By Tom Sims and Valentina Za
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Allianz extended Chief Executive Oliver Baete's contract until 2028 on Monday, as the German insurer lost its finance chief Giulio Terzariol to Italian rival Generali (BIT:GASI).
The decision by Allianz (ETR:ALVG)'s supervisory board to renew Baete's contract ends uncertainty over his future as the German group recovers from a U.S. fund scandal.
At Generali, the arrival of a prominent Allianz executive in a top role is seen as a coup for Italy's biggest insurer, which also faces uncertainty due to shareholder conflicts at its single biggest investor Mediobanca.
Generali said Terzariol would start in January as head of a newly created insurance division reporting to CEO Philippe Donnet.
He will be replaced as CFO at Allianz by French national Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre, who has been with the German insurer since 2011.
Allianz was hit by a $6 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over the 2020 collapse of a group of investment funds. That lead to some speculation about Baete's future at the group although some investors praised his quick resolution of the funds scandal and he led the group to record revenue and operating profit in 2022.
"I thank the Supervisory Board for their confidence and support," Baete, CEO since 2015, said in a statement on his reappointment.
TOP NAME
With Terzariol's arrival, Generali secures a top name in the sector at a time when the insurer's biggest shareholder Mediobanca, which was a key supporter of Donnet last year when he won a new three-year term, faces pressure.
Two leading investors who last year sought to derail Donnet's reappointment after criticising his growth strategy as insufficiently ambitious, are now pushing for a board shake-up at Mediobanca.
Donnet, CEO since 2016, has worked to grow Generali's asset management business, clinching a long-awaited acquisition in July when it bought Connecticut-based Conning Holdings, adding $157 billion in assets under management.
Terziarol, who hails from the northeast of Italy where Generali is headquartered, started his career at Generali in Munich in 1995, before joining Allianz in 1998 to become finance chief 20 years later.
As CEO Insurance at Generali, Terzariol will lead units such as Italy, France or the DACH area comprising Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Carlo Trabattoni will continue to lead Generali's asset and wealth management business, which has come to account for around a fifth of the group's net profit.