Generali investor Norges to vote in favour of CEO Donnet at AGM

MILAN (Reuters) -Norges Bank Investment Management, one of the main institutional investors in Generali, backs the reappointment of CEO Philippe Donnet, a proxy voting record on the website of the company running Norway’s sovereign wealth fund showed.

Shareholders in Italy’s biggest insurer vote next Friday to name a new board and settle a shareholder fight that has seen Donnet’s candidacy challenged by a group of leading Italian investors.

Norges Bank Investment Management holds 1.39% of Generali, according to its website.

In backing the Generali board’s choice to keep Donnet at the helm, Norges is following the voting recommendation of leading international governance advisers Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis.

Smaller fund shareholders CalPERS, SBA Florida and CPP Investments have also said in proxy voting records they will back the outgoing board’s slate of nominees.

The rebel investors, led by construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, have put forward as CEO candidate Luciano Cirina, Generali’s former head of Austria and central and eastern European countries.

Donnet on Thursday told Reuters he was confident of delivering results pledged under the strategy through 2024 he presented in December.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Maria Pia Quaglia and Keith Weir)