Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors sets our strategic guidelines and ensures that they are implemented.

Role and missions

Our Board of Directors addresses all issues regarding the proper operation of the Group and deliberates and decides the matters put before it. It carries out the checks and verifications that it considers appropriate. The Board of Directors is kept informed of the Group's business activities, its financial and cash position, and significant commitments.


Our Board of Directors in figures

Composition of the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors has 11 members, with 45% women Directors and 63% independent Directors.

Jérôme Brunel
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Jérôme Brunel
Nationality: French
First appointed: 04/23/2020
Term of office expires: OGM 2024
Member of the Strategic and Investment Committee

Jérôme Brunel is an Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris graduate, has a master’s in public law from Université de Paris-Assas, and attended both ENA (1980) and INSEAD (AMP - 1990).

After joining Crédit Lyonnais at the end of 1990, Jérôme Brunel held several operational leadership positions in France, Asia and North America, before becoming its Head of Human Resources in 2001. When Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais merged in 2003, he was appointed Head of Human Resources for the Crédit Agricole Group. He was then Head of the Regional Banks Division, Head of Private Equity, Head of Private Banking and Head of Public Affairs for Crédit Agricole S.A. He served as the Group’s Corporate Secretary until he retired at December 31, 2019.

Jérôme Brunel has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Diaconnesses Croix Saint-Simon hospital group since 2010.

Beñat Ortega
Chief Executive Officer - Director
Beñat Ortega
Nationality: French
First appointed: GM of 4/20/2023
Term of office expires: OGM 2027

Beñat Ortega, 42 years old and École Centrale Paris alumni took up his position as Chief Executive Officer on 2022 and was appointed as a director of the Group on 20 April 2023.

He joined Klépierre, a leading European listed retail real estate company with a 22 billion euro portfolio, in 2012, and since then he has lead its operational activities. He has and played a key role in its transformation through the portfolio’s refocusing around 120 leading shopping malls and an ambitious value creation and cash flow growth strategy. Since 2016, he was a member of the Executive Board, Chief Operating Officer. He previously spent nine years in Paris with the Office teams of the listed group Unibail-Rodamco.

Laurence Danon Arnaud
Independent Director
Laurence Danon Arnaud
Nationality: French
First appointed: GM of 4/26/2017
Term of office expires: OGM 2025
Member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee

Laurence Danon Arnaud enrolled into the École normale supérieure de Paris in 1977. She graduated with a Physical Sciences degree in 1980. After two years of research at CNRS labs, she was accepted into École nationale supérieure des mines in 1981 and graduated with an Ingénieur du Corps des mines degree in 1984. After five years at the Ministry of Industry and the Hydrocarbons Department, Laurence Danon Arnaud joined ELF Group in 1989. From 1989 to 2001 she held various positions in the Chemistry division at Total FINA ELF, including a period between 1996 and 2001 as CEO of Bostik, the world's second-largest adhesives company. In 2001, Laurence Danon Arnaud was appointed Chair & Chief Executive Officer of Printemps and a member of the Executive Board of PPR (KERING). After the repositioning of Printemps and its successful sale in 2007, she joined the world of finance. From 2007 to 2013 she was Chair of the Management Board of Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance, then from 2013 the Chair of the investment bank Leonardo & Co (subsidiary of the Italian group Banca Leonardo). Following the sale of Leonardo & Co to Natixis in 2015, she devoted herself to her Family Office Primerose. Laurence Danon Arnaud has been a Director of Amundi since 2015 and chairs its Strategy Committee. She has also served on the Board of Directors of TF1 since 2010 and chairs its Audit Committee. In addition, she has served on the Boards of Directors of other companies, such as the British company Diageo (2006-2015), PlasticOmnium (2003-2010), Experian Plc (2007-2010), Rhodia (2008-2011), and on the Supervisory Board of BPCE (2009-2013) chairing its Appointments and Compensation Committee. Laurence Danon Arnaud was Commissions President of the French employer federation MEDEF from 2005 to 2013. From 2000 to 2003, she was Chair of the Board of Directors of École des mines de Nantes, and from 2004 to 2006 the President of the École normale supérieure (Paris) Foundation.

Dominique Dudan
Independent Director
Dominique Dudan
Nationality: French
First appointed: GM of 4/24/2015
Term of office expires: OGM 2027
Chairwoman of the Governance, Appointments and Compensation Committee
Member of the Compliance and Ethics Committee

After completing her science studies, Dominique Dudan joined the world of real estate. Accepted as a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), she has since become a Fellow. From 1996 to 2005, Dominique Dudan held the position of Development Director at AccorHotels & Resorts Group. She then moved to HSBC Reim as Chief Operating Officer and member of its Management Board, then to BNP Paribas Reim as Deputy CEO and Director of Regulated Real Estate Funds. In 2009, Dominique Dudan set up her own firm, Artio Conseil, and in 2010 was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Arcole Asset Management. From 2011 to 2015, she was President of Union Investment Real Estate France SAS, and then Chief Executive of Warburg-HIH France. Now Senior Adviser at LBO France and a corporate director, Dominique Dudan is also a member of the Observatoire Régional de l’Immobilier d’Île-de-France (ORIE) which monitors real estate activity in the Paris Region, a member of the Commission fiscale du Groupement des Professions de Services du MEDEF (MEDEF service provider-members taxation commission), a member of the Cercle des Femmes de l’Immobilier (Women in Real Estate Roundtable), the Club de l’Immobilier d’Île-de-France (Paris Region real estate club), and a member of the Breizh Immo Association. She is a Knight of the French National Order of Merit.

Gabrielle Gauthey
Independent Director
Gabrielle Gauthey
Nationality: French
First appointed: 4/18/2018
Term of office expires: OGM 2022
Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee
Member of the Audit and Risks Committee and the Governance, Appointments and Compensation Committee

Ms. Gabrielle Gauthey is the Representative of the Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies to the European Union institutions and Director of European Public Affairs. She is a former student of the École Polytechnique and graduate of Télécom Paris Tech and École des Mines de Paris. A general mining engineer, she has a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in economic analysis. The appointment of Ms. Gabrielle Gauthey enables the Board, in particular, to benefit from her expertise in real estate investments, new technologies and innovation, and energy. From February 2015 to March 2018, Ms. Gabrielle Gauthey was Investment Director and a member of the Management Committee of the Caisse des Dépôts group, a French public institution. She was Senior Vice President of Carbon Neutrality Businesses at Total, and is now in charge of the company’s European affairs

Claude Gendron
Director
Claude Gendron
Nationality: Canadian
First appointed: 4/23/2014
Term of office expires: OGM 2024
Member of the Governance, Appointments and Compensation Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee

Claude Gendron is a lawyer by training. He is Special Advisor to Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of the largest institutional fund managers in Canada. Claude Gendron was, until 2017, Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs, Head of Litigation at Ivanhoé Cambridge and a member of the Management Board. With an MBA from the University of Ottawa, Canada, Claude Gendron also has a Bachelor and a Master’s Degree in Business Law from the University of Montreal, Canada. Specializing in financial and real estate transactions for more than 30 years, he began his career as a legal advisor to the National Bank of Canada, one of Canada's major banks (1975-1980). Claude Gendron then continued his career at legal firms, joining Fasken Martineau DuMoulin as International Head of Business Law where he was senior partner (1998-2013) before moving to Ivanhoé Cambridge.

Karim Habra
Permanent representative of Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc. - Director
Karim Habra
Nationality: British
First appointed: 4/21/2016
Term of office expires: OGM 2025
Chairman of the Strategy and Investment Committee

Karim Habra is Head of Europe and Asia-Pacific for Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of the largest institutional fund managers in the world. In this respect, he runs Ivanhoé Cambridge’s real estate activities and investments in Europe and Asia-Pacific and oversees the growth of the platform with teams operating out of Paris, London, Berlin, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai. He began his career with GE Capital Real Estate in 1998, assuming responsibility for Central and Eastern European operations in 2003. In 2008, he became Managing Director, European Funds, for JER Partners. Four years later, he joined LaSalle Investment Management as Managing Director of Central Europe and was subsequently appointed Managing Director of France and finally Head of Continental Europe. He moved to Ivanhoé Cambridge in 2018, where he took up the role of Head of Europe. The Asia-Pacific region was added to his remit in 2019. Karim Habra holds a Graduate Degree in Finance & Management and a Master of Science in Corporate Finance from Paris-Dauphine University.

Matthieu Lance
Permanent representative of Predica - Director
Matthieu Lance
Nationality: French
First appointed: GM of 12/20/2002
Term of office expires: OGM 2027
Member of the Strategy and Investment Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee

Matthieu Lance, 53, is a graduate of Ecole Centrale de Paris. His career began at CCF in 1994 as a financial engineer in structured finance. In 1998, he joined Banque Lazard where he provided M&A advice to large industrial companies and investment funds. In 2007, he joined BNP Paribas as Managing Director Corporate Finance, and successively led the Chemistry, Aerospace, Defense and Automobile industrial sectors (2007–2012) followed by the M&A France team (2012-2016). In 2016, Mr. Lance joined Crédit Agricole CIB as Managing Director – Deputy Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions, and became Global co-Head of this area at the end of 2019.

Carole Le Gall
Independent Director
Carole Le Gall
Nationality: French
First appointed: 12/08/2020
Term of office expires: OGM 2026
Member of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee and Compliance and Ethics Committee

Carole Le Gall has been Sustainable & Climate Senior Vice President at TotalEnergies since September 2021. She was previously Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Engie Solutions, a subsidiary of the Engie Group. After an early career in local economic development on behalf of the state and then a local authority, she joined ADEME to develop the energy efficiency and renewable energy markets. She then led and developed the CSTB (Scientific and Technical Center for Construction) for six years. She joined Engie in 2015 as Head of Marketing in Building Renovation Solutions and before becoming CEO of the Business Unit France networks.

Carole Le Gall is a General Engineer of the elite French Corps des Mines, and holds a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. She is co-chair, with Guy Sidos, of the MEDEF Ecological and Economic Transition Commission and to this end, contributes to the MEDEF’s mission of “acting together for responsible growth.”

Inès Reinmann Toper
Independent Director
Inès Reinmann Toper
Nationality: French
First appointed: 4/17/2012
Term of office expires: OGM 2024
Member of the Audit and Risk Committee and the Compliance and Ethics Committee

After completing her Legal studies (DESS / Master’s Degree in Real Estate Law), Inès Reinmann Toper worked at Dumez SAE and Bouygues before continuing her career at Coprim (a Société Générale Group company), initially as Head of Development, then as Operations Director, and finally as Corporate Real Estate Sales Director. From 2000 to 2004, she was Chief Executive Officer at Tertial, then from 2004 to 2007 Tertiary Markets Director at Icade, President of EMGP, President of Tertial, and Director at Icade Foncière des Pimonts. From 2007 to 2010 she was Managing Director Continental Europe at Segro Plc. She was also a Board member of that company. From 2010 to 2014 she was the Acxior Corporate Finance partner in charge of its real estate division. She is Associate Director, Real Estate, at Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance, and an Independent Director at Cofinimmo. In addition, she is also a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. She is also a member of the Club de l’Immobilier Île-de-France and of the Cercle des Femmes de l’Immobilier.

Jacques Stern
Independent Director
Jacques Stern
Nationality: French
First appointed: 02/17/2022
Term of office expires: OGM 2026
Chair of the Audit and Risks Committee
Member of the Strategic and Investment Committee

Jacques Stern has been President & CEO of Global Blue since 2015. He has nearly 30 years of experience in large international companies. He began his career as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1988 and then joined the Accor group in 1992, where he held various management positions, including Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Between 2010 and 2015, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Edenred. Mr. Stern holds a business degree from the École Supérieure de Commerce de Lille.

Nathalie Charles
Observer
Nathalie Charles
Nationality: French
Participates in the Compliance and Ethics Committee

An Ecole Polytechnique graduate, Nathalie Charles was recently Deputy CEO and Global Head of Investment Management of BNP Paribas Real Estate (2019-2023), overseeing a portfolio with €30 billion of assets under management in Europe. Previously, she was Head of Development and European Country Teams at AXA IM Real Assets (2013-2019) and Corporate Real Estate Managing Director for the EDF Group (2008-2013).
Before that, Nathalie Charles spent 12 years with the Unibail-Rodamco Group (which became URW) and held various positions with banking groups.
Nathalie Charles is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute she was honored with the title of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Board of Directors Committees

 

 

Audit and Risk Committee

 

The Committee audits the Company's financial information, reviews the operation and effectiveness of internal control and risk management systems and material off-balance sheet commitments. It monitors the assessments of service quality offered to tenants.

It consists of:

Jacques Stern*, Chairman

Laurence Danon Arnaud*

Gabrielle Gauthey*

Claude Gendron

Matthieu Lance, permanent representative of Predica

Inès Reinmann Toper*

 

* Independent Directors

 

Governance, Appointments and Compensation Committee

 

The Committee reviews how Directors and Corporate Officers are compensated. It intervenes in the reappointment or selection of new Directors and when Corporate Officers are being appointed. It reviews the operation of the Board and its Committees and makes governance improvement proposals.

It consists of:

Dominique Dudan*, Chairwoman

Gabrielle Gauthey*

Claude Gendron

 

* Independent Directors

 

Strategy and Investment Committee

 

The Committee offers advice and recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding: the definition of the Company strategy proposed by the Chief Executive Officer, its implementation; major projects, investments, and their impact on the Company's accounts. It strives to keep the Company's performance and financial equilibrium consistent with its CSR commitments.

It consists of:

Karim Habra, permanent representative of Ivanhoé Cambridge Inc, Chairman, 

Jérôme Brunel*

Matthieu Lance, permanent representative of Predica

Jacques Stern*

 

* Independent Directors

 

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee 

 

This Committee is responsible for providing the Board of Directors with recommendations on the Group’s CSR commitments and policies, their consistency with the expectations of its various stakeholders and the monitoring of their deployment.

It consists of:

Gabriel Gauthey*, Chairwoman

Laurence Danon Arnaud*

Carole Le Gall*

 

* Independent Directors

 

Compliance and Ethics Committee

 

This Committee is responsible for providing the Board of Directors with recommendations on all matters within Gecina relating to anti-corruption compliance and ethics, as well as personal data protection.

It consists of:

Inès Reinmann Toper*, Chairwoman

Dominique Dudan*

Carole Le Gall*

 

* Independent Directors

Useful documents

Internal rules

By-Laws