There was repeated criticism of the accumulation of offices by the former co-boss of SAP.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
Munich Siemens chief supervisor Jim Hagemann Snabe surprisingly withdraws from the Allianz supervisory board. The insurance group announced on Thursday that the deputy chairman of the supervisory body would no longer stand as a candidate at the general meeting in May.
As justification, Allianz expressly referred to concerns about the accumulation of offices. In addition to the mandates at Siemens and Allianz, Snabe is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Danish shipping company Maersk and sits on the board of the US software provider C3.ai.
Digitization experts are currently in demand everywhere. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board of Allianz therefore acknowledged Snabe’s decision “with great regret and great respect”. Snabe gave the insurer great support with the digital transformation.
This has now also ended speculation that Snabe could take over the chairmanship of the supervisory board from Michael Diekmann for two years in 2024, and then after the obligatory cooling-off phase clear the way for CEO Oliver Bäte.
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Investors had repeatedly criticized the so-called overboarding of the former co-boss of SAP. “We call on you to reduce the number of your supervisory board mandates so that you no longer expose yourself to accusations of having more offices,” explained Vera Diehl from Union Investment on Thursday at the virtual Siemens Annual General Meeting.
Rashmy Chatterjee follows Snabe
Rashmy Chatterjee is to join the Allianz supervisory board. Also she is an IT specialist. After more than two decades in senior roles at IBM, she joined Istari Global, a London-based cybersecurity specialist, as CEO in 2019.
On the other hand, it is unlikely that she will also take over the deputy chairmanship of the supervisory board at Allianz after Snabe’s departure. Greater opportunities are given to the former BMW CFO Friedrich Eichiner or ex-Adidas boss Herbert Hainer. The topic of overboarding could then also come up to them. Eichiner is also on the supervisory board of Infineon and chairs the automation specialist Festo. Hainer is President of FC Bayern Munich.
Snabe can now concentrate even more on Siemens. Even if the reserved Dane tends to avoid public appearances, he plays a central role in the transformation of the technology group. Together with former CEO Joe Kaeser, he came to the conclusion that size is no longer a decisive factor. Focused specialists are in demand these days, not sluggish conglomerates.
“Exactly what we had planned happened,” said the Siemens supervisory board chairman on Thursday at the annual general meeting. The long-established group has become faster and more profitable as a result of the restructuring in recent years. “Only those who are fast, agile and flexible drive change in the markets – instead of being driven by change,” Snabe described his philosophy.
In addition, he unexpectedly and quietly managed the quite delicate transition from the power-conscious CEO and conversion master Kaeser to the engineer Roland Busch.
Remodeling by Siemens has paid off
Snabe’s role at Siemens has been praised from many quarters. According to insiders, CEO Busch values him as a sparring partner, and the Dane is also valued on the supervisory board, both on the capital side and among employees. “He has a friendly tone, but pursues his goals very consistently,” says a member of the control committee. One should not underestimate Snabe.
The restructuring by Siemens has paid off so far. Busch was able to present brilliant figures before the general meeting. Incoming orders rose by more than 40 percent in the past quarter, and profits by 20 percent. “It was the right way to reinvent Siemens from a position of strength,” said Busch.
However, the capital markets do not yet rate Siemens as a thoroughbred IT company. But Snabe sees progress. At the end of 2017, Siemens was valued at 1.2 times the sales expected for the next twelve months. Most recently, the factor was 2.3.
But there is still room for improvement. “The significant expansion of the rating to the level of competitors, such as Schneider, has not happened so far,” said Ingo Speich from the fund company Deka at the general meeting.
There is probably one reason why the capital markets are still waiting: Siemens is currently switching to a “Software as a Service” rental model. This allows the high-margin software sales to be stabilized in the future. But even pure software companies like SAP have experienced how difficult it is to implement the changeover. It can’t hurt to have an ex-boss from SAP at the top of the supervisory board.
More: Siemens exceeded expectations at the start of the new fiscal year