New governance appointment for Generali today, the second this week, while the countdown continues for the presentation of the strategic review, scheduled for 14 January in London. Regardless of the most Milanese of holidays, Sant'Ambrogio, the group's executive committee will meet in the morning in the headquarters of the Lombard capital in Piazza Cordusio. A meeting of the board of directors was held on Tuesday with the Group Management Committee, the committee formed by the main executives of the Lion including the heads of the three major markets of the company, to provide the directors with a global vision of the insurance business, a necessary background for the strategic review that the CEO Mario Greco has been working on for some time. On the table of the executive committee - according to Radiocor - the first assessments on the 2013 budget will arrive in view of the board meeting on 14 December and in this context there will also be the preliminary considerations on the reorganization of the insurance group in Italy. In Italy, Generali is present with several brands and companies, with duplication of operating functions, as analysts have often pointed out. With 2012 now winding down, the last executive meeting for this year will also provide an opportunity for an update on the evolution of the exercise which is about to end.
Furthermore, updates on the sales processes of BSI and US reinsurance activities, recently launched and on strategies abroad, particularly in Eastern Europe, cannot be excluded. As Greco has indicated on several occasions, the plan hinges on the focus on the core insurance business, with the disposal of non-strategic activities and looks to development in emerging countries. Among the areas under consideration in the strategic reflection underway is Eastern Europe, where Generali is allied with Petr Kellner's PPF group. The joint venture is giving satisfaction in terms of funding and profits, but - according to financial sources - Greco would like Trieste to have a greater grip on the management level of the group based in Prague and would also like to 'stabilize' the value of the put option in maturing in 2014 held by partner Petr Kellner relating to his 49% in the joint venture, value estimated in the range between 2,5 and 3 billion euros.
