The passage of the baton from the leadership of Mario Greco to the new course marked by the Donnet-Minali ticket, "a winning combination of leaders - in the words of the chairman Gabriele Galateri di Genola - who I trust will successfully lead the group in implementing a challenging and competitive context, confirming and consolidating the industrial plan already approved with a further boost to growth and results Generals".
For the French manager with a past in Axa but the last three years spent at Generali Italia and now at the helm of the Leone for just over a month (since 17 March), it was an opportunity to outline the challenges directly and clearly to face but also the strengths on which the Trieste-based company can leverage. 2015% of the share capital was present at the meeting, with the 46,8 financial statements and the appointment of the board of directors on the agenda, of which around 19,87% were foreign investors (20,97% last year). Notable shareholders with stakes above 2% included Blackrock with 2,823% and the People's Bank of China with 2,005%. “As you can see, a nice international parterre” commented the president Galateri. The shares of the major Italian shareholders are already known: Mediobanca (13,212%), Delfin of the Del Vecchio group (3,163%), Caltagirone group (3,002%).
The Generali shareholders' meeting has appointed the new board of directors made up of 13 members, two of whom are elected by minorities. In the vote on the composition of the board, the Mediobanca list obtained 67,41% of the votes, against 32,15% for that of Assogestioni, thus intercepting the vote of 5% of foreign shareholders.
SO CAN THE LION ROAR
The group's strategy will have to be implemented in a complex macro-economic and financial scenario that is becoming even more complicated: the economy remains weak, the financial market is volatile with interest rates at historic lows and yields on 224-year Italian BTPs down to 2015 points based on up to 45 (-80%, the yield of the German Bund fell by 2000%), the regulations are becoming more stringent. "But this applies to the whole sector and shouldn't make us fear because we have several important strengths to leverage on", said Donnet who at the beginning of his speech wanted to recall that he found himself a director in a company predominantly life in Japan in the mid-XNUMXs, in an economic scenario with inflation and very low yields. “This experience – said Donnet – that few Western managers have seems to me particularly useful for dealing with the macroeconomic and financial scenario we are living in Europe today”.
Donnet, in the pragmatic manner that characterizes the manager, thus wanted to put one after the other the strengths on which to leverage, including the brand recognized throughout the world, European roots with a widespread presence in the world and the on the core business. But also the effort towards an innovative business model, both in terms of tools (50% of agencies have a Facebook page and 3000 tablets are arriving on the Alleanza network) and in projects (from the black box to the acquisition of the British start-up My Drive , from initiatives in home automation to Vitaly, the program that rewards customers who improve their lifestyle). For Donnet, the path to follow is articulated around two key points: greater technical and managerial discipline to achieve operational excellence, which means always doing better, even than others, in the profession of insurer with ever lower costs; a greater capacity for innovation, concentrating investments, multiplying the impact and accelerating the transformation. “We will transform Generali – he concluded – into a simpler, more connected group, focused on the needs of customers and agents, with an innovative organization, which will be to the benefit of shareholders”.
TITLE UNDER REVIEW
In terms of shareholder satisfaction, the general manager Alberto Minali confirmed that the objective is "to be able to distribute a significant amount of dividends over the next few years". Then on the table is the challenge of the stock's performance which continues to generate dissatisfaction. "We are not happy with our stock market performance, this market fails to value Generali as we think they deserve", observed Minali, underlining how the group underperformed in 2015 compared to other competitors. The management has finally distanced itself from the hot dossiers. “Our choice is not to go to tax havens, but sometimes there is business there too. However, we do not derive any tax advantage from it. Everything is taxed in Italy”, said Minali, recalling that the presence in offshore centers was drastically reduced during 2015 also due to the sale of the Swiss BSI which has various “joints in those countries”. Furthermore, in reply to a shareholder, he pointed out that "the Mossack Fonseca studio is not among the suppliers of Generali and there is no invoice to him".
