The Cristiano Ronaldo of the bankers, as it is called Andrea Orcel in international finance circles, has not yet taken office e in the shareholder structure there are already those who turn up their noses for the 7.5 billion euro check than at the end of the year UniCredit will detach to the successor of Jean Pierre Mustier, a Roman banker but of training and international passport called a revive the bank after a strategy very focused in the last five years on capital strengthening and disappointing on the growth side. Strategy in which the only one Sifi Italian company has also strongly reduced the corporate perimeter and which has had strong repercussions on the stock market.
In view of the annual budget meeting on April 15, in which the shareholders will also have to appoint the new board of directors headed by Orcel-Padoan, the influential proxy advisor Glass Lewis e Iss, voices that have been listened to by the large institutional funds (massively present in the capital of the public company UniCredit) and who fill in their report to orient asset manager, pension funds and mutual funds, in the management of the shareholders’ vote, they invited investors to reject the bank’s remuneration policy.
The reason? Protest against the potential total remuneration of 7.5 million euros for the new CEO, who also has a millionaire litigation (110 million legal case) opened with the Spanish giant Santander. A package defined as “problematic” by ISS and which, according to Reuters, who viewed a copy of the report, “raises significant concerns”.
What’s wrong with the watched proxy advisor? Also accusing the bank in Piazza Gae Aulenti of lack of transparency, Glass Lewis he recalled that in the documents presented in view of the shareholders’ meeting, UniCredit explained that “to align the interests of the Ceo with those of the shareholders, the Board of Directors approved a share premium which amounts to the entire remuneration for 2021 payable in two tranche and without any conditions“. Therefore, since Orcel will perceive a fixed of 2.5 million euros to which it will be added a share premium equal to 200% of the same amount (7.5 million euros), Glass Lewis says he is “worried about the structure of the remuneration of the new manager, who includes a share premium not commensurate with the performance“. In short, they don’t like that fully guaranteed bonus for 2021. Without connection with the result: 7.5 million euros just for agreeing to take the office in Gae Aulenti.
It’s okay that the mega check that will be detached for Orcel is the second largest in all of Europe of those shot in the last three years by the large continental banks to remunerate their company heads and that the comparison with the “Franciscan” predecessor Mustier (entrance fee reduced by 40% to 1.2 million in 2016 and 2.6 million bonus filed at the UniCredit Foundation in the black year of Covid for social purpose projects) certainly does not help the former banker of Merrill Lynch and of Ubs, but, as explained yesterday Affaritaliani.it, the challenge that awaits Orcel is really demanding.
So much so that it is among the small savers retail who have UniCredit securities in their portfolio both among large shareholders such as the former Italian banking foundations, there are great expectations regarding the entry and action of the new helmsman by UniCredit. Top-manager specialized inM&A bank that in addition to filling dividends (compared to what has been done in recent years by direct competitor) the pockets of the members, is also called to revive the fortunes of the title which has almost halved in the last five years (against a decrease of about 17% in the same period Ftse Italia Banks).
(Continued: the entry of Allianz and the German expectations on UniCredit stock)