Today Cattolica Assicurazioni, the third Italian insurance company by capitalization but first by stock market performance in 2018 with an increase of 17,6%, raises the curtain on its 2018-2020 industrial plan, the first since the new To Alberto Minali and the first since the main shareholder became the legendary Warren Buffet, the oracle of Omaha, considered the greatest value investor ever.
There is no doubt that these two innovations have given the stock an appeal on the Stock Exchange and have increased expectations for the presentation of the new plan which takes place this morning at Palazzo Mezzanotte, the headquarters of the Milan Stock Exchange in Piazza Affari. But the expectations also affect the heart of the plan and first of all the process of change and digitization that the company is facing and will have to face more and more.
In recent months Minali has negotiated a new distribution agreement with Banco Bpm and the plan will have to demonstrate how to exploit all the potential that the bancassurance agreement brings with it and which, according to Minali, can significantly increase the group's policies and revenues.
But the financial community will also want to understand whether or not the Venetian company is destined to change its governance and corporate form. Buffett's arrival had made us imagine that Cattolica Assicurazioni would, sooner or later, be directed towards the transition from the cooperative form to the spa, but convincing the shareholders to such a strong transition is not easy and it is not for today, even if it remains in the background beyond any facade denial.
On the other hand, the change of governance is more current and immediate with the transition to a classic one-tier model, centered on the board of directors which would give more speed and more transparency to Cattolica's decision-making process. On all of this and, above all, on the new targets, today Minali will reveal the cards and will lead the way to the long series of new industrial plans that are on the launch pad and that tomorrow will concern Leonardo and then, gradually, Intesa Sanpaolo and Poste Italians, Tim and Terna.
