AllianzGI announces its intention to vote against the reelection of Adidas’ Chair at its upcoming AGM
12.05.2025 | Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI), one of the world’s leading active investment managers, has announced today that it intends to cast its proxy vote against item 6, the re-election of chair Thomas Rabe to the Supervisory Board at Adidas’ upcoming Annual General Meeting on 15 May.
Allianz Global Investor supported the re-election of the chair in 2024 despite overboarding concerns. Mr Rabe is Chief Executive Officer of listed RTL Group and CEO of Bertelsmann Management SE, which we would consider too many commitments in addition to his role at Adidas. In 2024, Adidas confirmed the one-year extension of his term of office as a transitional period, in order to have enough time to find a successor. AllianzGI welcomed the decision to prepare a swift hand-over to a successor at the time. However, the company has neither presented a successor to the chair nor, in our view, a convincing succession plan since then.
AllianzGI believes that the selection of a chair should be well prepared and communicated clearly to investors. This includes a stringent competence profile of the candidate to be selected including, for example, senior management expertise, industry and international experience as well as outstanding leadership skills. In times of geopolitical disruption, the incoming chair should have sufficient time to fulfil his duties and not serve as an executive at the same time, and be truly independent.
AllianzGI encourages the Nomination Committee to present to investors a succession plan and ultimately, a candidate, as soon as possible, allowing sufficient time for induction to ensure seamless handover.
Matt Christensen, Global Head of Sustainable and Impact Investing at AllianzGI, commented: “Our decision to vote against the re-election of the Adidas Chair reflects the high importance we give to board quality, believing that strong governance is closely linked to better financial performance and high sustainability standards. Over-boarding remains a major concern. We also want to stress the importance of proactive succession planning. A particular focus remains on succession plans for the chairperson. We want to understand the key competencies required for the incoming chair to effectively lead the board, as well as how the search process is managed. The incoming chair should possess strong leadership skills, industry experience, unquestionable independence, and enough time to lead the board, especially in times of crisis.”
Earlier this year, AllianzGI published its annual analysis of how it voted at AGMs in 2024 around the globe, based on its participation in 8,879 (2023: 9,137) shareholder meetings and voting on around 90,000 shareholder and management proposals. AllianzGI voted against, withheld, or abstained from at least one agenda item at 72% (2023: 71%) of all meetings globally. The firm opposed 19% of capital-related proposals, 22% of director elections, and 41% of remuneration-related proposals, reflecting its high expectations for governance standards.
For further information please contact:
Marion Leblanc-Wohrer
Tel: +6 85 15 74 54
Email: Marion.leblancwohrer@allianzgi.com
About Allianz Global Investors:
Allianz Global Investors is a leading active asset manager with over 650 investment professionals in over 20 offices worldwide and managing EUR 571 billion in assets. We invest for the long term and seek to generate value for clients every step of the way. We do this by being active – in how we partner with clients and anticipate their changing needs, and build solutions based on capabilities across public and private markets. Our focus on protecting and enhancing our clients’ assets leads naturally to a commitment to sustainability to drive positive change. Our goal is to elevate the investment experience for clients, whatever their location or objectives.
Data as at 31 December 2024. Total assets under management are assets or securities portfolios, valued at current market value, for which Allianz Global Investors companies are responsible vis-á-vis clients for providing discretionary investment management decisions and portfolio management, either directly or via a sub-advisor (these include Allianz Global Investors assets which are now sub-advised by Voya IM since 25 July 2022). This excludes assets for which Allianz Global Investors companies are primarily responsible for administrative services only. Assets under management are managed on behalf of third parties as well as on behalf of the Allianz Group.