Activist investor CIAM has welcomed SCOR’s decision to postpone its annual general meeting (AGM), but has repeated its criticisms of the reinsurer’s executive pay levels, while also reiterating its call for a clear succession plan.
In a letter to shareholders last week, CIAM CEO Catherine Berjal accused SCOR of ignoring the market practice of postponing shareholder meetings due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Instead, the company noted that SCOR had moved its AGM forward to be just within the limits of French corporate law.
It argued this timeline “significantly reduces the time available for shareholders to review the materials published or to engage with the Company in these testing times.”
SCOR responded by pushing the AGM back from April 17th to June 30th, but CIAM said it is disappointed with the reinsurer’s “lack of responsiveness” to the other concerns it had raised.
It added that SCOR’s motivation for moving the meeting could be seen as questionable, given that all three major proxy advisors – ISS, Glass Lewis and local Proxy Advisor Proxinvest – have now recommended their clients to vote against CEO and Chairman Denis Kessler’s 2019 compensation.
CIAM again stated that only “superficial changes” had been made to SCOR’s executive remuneration policy despite claims that it is not in line with industry standards, and does not match the reinsurer’s share price performance.
“As a shareholder, we find such amendments made during the COVID-19 crisis to be wholly inappropriate,” CIAM stated in a new letter. “The Board has had a full year to address shareholder concerns and they have clearly failed to respond adequately.”
Additionally, the firm maintained pressure on SCOR to confirm whether it will appoint an independent Chair next year, and to communicate a clear succession plan for the role of CEO.
“We are becoming increasingly impatient to hear more from SCOR in relation to the Company’s succession plans, as well as the confirmation that an independent Chair will be appointed in 2021,” it said.
CIAM engaged in a prolonged spat with SCOR following the reinsurer’s rejection of an €8.2 billion takeover bid from Covea in 2018.
Berjal has been very vocal in her criticism of Kessler’s governance practices, and has previously led a call to have him removed from his combined Chair/CEO position, as well as lowering his pay.
