UniCredit fails to win support for pay policy from investor Allianz's funds

MILAN (Reuters) - Funds managed by German insurer Allianz failed to back the Italian bank's new remuneration policy and pay packages awarded in 2022 at last month's general meeting, a document showed.

Minutes of the UniCredit annual shareholder meeting showed that the funds run by Allianz had abstained in both votes. The funds manage customers' money and vote on their behalf and in line with their indications.

Allianz, which is itself the second-biggest shareholder in UniCredit, had backed the company policy. Allianz CEO Oliver Bäte told an Italian daily shortly before the AGM that the insurer would be happy to reward UniCredit Andrea Orcel and his team for their performance.

Allianz's representative on UniCredit's board, Renate Wagner, is a member of the bank's remuneration committee.

UniCredit has adopted a new policy which will allow it to award the chief executive and senior managers a 30% pay rise this year if they beat a wide set of financial targets.

The new policy was approved with 69% of votes, cast by shareholders representing 47% of the bank's capital.

The minutes showed leading global asset managers Fidelity Investments and Charles Schwab had voted against.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, Editing by Louise Heavens/Keith Weir)