Asset manager urges separation of chair and CEO roles
A survey by Union Investment has revealed that 14 members of the Euro Stoxx 50 continue to combine chair and CEO roles, including high-profile companies such as luxury goods brand LVMH.
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A major investment manager has called for companies to separate the roles of CEO and chair, and improve remuneration disclosure, after surveying the top companies across Europe.
Union Investment, the asset management arm of Germany’s DZ Bank, found that seven of the 49 members of the Stoxx Europe 50 continue to combine chair and CEO roles. They include luxury goods brand LVMH, telecoms firm Telefónica and construction giant Vinci.
Vanda Heinen, an ESG analyst with Union Investment, said: “We see this as a critical issue. We ask for a high degree of independence of the non-executives as a whole and the executives. But if there is
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