In France, asset managers do not like to talk about their investments. Except when they are angry. Monday, February 7, the management company Mirova, the third listed shareholder of Orpea with 3.9% of its capital, publicly ordered the group of retirement homes not to award a golden parachute to Yves Le Masne, the ousted general manager. after the publication of the book Les Fossoyeurs, by Victor Castanet (Fayard, 400 pages, 22.90 euros).
For Mirova, it is certainly necessary to wait for the results of the audits in progress but, already, the inability of the manager to implement a convincing strategy in terms of corporate social responsibility can constitute a ” mistake “ justifying the non-payment of severance pay. And also to plead for “the maintenance of the presence condition attached to performance shares not yet vested and the significant reduction of his annual variable compensation for 2021”, in an open letter addressed to the chairman of the board of directors of Orpea.
” Monitoring committee “
While Mr. Le Masne sold shares in July 2021, as revealed The chained Duck, “In particular, we would like to know the date on which the board was informed that an investigation book was in progress, the reasons explaining the decision not to inform the shareholders as well as the reasons for which the board did not ask to its members informed to suspend their operations on the title”, insists the manager, a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers.
The disgruntled shareholder is also calling for a rapid transformation of Orpea into a “mission-driven company”. Thanks to this system created by the Pacte law of May 22, 2019, a company can integrate in its statutes the environmental and social objectives that it sets itself the task of pursuing within the framework of its activity. Danone or MAIF have followed this path.
“This allows the company to be committed both to financial performance and to the general interest. This would not, of course, solve all the failures of Orpea as reported, but it would make it possible to pass a course”, assures Hervé Guez, director of equity, interest rate and solidarity management at Mirova. “The great strength of the model is the creation of a monitoring committee, bringing together in particular employees and families of residents. This is all the more important when listening to these stakeholders has been insufficient,” explains Mathilde Dufour, director of sustainable development research for the management company.
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