Swiss insurer Baloise nominates activist investor representative to board
09/12/2024 06:44
ZURICH, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Baloise BALN.S has nominated
Robert Schuchna, a representative of activist shareholder Cevian
Capital, to join its board of directors next year, the Swiss
insurer said on Monday.
Cevian, which in September became Baloise's biggest investor
with a 9.4% stake, has been putting pressure on Baloise to
improve its performance, saying its current strategy is not bold
enough.
In September Baloise said it planned to boost return on
equity, cut jobs and would consider share buybacks. Schuchna
described the plans as "insufficient", saying Baloise needed
"real focus and real ambition."
Shuchna, a partner at Cevian, has "a profound knowledge of
the capital markets," Baloise said on Monday.
The executive was involved in Cevian's investment in British
insurer Aviva AV.L and is also a supervisory board member at
German construction company Bilfinger GBFG.DE .
In other proposed changes, Baloise on Monday said Christoph
Gloor and Hans-Joerg Schmidt-Trenz will not be standing for
re-election to its board at its 2025 annual shareholders
meeting.
The company said it would propose Vincent Vandendael and
Andre Helfenstein, a former CEO of Credit Suisse's Swiss
business, to replace them.
(Reporting by John Revill, Editing by Friederike Heine)
((John.Revill@thomsonreuters.com; +41 41 528 36 37; Reuters
Messaging: john.revill.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))