years. The candidate in pole position could be Woody Bradford, current CEO of Conning. A manager therefore of Italian expression but certainly not of the Trieste tradition.
