Unicredit has announced that he will provide his employees a Bonus up to 40% for the purchase of actions of the Milanese bank. An initiative that falls within the U Share program, part of the 2025 remuneration policy, which offers workers up to 10 thousand euros to invest.
However, this is not only a form of further compensation for Unicredit employees, but also a way to encourage the owner’s structure of thewidespread shareholder. This situation, in which the majority of shares is in the hands of investors who have a minimum percentage of the market capital, gives more independence to the management.
The Bonus for Unicredit employees
The project to purchase Unicredit shares by employees of the Milanese bank will last in total 36 months, and will offer employees the possibility of investing from a minimum of 500 to a maximum of EUR 10 thousandor in ordinary market value actions. The bonus therefore does not apply to the actions price.
On the contrary, the bank provides the employee 40% of the value of its investment in other shares. For example, if an employee invested the maximum figure of 10 thousand euros, he would obtain shares for a total value of 14 thousand euros. The CEO of Unicredit Andrea Orcel said:
U share is our way of rewarding the fundamental role they play. Now we are all united by the same mission: to increase our impact on customers, families and local communities.
Details of the Bonus on Unicredit actions
The actions provided to employees will be of two types. The first are the discount actionstherefore at a lowest price than the reference price. In this case, 20% of the initial investment will be returned in the form of free shares assigned at the time of the employee to the program. These become effective only After 18 monthswith the condition that the employee remains for that period to work for Unicredit.
The second type of actions are those matchingwhich coincide with the reference price. In this case the remaining 20% of the bonus will be distributed only after 36 monthsand will be subject to achieving specific objectives and performance indicators.
The widespread shareholder
Unicredit, with this move, aims to consolidate its owner asset as a company with widespread shareholder. Unicredit’s largest shareholder, the American group Blackrockchecks just over 7%, while Italian institutional investors (banks, insurance), 6%. The rest is distributed in small participations.
This structure places a great responsibility for the management, guarantees greater freedom of action than the affiliation or main forms and makes it easier to find new investors. In particular the investors institutional These companies find particularly attractive, because they consider them more oriented to guarantee profit to their shareholders.
The main defect of this type of owner set up is the so -called asymmetry information. Investors, involved only partially in the management of the company, entrust each task to the management. This gives executives the totality of information and makes it complex, for small shareholders, to fully understand the situation of the company. However, the reasons of the managers are personal (earnings, career advancements) and therefore conflicts can be born on the decisions to be made in complex situations.
