Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, welcome to the combined shareholder meeting of Eurazeo. Like each year, this meeting is the opportunity to bring together shareholders, members of the supervisory board, senior management, and your company's teams. During the meeting, we will be presenting the results and the ambition of our group, and we will be happy, as always, to answer your questions before submitting the resolutions that are on the agenda for your approval. I will now call on Mr. Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau and Mr. Manuel Roussel, who are the two members representing in their own right and, as designated representatives, the largest number of votes to be the tellers. Our thanks to them. I propose that we appoint Mr. Gabriel Kunde, the company secretary of Eurazeo, to be the secretary of the meeting.
I will hand over to him to remind us of the legal formalities and to present the agenda items. Thank you very much, Chair.
[Foreign Language].
Good morning, everyone. I wish to welcome the members of the Executive Board who are here, sitting in the first row, our statutory auditors as well. Our general meeting is being broadcast live on our website. You will see the formalities and the interventions of this morning. You will see the Management Board report in the registration document, and I would kindly request that we dispense with reading it out. The legal bulletins and convening notices have been published within the regulatory timelines, published on the BALO of the 31st of March 2024, the convening notice of the ATN 85 and the Actuaries Juridiques. The convening letters and invitations were sent out on the 18th of April to each registered shareholder. All shareholders, whether holders of bearer or registered shares, have been duly informed.
The financial statements, the reports, all the documents that have to be made available have been provided, and the documents have been submitted. For reasons of compliance with the Environmental Responsibility Policy CSR, we no longer print registration documents for each shareholder attending the meeting. A digital version can be looked up at any time on the company website using the QR codes, and hard copies can be sent to those of you who so wish. An attendance list has been set up under the legal requirement. It has been signed by all members. I will provide you with the final quorum. Later, the attendance list will be set at 10:30 A.M. Over one quarter of shares and voting rights are represented, and we can therefore open the meeting, and I will now hand back to the chairperson of the board.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, I am, as always, very happy to see you here to look at the results of a very fruitful year for Eurazeo. Our general meeting is meeting against the backdrop of a very challenging, volatile international environment. Our group is affirming its relevant positioning through its transformation that has been accomplished in recent years. A few words specifically on the unprecedented economic situation requires both clear-mindedness and a strong will. The world is going, as we can see every day, through a historic upheaval in terms of technology, energy, the economy, and ideology. We see, or we can anticipate every day as we receive statements and tweets, the impact of the November vote in the United States on multilateralism, global trade, combating climate change. The markets have responded in two different ways to these fluctuations, with a catch-up of European stock markets.
The fact of the matter is that Europe's falling behind did not begin with the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Over the past 15 years, the growth gap has constantly widened. As established by the World Bank in 2008, the global GDP of the European Union stands at 75% of America's, and it's now only at 65%. Since the financial crisis of 2008, Europe has basically stagnated. Its total production increased by 2.8% in 15 years versus an increase of 72% of American GDP. The causes of this are well known and have been recently confirmed by Mario Draghi, including energy prices two to three times higher than across the Atlantic, a deficit in terms of research and innovation, the annual number of hours worked that is insufficient. However, Europe has some major strengths.
It's monetary sovereignty, its single market that represents in terms of mass as much as the American market, its surplus private savings, stability, and security, the feeling of security for investors, given the emphasis on the rule of law, and I would add its human capital and know-how. Three years after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a form of European naivety has ended. That's good news. The Commission has adopted unprecedented laws regarding economic simplification and a plan to rearm Europe. The EU 27 members are talking about strategic autonomy. Moving from intentions to decisions and decisions to action, our old continent may reemerge as a new idea, a novel idea, and affirm that its original model is a model for the future.
At the end of 2023, when we renewed our strategic plan, we decided to affirm our goal to build the key platform for private asset management in Europe on the mid-market tech and impact segments. At the time, this might have seemed like a bold gamble. Now, however, it bears out our company's conviction that Europe is a very significant pool of growth. In the current environment, our private market industry is driven by very favorable tailwinds. This is my second message of hope. An increasing number of companies are turning to private market actors to fund their growth. Institutional investor allocations are increasingly better oriented, and the potential of retail clients in the wealth segment is very significant.
In the immediate future, interest rate cuts, in particular in Europe, will be a positive factor both in terms of fundraising from our clients as well as the M&A market, even though very clearly political uncertainty and sluggish growth will continue to slow down transactions. For companies that need more than ever, it is for investors who are partners for growth, convinced on the key role of private equity in the economy. This is indeed the DNA of Eurazeo. For our group, the result of 2024 and the first month of 2025 is all the more positive that it is happening against a backdrop which is far from favorable. The gradual recovery of industry is gradual.
I wish to commend the excellent health of our asset management regarding the results of fundraising, which are well above the results, the expectations that we set in early 2024, with major success in private impact products, smart city, transition infrastructure, and wealth management. Eurazeo continues to affirm its leadership, and this bears out the relevance of our positioning. The success of our fundraising futures also rests first and foremost on the performance of our investment strategies. In 2024, key strategies for the group, such as MLLBO and growth, reached a key turning point, which is highly promising. Rollouts are up, and the exit volume is three times as high as in 2023. Finally, our operating margin is improving, which proves the increased emphasis on stringent management of our resources.
What is not quite as visible, but is equally important to boost the momentum in the years ahead, is the operational efficiency projects and the unification of our teams in our group, bringing together the teams at a single head office, merging our investment management companies, harmonizing HR policies. As you know, while our roadmap is that of growth asset management, our stock market reality is still far too much that of a shareholder equity investor. Therefore, our goal is to pursue the growth of our asset management while finding a strong trajectory for wealth and value creation for the portfolio we have on the balance sheet. Across all the projects of our strategic roadmap, the supervisory board has demonstrated its commitment to the group with the unswerving support of the management board. We have endorsed initiatives that aim to step up fundraising.
We've encouraged the launch of new investment strategies. We have actively contributed to the strategic analysis in a market which is undergoing consolidation. I therefore would like to thank the members of the supervisory board, both individually and collectively, and I'm very happy to see some of them sitting in the front row here of this general meeting for their commitment and their mobilization on swerving commitment to this action. Our group is pursuing the acceleration of its transformation, as you have clearly understood. A proper rebalancing of the commitment of our balance sheet in our strategies will remain a key item. As the CEO of the supervisory board, I will personally be paying very close attention and be very demanding regarding compliance with the goal. The attractive sharing of value for shareholders is another pillar of the roadmap that we have entrusted to the management board.
Since the appointment, shareholder return has risen by approximately 30% since February 2023. In 2024, the group paid back almost EUR 400 million to shareholders. In 2025, not only will we be recommending the dividend payout of EUR 2.65 per share, up almost 10% on the ordinary dividend for 2024, but we're also going to be stepping up our share buyback program, which will at present be executed at an annual pace of EUR 400 million versus EUR 210 million in 2024.
Ladies and gentlemen, in 2025 and in the years ahead, the controlled transformation of our business model, the understanding of the movements that are affecting the economy and society at large, the heightened attention paid to execution, governance at the highest standards, and the unswerving concern for a perfect alignment of interests between the stakeholders will be the focal points that will enable our group to achieve its ambitious goals. I will be at your side. I have every confidence in this, and this confidence is shared with the David Viall family, another major shareholder of Eurazeo, and this is also why Jean-Claude Duclos-Holding and Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau, whom I wish to commend for their long-lasting commitment to our group, will be putting their renewed term to the vote.
Thank you very much, and I will be very happy to hand over to Christophe Bavière and William Kadouch-Chassaing, who are the joint CEOs of our group after this video.
Depuis 50 ans, Eurazeo embrasse les transformations d'un monde et d'une économie en perpétuelle évolution. En 2023, le groupe s'est donné une feuille de route stratégique ambitieuse, dont les premiers succès sont déjà visibles. Notre ambition est claire : devenir l'acteur de référence des marchés privés en Europe sur les segments du mid-market, de la croissance et de l'impact. Au cœur du tissu économique du continent européen, Eurazeo s'intéresse aux sociétés de taille intermédiaire ou mid-market, en détectant les entreprises les plus prometteuses. Nous les accompagnons dans leur développement afin de créer les champions européens ou mondiaux de demain.
Nous investissons sur les valeurs de croissance grâce à notre expertise unique sur des secteurs bénéficiant de vents porteurs : services aux entreprises, services financiers, technologies, santé, transition énergétique et climatique. Nous croyons enfin à l'impact profitable en consolidant un choix initié il y a 20 ans : faire émerger des services, des technologies ou des produits qui permettent de résoudre des problèmes de société, notamment la question climatique ou la gestion des limites planétaires, répondant à une demande croissante de nos clients. Le développement de notre activité de gestion d'actifs est porté par l'élargissement de notre base de clients, gain de parts de marché auprès des investisseurs institutionnels internationaux, et développement en Europe de la clientèle des particuliers. Par la mise en place d'outils digitaux innovants et une organisation optimisée, nous améliorons notre efficacité opérationnelle avec, à la clé, des coûts de gestion contenus et une meilleure satisfaction client.
Cette vision aligne les intérêts des parties prenantes : clients, collaborateurs, sociétés de portefeuille et actionnaires. Ainsi, nous poursuivons cette mission qui nous habite depuis plus de 50 ans : construire dans la durée des champions européens aux ambitions mondiales.
Merci, Monsieur le Président. Mesdames, Messieurs, chers actionnaires, bienvenue à la réunion générale d'Eurazeo.
Thank you. Dear shareholders, welcome to Eurazeo's annual shareholders meeting. This is an opportunity for us to review the year 2024, look back on the strategic initiatives we have undertaken, and present the group's financial and non-financial results. Last year, we presented our 2024-2027 strategic plan. Our ambition remains as relevant as ever: to build a leading private asset manager in Europe in the mid-cap growth and impact segments. Eurazeo is already the only player in continental Europe that operates in important segments with a platform model, continuously improving our relevance to clients.
Our performance and our ability to scale all of our strategies will be the hallmarks of the leadership we strive to achieve. To achieve our ambition, we have defined four key medium-term strategic objectives. First, strengthen our value proposition by focusing on our areas of strength. Second, transition to a less balance sheet-intensive business model, consistent with a shift towards asset management. Third, improve our market share by expanding our customer base. Fourth, improve our operational efficiency. This strategy should enable us to grow our results steadily, generate attractive returns for our shareholders, and, of course, reduce the discount of the share price relative to the intrinsic value of the company. 2024 has been a successful first year for the implementation of this plan, both financially and non-financially. Let me share with you a couple of key points.
On the financial front, we have achieved double-digit growth in asset management, thanks to a good year for inflows, which Christophe will come back to later. This growth has been profitable, with a clear improvement in our operating margin. Our Chair mentioned that our disposal rebounded strongly, with volumes three times higher in 2024 under good financial terms. On the balance sheet alone, the amount of key disposals was twice as high as in 2023. Finally, the investment portfolio posted mixed results. The strong revenue growth and profitability at portfolio companies, and this translated into significant underlying value creation for the balance sheet. However, this was offset by adjustments to certain legacy assets in buyout and growth. The value of the portfolio on the balance sheet is therefore down slightly, so minus 2% per share to EUR 117.8 at December 31st.
In 2024, we continue to strengthen our leadership in sustainability and impact investing. Sophie Flak, who oversees this initiative, will outline the key performance highlights. In terms of sustainability, we maintained or improved all of our non-financial ratings. We also saw strong momentum in fundraising for our impact funds. A couple of examples: our transition infrastructure fund exceeded its target by 40% to close at EUR 700 million, and our biotech franchise, Kerma, raised EUR 140 million in its first fundraising round for its fourth biotechnology vintage. Finally, at the beginning of 2025, we announced the first closing of our new buyout fund, Eurazeo Planet Boundaries Fund, EPBF, which is also an impact fund, at EUR 300 million. At our investor day, November 2023, we committed to increasing shareholder returns, and we did so in 2024 with a 10% dividend increase and a doubling of share buybacks.
For the record, the dividend per share had already increased by 26% in 2023, and for 2025, we are proposing to this meeting an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65 per share, representing a 10% increase over last year. Investors registered for more than two years are eligible for a 10% loyalty bonus. In the coming years, we intend to continue to increase this ordinary dividend on a regular basis. We're also doubling our share buyback program to EUR 400 million, compared with EUR 200 million last year. This was announced in November 2023 when we announced our strategic plan, and this is a sign of confidence in the value of our assets and a value-creating move at a time when our share price is still much too discounted. In total, this represents a further 50% increase in shareholder return expected in 2025. Let us now turn to the 2024 results.
As a reminder, we sold our stake in MCH in Spain and RON in the United States, and the figures have therefore been restated to exclude these contributions. Our fundraising was strong, again at EUR 4.3 billion, as Christophe will explain in more detail later. Assets under management increased by 4% in 2024, reaching EUR 36 billion, with assets under management for third parties, which is a key aspect. Now that's up 10%. Fee-paying AUM increased by 8% to EUR 27 billion. Third-party assets, which is a strategic objective in terms of switching models, that alone increased by 12%. Management fees amounted to EUR 421 million in 2024, up 7% compared to last year, on a like-for-like basis. This growth was even higher, at plus 14% for fees from third parties. Recurring asset management earnings, fee-related earnings, or FRE, for 2024 are once again up sharply.
They amounted to EUR 150 million for 2024, an increase of 11% compared to last year on a like-for-like basis. Our FRE margin improved by 110 basis points to 35.5%, which means that in 2024, we're already reaching a medium-term margin range of 35%-40%. This further increase in Eurazeo's operating leverage reflects our commitment to cost control as we continue to invest in our future growth. In summary, the contribution of asset management activities amounted to EUR 153 million in 2024. As indicated, recurring operating income rose sharply, with FRE increasing by plus 20% to EUR 150 million, and performance fees tripled thanks to higher realizations. Let's now turn to our investment activity. At the end of 2024, the net value of our portfolio stood at EUR 7.9 billion, down 5% compared with last year. This decrease was due to two key factors.
First, a negative scope effect linked to disposals and disciplined reinvestments, as announced. Also, a negative non-cash fair value change of EUR 323 million, representing a negative impact of -4%. The value per share, as I said before, stood at EUR 107.8 at the end of 2024, down by only 2%, thanks to the +4% positive impact of our share buyback program, which has a creative impact on the value of our portfolio. Value creation in 2024 reflects two fundamental dynamics. On the one hand, solid performance in our underlying assets in buyout, private debt, and real assets, with a 9% increase driven by the good performance of underlying assets, as I said before, and also our ability to achieve exits at a premium to asset value, despite the impairment of a small number of legacy assets.
Second, the continued adjustment of valuations in growth equity in a more conservative market environment. I would like to emphasize that portfolio value creation is never linear. Significant increases were recorded in 2021 and 2022, and the portfolio's average annual performance came to 10% over the last five years, taking into account 2021, 2022, but also 2023 and 2024, in line with our 10-year historical average. In total, the net income attributable to the growth for 2024 amounted to EUR -420 million for the year, comprising the following items. First, the positive contribution from asset management of EUR 158 million. Second, the negative contribution, mainly non-cash negative contribution from investment activities, of EUR 544 million, while mainly related to the portfolio movements, which I mentioned earlier. I will now hand over to Christophe, who will review our fundraising performance and asset rotation.
Thank you, William.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, it's nice to see you all again. Let me start with fundraising. As William just said, in 2024, we exceeded our initial targets. As we will soon see, we have also managed to significantly accelerate our rollout, as well as the disposals of our stakeholdings. In 2024, as you can see on this slide, we raised EUR 4.3 billion from our customers, exceeding the EUR 4 billion initially announced. This represents a 23% increase year on year, which follows a 21% increase in 2023. This performance clearly illustrates the quality of our activities, as well as the relevance of Eurazeo's positioning as a leading European player in the mid-market segment focused on growth and impact investments. This momentum is also well distributed across our various activities. Here are a few examples.
First, our private debt fund recorded strong fundraising. In 2024, we nearly doubled our fundraising in this asset class, notably with the successful first closing of our new flagship fund, EPD-7, Eurazeo Private Debt 7. Second, in buyout, we just announced the closing above expectations of our mid-large buyout program at over EUR 3 billion via the Eurazeo Capital 5 fund. This success is being driven by a new management team and confirms the quality of our franchise and the attractiveness of our mid-market positioning in a European buyout market that is slightly complex. Also, in private equity, our secondary program is progressing well, and we are continuing to raise funds for the venture program via the Eurazeo Digital 4 fund.
Finally, in real assets, our Sustainable Infrastructure Fund has finalized the closing of EUR 700 million last year, above its initial target of EUR 500 million, so 40% above it. This is a remarkable performance for a first-generation fund, which demonstrates that impact investing can be a powerful growth driver. In order to get 2025 off to a good start, we've just announced a very encouraging first closing of our impact buyout fund, EPBF, Eurazeo Planet Boundaries Fund. As William mentioned, we're talking EUR 300 million, and that's at first closing. Let me say a few words about our private debt business, which now represents EUR 9 billion in assets under management, and that's a key growth driver for the group. We have a new direct lending vintage, EPD-7, which has already raised EUR 2.5 billion from third-party clients in 2024.
In particular, this has attracted new international institutional investors, particularly in Asia. The lasting success of our direct lending franchise for private debt is based on three key pillars. They're simple, but they're key.
First of all, the differentiating positioning where competition from the banks is lower and yields for investors are higher. Next, a pan-European presence with an international team established in five key regions intervening across the European market. Finally, a history of robust, consistent performance over time with default rates close to zero. You will probably recall that at our Investor Day, we stated our ambition to develop our international presence with institutional investors and to strengthen our distribution channel dedicated to legacy clientele in France and overseas. In 2024, we've moved ahead on both fronts.
In two years, we have doubled the amounts raised with institutional international investors who represent now over 60% of our overall collection versus less than 40% a few years ago. In order to support this expansion, we have bolstered our sales teams with senior recruitments in key regions: Nordics, Middle East, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, where we opened an office in Tokyo. Our wealth solutions activity is rather unique in our sector and is the other key driver of our fundraising. With consistent and increasing flows in 2024, we raised over EUR 900 million through this channel, representing over 20% of our total fundraising. Over EUR 5 billion are from private clients, accounting for over 19% of our assets under management for third parties.
This success is mainly due to the success of our flagship Evergreen Fund, EPEV-3, which received an award at the IPEM with the prize for best mass affluent project. EPEV-3 is among the top three Evergreen funds for private markets in Europe. We have started to develop our wealth activity outside of France with a very promising start in key countries such as Belgium, where we already see significant flows. We are signing, continuing to sign distribution agreements in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. We are launching two new Evergreen funds dedicated to international distributors through our Prime Range. One of them is on private credit, and the other one is on secondary transactions in the private equity market. These initiatives will clearly enable us to step up our business in this promising sector. Now, let's look at 2025.
I have to say that we have a robust fundraising pipeline, both with institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Our funds are at different stages. For the flagship funds, we have momentum underway with our direct lending and secondary transaction programs. We are planning an initial closing for the Eurazeo Growth 4 Fund in the first half of this year and the launch of our fifth buyout program in the lower mid-market segment between now and the end of the year through Eurazeo PME. Three funds classified under Article 9 are also in the process of being launched: EPBF, which, as we've said previously, has just made its first closing at EUR 300 million; ESMI-2, which is wholly dedicated to the financing of decarbonization of maritime transport. We are preparing a second rollout of our Sustainable Infrastructure Fund.
We are also planning to launch the ESORI fund, Eurazeo Operational Real Estate, and we are continuing our fundraising through our venture capital strategy. Looking at wealth solutions, I have already mentioned the launch of two new Evergreen products, Prime, and we are also launching a new growth fund dedicated to high-net-worth individuals. Let's move on to investments and disposals. As you know, 2023 was a slack year for merger and acquisition transactions across all sectors. Eurazeo has done better than the market as a whole, and in 2024, we saw a gradual improvement in the market, and this is particularly true for the mid-market segment. We saw a strong step-up in disposals, which tripled from one year to the next to stand at EUR 3.4 billion, illustrating Eurazeo's capacity to monetize its assets and to generate distributions for its clients across all of its strategies.
Redemptions were done on good terms, reflecting the quality of our investment strategy, which is reflected in the strong performance for clients and for our balance sheet. We have actively continued our investments across all our favored sectors in all asset classes. We have rolled out EUR 4.6 billion in 2024, which is an 18% increase compared to previous years. Investments remain strong in private debt, consistent with our success in fundraising. We have also exploited very good opportunities, in particular with companies such as ERES and Rydou in financial services, IMA1 and Pantera in healthcare, or Ecovadis, Mistral, and Cognigy in technology and artificial intelligence. You will see new investments in environmental solutions such as Violine. As you can see, we saw dynamic, successful 2024, both in fundraising and in asset rotation.
We would like to share a point that was emphasized by the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board, Jean-Charles de Castella, that Eurazeo now has a purpose and five values. It's important to emphasize this. This is due to the teamwork over six months involving over 50 internal and external participants that was endorsed by our Supervisory Board and all our internal governance bodies. That's why we're very proud to share this with you here today. Our purpose has been set out in English so that it can be meaningful for all of our stakeholders, and it's worded as follows: championing European entrepreneurial excellence. The purpose, or the raison d'être in proper French, is a compass at key moments in the life of a company. Also, regarding Eurazeo, it's the key direction of our messages to our customers and our managers in the companies in the portfolio.
It genuinely sets out what we want and how our project is part of the company's business. It sets out why we want to be the preferred partner, championing because we aspire to be recognized as promoters and defenders of everything that is best in entrepreneurship, European, because that's our favorite territory. We want to be a facilitator between the European ecosystem and the rest of the world, entrepreneurial because directly or indirectly, we encourage and we facilitate the entrepreneurial spirit, not only in terms of business, but also through our CSR commitments or as an employer in excellence, because we are clearly on the side of what is best in Europe and the approach and the exemplary approach in terms of creativeness, cross-fertilization, responsibility, etc.
With our teams, we have also defined five values that we have posted on all walls, be it in Paris, London, or elsewhere. There is no hierarchy here. They represent a coherent whole, and we wanted not only that they should express in simple words, but also provide to everyone, for everyone, a definition so that they can be clearly shared by all without any ambiguity whatsoever. I won't dwell long on this, but to summarize, the first one, we strive for the highest standards that state that our culture is based on integrity, excellence, and professionalism. The second one, we foster entrepreneurial spirit, means that our state of mind is guided by innovation and boldness.
The third, we act with heart, reflects our passionate character and the commitment that we put across to our clients, to the managers of the companies in the portfolio, and between us, between all the teams in Eurazeo. The fourth, we engage for lasting impact, is consistent with our DNA and our ambition, which is to support companies that have a positive impact on society at large, and this is what we do at Eurazeo. In other words, meaningful finance. Finally, we move forward united, on which the supervisory board really gave us food for thought. This emphasizes the fact that as a team, as one Eurazeo, we encourage mutual support, encouraging close, robust relationships based on trust, listening to one another, and humility.
We're now rolling out the purpose and the values through our internal processes in order for this not just to be a concept, but a genuine reality which is seen by our teams and our external stakeholders. To summarize, we have achieved very good progress in 2024 on the two thrusts of our strategic plan: growth and transformation. We are building Eurazeo is building a market leader in private markets with clear, relevant positioning on the mid-market in Europe based on growth and impact. We are posting regular progress in our results driven by the growth in revenue and cost control. Finally, we are increasing the payback to our shareholders, which we have now doubled in the space of two years. Thank you very much from William and from myself. Thank you so much.
Thank you, William. Thank you, Christophe, for this presentation.
As you may have noticed, your shareholders, your company is moving and has strong roots, strong fundamentals, and our roadmap for 2025 is extremely committed. Now, I'd like to hand over to Sophie Flak. She'll present to us our sustainability report, which is a new thing. Sophie, you have the floor.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. 2024 a été marqué par la mise en place du nouvel règlement. 2024 was marked by the introduction of a new regulation, the CSRD, or Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Under the CSRD, we are required to identify and measure the most material impacts, risks, and opportunities on the sustainability front. We have identified seven key environmental, social, and governance issues that could have a major impact on your company's current and future performance. You can see those on the screen.
For Eurazeo, factoring sustainability into its strategy means, first and foremost, de-risking the entire investment process in order to maximize value creation at exit. Indeed, companies have no future unless they prepare for the new economic, environmental, and social reality. Climate change is underway. Climate change is also inevitable. Therefore, it is imperative to factor that in in order to maintain our competitiveness. Eurazeo's teams have been training for many years, and they are well equipped and fully mobilized, as you can see on the left. 100% of our funds factor sustainability into the investment process. The transition is also creating many opportunities. More and more businesses are offering products, services, and technologies that address the environmental and social challenges of our time. This is what we call impact investing. That is a growing contributor to your company's results, as you can see on the right-hand side.
Together with all of our employees, together with Christophe and William, I firmly believe that impact investing represents significant potential for profitable growth for Eurazeo. Today, it accounts for over EUR 5 billion, and that's 14% of our assets under management. Our positioning on profitable impact investments is also how we stand out and attract customers, particularly in Europe and in the U.S., as reflected in the EUR 420 million raised by our impact funds in 2024, representing nearly 10% of total fundraising. Let's now turn to the second material challenge for Eurazeo and its investments: climate change. Eurazeo's emissions come around 3.7 million tons of CO2, equivalent to the emissions of 380,000 French people. Unsurprisingly, more than 99% of those emissions are generated by the companies we finance.
We are committed to a strict decarbonization trajectory in line with the Paris Agreement, using the global scientific benchmark methodology called the SBTi, or rather the Science-Based Targets initiative. This is an assurance that we are serious about reducing our carbon footprint. We're not just greenwashing. As you know, the SBT methodology requires setting ambitious targets and transparently communicating the results that we achieve each year. You can see this on the screen. We are on track to meet our targets. You will notice an increase in Eurazeo's emissions. This increase is temporary. We are preparing our new premises on Rue Pierre Charron. However, on a like-for-like basis, we have continued to reduce our scope one and two emissions by 14% to 82 tons of CO2. Across the portfolio, we have improved our performance by 10 percentage points.
14% of our invested capital is covered by an approved decarbonization trajectory. We are making every effort to achieve our target of 25% by the end of the year and reach 100% by 2030. Amid uncertainty caused by geopolitical tensions, in particular, our clients and teams understand the need to invest in companies that are ready or that are getting ready for the new environmental reality in order to protect and maximize value creation. Finally, with regard to our teams and their working conditions, that is the third major material challenge for your company. Eurazeo has made significant progress in terms of gender parity, both among its employees and on its supervisory board. Women also account for 32% of our senior management, and this places us among the leaders in our industry. We also pay close attention to the working conditions of the 150,000 employees of the companies we finance.
I would like to emphasize that we are a major employer, both in France and in Europe. In conclusion, when you invest in Eurazeo, you are investing in a resilient company that manages its sustainability risks and seizes the opportunities generated by the new environmental and societal landscape. Eurazeo is a company that knows how to remain successful in a changing world. Thank you. Thank you, Sophie, for this sustainability report, which is now part and parcel of our strategy and of the ways in which we manage the companies that we are investing in. Now, let's hear from Gabriel Condé. As usual, Gabriel Condé will discuss the work carried out by the supervisory board in 2024. Gabriel, you are on. After presenting the work carried out by the supervisory board in 2024, Ms.
Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles, Chairwoman of the Compensation, Selection and Governance Committee, will provide more details on that work over the past year. As of December 31, 2024, your board was composed of 12 members, including two employee representatives and one non-voting member. Your company complies with current regulations with 50% female representation on the board and 60% independent members. At the end of today's shareholders' meeting, Ms. Stéphane Pallez, Chairwoman of the Audit Committee and member of the supervisory board for 12 years, will not be standing for re-election, and you will be asked to vote on the re-election of JCDecaux Holding SAS, represented by Emmanuel Russel and Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau, Vice-Chairman of the board. The composition of the board reflects our goal of diversity in terms of profiles and professional experience.
It's also balanced with members who have long-standing knowledge of the company and members who have joined the board more recently. The new members, appointed at last year's AGM, confirmed your board's desire to further strengthen its financial analysis skills, knowledge of asset management and private equity, and expertise in the governance of listed companies. They have also strengthened the expertise of the Audit and Compensation Committee at a time of significantly increased workloads for your group's governance bodies. You are familiar with the general duties assigned by law and/or by laws to your Eurazeo supervisory board. You can see it on the screen. Remind you that Eurazeo's strategic transformation into a diversified international asset management platform has led to a change in the board's duties in recent years.
Your board now devotes its activities to reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the general strategy, reviewing and monitoring the strategy of the investment divisions, allocating the company's equity capital to the funds, the performance of those funds, and, of course, your group's ESG strategy. During the 2024 financial year, new topics were examined in detail at the request of your board, such as the sustainability report, also the succession plan for the group's key executives, which was reviewed by the Compensation Committee. Four specialized standing committees assist the supervisory board in its decision-making in accordance with best governance practices. The Audit and Compensation Committees are chaired and composed of a very large majority of independent members. During fiscal 2024, several appointments were made to strengthen these committees. Isabelle Hiary and Katia Lawson-Hall were appointed to the Audit Committee.
Isabelle Hiary and Julie Croquin, employee representatives, were appointed to the Compensation Committee, and Louis Stern was appointed to the Finance Committee. Following Ms. Pallez's departure, I would like to inform you that the supervisory board has decided to appoint Serge Chauvin as chairman of the Compensation Committee and Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles as chairwoman of the Audit Committee. Both are independent. Your supervisory boards, rather, your supervisory bodies met 19 times in 2024. This sustained activity reflects your members' strong involvement in monitoring the executive board's implementation of the strategic plan. As you can see on the screen, attendance rates at these meetings are particularly high, demonstrating the commitment of these members. It should be noted that two executive sessions were held during the financial year, bringing together the members of the board of directors without the presence of the members of the management board.
During the six board meetings held during fiscal 2024, main topics were discussed. You can see them on the screen. They revolve around four main themes: monitoring the implementation of the group strategy investment divisions, allocating the company's equity capital to the funds, reviewing the performance of the funds managed by the group, as well as its financial performance, and also governance and compensation. As it does every year, the Compensation Committee conducted an evaluation of the board among its members, as recommended by the AFEP MEDEF Code and the High Council of Corporate Governance, as we do every three years. This evaluation was conducted this year by the independent firm Spencer Stuart. The chairman of the board also conducted individual interviews with each member to gather their assessment of the work carried out during the year and their expectations for the coming year.
This assessment reflects a significant qualitative improvement in the functioning of governance within Eurazeo, and the members are very satisfied with the positive developments in your company's governance and the trusting and transparent dialogue with the executive board. Among the recommendations for 2025, your company will strengthen the training program for board members this year, as well as informal meetings between board members and group executives in a context of growing complexity in our businesses. Thank you for your attention.
Merci, Gabriel, pour ce compte rendu des travaux. Thank you, Gabriel, for setting out the work that has been done. It's a very intensive effort here. I would now like to hand over to Madame Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles, who is the chairperson of the Remuneration, Selection and Governance Committee, the RSG Committee, who, as is customary, presents the work of the committee. Oh, okay.
Bonjour à tous, chers actionnaires.
J'ai le plaisir donc pour. Hello, everyone, dear shareholders. I am pleased to report on the work of the Compensation, Selection and Governance Committee, the CAG Committee, over the past year, as I do every year. I would like to start by thanking the members of this committee for their regular attendance and their active and extremely constructive contribution to our work during fiscal 2024 and the first quarter of 2025. As you can see on the screen, our committee currently has six members, half of whom are independent, and one of whom is an employee representative. Following this AGM, I will be pleased to hand over the chairmanship of this committee to Serge Chauvin, because the supervisory board has decided to appoint me to succeed Stéphane Pallez as chairperson of the Audit Committee. I have my work cut out for myself.
This year, we met nine times, and this sustained activity was, of course, mainly linked to a shared desire on the part of the committee and the company's leadership team to review policies and market practices across all remuneration aggregates for Eurazeo employees: fixed salaries, variable remuneration, long-term compensation, and co-investment programs. In-depth studies were conducted, sometimes with the help of independent experts, in order to compare our practices with those of our peers and propose any necessary adjustments. Of course, the committee also worked actively throughout the year on the structural issues that fall within its remit: the composition of the board, the gender pay equality policy, the treatment of related party agreements, and the assessment of the board's performance for 2024. Let me start with changes in variable compensation for executive board members for 2024.
As I mentioned, the quantitative criteria for variable pay were completely redefined in 2023 in order to better align the interests of executives with those of shareholders. That is a constant concern for the CAG Committee. These new criteria result in variable compensation for members of the executive board of 75.9% of their fixed salary. This result is linked to more ambitious performance criteria set by the supervisory board, performance criteria that are more ambitious than in previous years, and also linked to the failure to meet the criterion related to the change in net asset value for 2024 in a global economic environment that is generally fragile, and also in line with the group's prudent and disciplined valuation policy, as William Kadouch-Chassaing pointed out earlier.
On the other hand, I would like, and I think that the rest of the committee agrees with me, I would like to highlight the excellent performance of the criteria relating to the development of asset management, which is your company's priority. First of all, on FRE, fee-related earnings, that is the group's operating margin. You heard about that before. Chiefly, the achievement of the fundraising criterion in a market that was in sharp decline in 2024. Above all, our outperformance of our fundraising criterion compared with our budget. Finally, I would like to note the committee's unanimous desire to commend in the qualitative section of the 2024 bonus the successful execution by your management board of the first year of our group's strategic and modernization plan, as our chairman pointed out in his introduction. Je vous prie donc de trouver à l'écran l'ensemble.
You will see on display on the screen the variable remuneration of members of the management board for 2024, as decided upon by the supervisory board and which are tabled through the resolution which will be put to the vote at the end of this general meeting. I would also like to move on to the composition of the supervisory board. As we said earlier, we are recommending the renewal of the term of Mr. Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau, who is Vice-Chair of the supervisory board and a member of the finance and RSG committees. Olivier has been a member of your supervisory board for over 20 years. He represents the David Viall family, which is the founder of Eurazeo and the second largest shareholder in the group. His attendance at the supervisory board and at the committees is 100%.
We are also recommending the renewal of the term of JCDecaux Holding, represented by its CEO, Emmanuel Russel, Chairperson of the RSG, the CSR Committee, and member of the Finance, Audit, and RSG Committees. Mr. Russel represents the Decaux family, which is a key shareholder of Eurazeo since 2017. He has also attended 100% of the meetings. Now, regarding the composition of the supervisory board, as Gabriel mentioned a few minutes ago, Stéphane Pallez is not asking for the renewal of her term. I would like, on behalf of the RSG Committee and on my own behalf, to thank her very warmly. Merci beaucoup. I extremely friendly thank you for her wonderful contribution to the growth of Eurazeo over the past 12 years. The unanimous view is that she has been a wonderful Chairperson of the Audit Committee for our group.
After this general assembly, the board will therefore comprise 11 members, including two representatives of the employees and one lead director. It will comprise 44% of women, 56% of independent members, which puts Eurazeo at the top of our governance standards. Regarding the remuneration policy for 2025, we have decided on three adjustments that we felt were essential midway through the mandate of the management board in order for the variable remuneration criteria to better reflect the business model of our group. I'll start off with the second point, which is a variable remuneration criteria.
We have decided to lower the weighting regarding performance of total shareholder return of Eurazeo in relation to the LPX Index because we felt it was too volatile over a single fiscal year and to reweight the, to readjust the criteria for fundraising and fee-related earnings, FREs, which are at the heart of the mandate entrusted to the Management Board, namely the development of the asset management. Regarding the criterion on the creation of value of the JVP in absolute terms, we have not modified the current trend, but we have introduced the concept or the idea whereby 80% of the criteria would be based on the creation of value across the whole of the portfolio and 20% only on investments completed since January 2023, since the beginning of the current Management Board's term.
Regarding long-term management remuneration criteria, we've decided on a consistent evolution, consistent with the mandate entrusted to the Management Board, integrating a new criteria representing 10% of the evolution of the valuation of the criterion regarding the long-term performance of the portfolio on the balance sheet. There we have the weighting down by 70% from 70% to 50%, and we have increased the weighting of criteria regarding the performance of total shareholder return versus the SBF 120 and the LPX. Regarding the fixed remunerations, the salaries of members of the Management Board, we've decided to raise the salary of Madame Sophie Flak from EUR 400,000 at present to EUR 450,000 in order to valorize the broadening of her area of expertise. Sophie, indeed, is now supervising, in addition to her supervisory duties on ESG and digital, the development of the EPBF investment division.
The RSG Committee also looked at the end of the conditions for the end of the term of duty of Mr. Olivier Millet, who's announced his intention to resign as a member of the board. Regarding his resignation, Mr. Millet was not eligible for a severance payoff further to his corporate officer's mandate. His payoff has been established in strict compliance with legal requirements. As part of this departure and with early transition in a harmonious manner, Olivier Millet will keep the benefit of his performance shares on a pro-rata temporary basis, of course. Finally, the company wanted to be able to continue to draw on the expertise of Mr. Olivier Millet as a senior advisor, in particular for the fundraising for the PME5 fund.
I would like to thank Olivier on behalf of all the RSG Committee for his 20 years of commitment to Eurazeo, the building of one of the leading franchises in Europe on the small cap segment, and for preparing a succession which has really been of very good quality and very beneficial to the company. Regarding long-term instruments, after a precise in-depth review of market comparisons, nine and a half months of performance shares have been allocated to the Co-CEOs and seven months for Madame Sophie Flak for the number of shares. I think you have the exact number of shares that have been granted appearing on the screen, and this is contingent on performance criteria presented just a few moments ago over a three-year period. Moreover, we've authorized two new joint investment programs and the subscription to these programs of members of the management board.
As you know, these joint investment programs enable an alignment of interest between the senior management and employees of Eurazeo, who thus invest in funds that are managed by the group alongside third-party investments with an incentive. The detailed presentation of these programs and the amounts invested by the members of the management board are set out in the fourth resolution, which is being tabled, put to the vote, as well as in the registration document of the company. Finally, regarding the remuneration policy of the members of the supervisory board, we have not modified the overall amount which has been established since 2018, nor the fixed and variable shares of remuneration. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Françoise. Thank you for this very exhaustive report, as always.
I would, of course, wish on behalf of the supervisory board to thank and commend Stéphane Pallez, who's sitting here right in front of me. Stéphane, I would like to thank you for your commitment, your unswerving commitment, your intelligence. As you can imagine, in order to transform a group, you need to have a vision, you need a will, and you need a team and team commitment. I think that Stéphane Pallez, as the Chairwoman of the Audit Committee and as an experienced corporate officer, has greatly contributed and challenged specific topics, given her strategic insight, her technical ability. On the unanimous decision of the supervisory board and the management board who are here today, I think we can thank her for having discharged her duties with extraordinary commitment and loyalty, which have made a very significant contribution to our group.
I think that all of our teams and our shareholders here in the room, I think we can thank her very warmly. I would like us to give her a very warm round of applause. Thank you so much, Stéphane. After this slightly emotional moment, let's get back to our meeting. I'd now like to call on Madame Chauvin from Lazare to report on the work of the statutory auditors for 2024. Over to you.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. The statutory auditors have published six reports, which are in the registration document that has been submitted to the AMF by your group. Three reports on the ordinary general meeting and three reports regarding the extraordinary general meeting. Our first two reports concern the annual financial statements and the consolidated annual financial statements.
Your management board has established the financial statements and the consolidated financial statements of your group consistent with French accounting principles and IFRS standards. We certify that these accounts are accurate and provide a faithful and accurate reflection of the financial situation and the assets of your company and the group. Consistent with provisions of the Commerce Code, our reports present the key points of the audit. These key items of the audit are presented in detail in the report. These key points of the audit have been discussed in detail with your group's management and with our Audit Committee. Our third report concerns the related party agreements and is presented in page 354 of the registration document.
In this report, we are presenting for each related party agreement or commitment the nature of the related party agreement, the benefit of the related party agreement for your company, the financial terms associated with these related party agreements, and the physical and legal persons. In the first part of the report, we indicate that the related party agreements that have been approved by your supervisory board and concluded during the year have been subliminal. This year, two new related party agreements are being tabled for your approval. They concern the establishment of joint investment programs as decided by the meeting of the supervisory board on the 12th of December 2024, Eurazeo Planet Boundaries Fund and Citadel Continuation Fund, SLP.
In the second part of this report, we recall that in the first instance, the related party agreements that you've already approved at previous general meetings during the previous year and the next, the related party agreements approved at the general meeting of the 7th of May 2024. We do not have any comments on the information provided in the management board report on authorizations and transactions in the visit. The definitive conditions in which the issue will be made were not said. We do not have any particular opinion on this. We will provide an additional report if necessary when these authorizations are used by your management board. Thank you very much. Thank you, Monsieur Chauvin.
I will now hand over to the General Secretary Gabriel Kunde, who will now present the resolutions submitted to your vote this year. Gabriel, you're on.
Bien, Mesdames et Messieurs, nous avons une liste de 22 résolutions cette année. Ladies and gentlemen, this year we have a list of 22 resolutions, 18 resolutions for within the remit of the ordinary GM and full comment of the extraordinary GM. The full text of the resolutions is included in the meeting notice and in the EORD on pages 333 and sequin. Resolutions 1 and 3 concern the approval of the individual and consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2024. Second, the allocation of the net loss and the payout of dividends. The allocation of earnings is presented on the screen this year. We propose an ordinary dividend of EUR 2.65 per share, corresponding to an increase of +10%, a 10% dividend premium, i.e., EUR 2.92 per share.
The increased dividend will therefore be paid in lieu of the ordinary dividend exclusively to shares held in registered form no later than December 30, 2024, which remain registered in this form without interruption until the dividend payment date. The number of shares eligible for this dividend increase may not exceed 0.5% of the share capital for any single shareholder. The dividend will be detached from the share on May 26, 2025, and paid on May 28, 2025. Resolution 4, approval of the related party agreements and commitments presented in the special report of the statutory auditors referred to earlier by Virginie Chauvin. These mainly concern the contractual documentation to be entered into with the members of the executive board and the members of the investment team to govern the respective investments and funds open to third-party investors.
Two co-investment programs were authorized during fiscal 2024: Eurazeo Planet Boundaries Fund and Citadel Continuation Fund, LZP. Resolution 5, renewal of the term of office of Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau as a member of the supervisory board for a period of four years. I would like to point out the subject to his reappointment as a member of the supervisory board. Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau was reappointed by the supervisory board on March 5th, 2025, as Vice Chairman of the supervisory board for the duration of his term of office as a member of the supervisory board. We also propose, by way of the 6th resolution, to renew the term of office of JCDecaux Holding SAS, represented by Emmanuel Russel, as a member of the supervisory board for a term of four years.
By way of resolutions 7 and 8, we submit for your approval the 2025 Compensation Policy for members of the Supervisory Board and the Management Board presented in the EORD and mentioned earlier by Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles. Under resolutions 9 to 14, we propose that you approve the remuneration paid or awarded to Jean-Charles de Castella, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, and Christophe Bavière, William Kadouch-Chassaing, Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau, not forgetting Sophie Flak, members of the Executive Board for fiscal 2024, as well as the remuneration report relating to these corporate officers. I would remind you that on March 17th, 2025, the Supervisory Board of Eurazeo took note of the resignation of Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau from his position as member of the Executive Board.
Consequently, by voting on resolution 14, you are also asked to approve the compensation and benefits paid or granted to Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau from January 1 to March 17, 2025, including the terms and conditions of his termination. These items have been presented to you by Ms. Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles and can be found on page 192 of our EORD. The purpose of resolution 15 is to renew the authorization for share buyback program within the legal limits enforced, i.e., up to 10% of the share capital. The features of this program are shown on the screen. Pursuant to the provisions of the order of December 6, 2023, transposing the CSRD directive, your company is required to appoint an auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information.
Therefore, we propose, by way of resolution 16, to appoint Forvis Mazars as statutory auditor responsible for certifying sustainability information for a term of four financial years corresponding to the remaining term of its mandate as statutory auditor for the certification of accounts. By way of resolution 17, we submit for your approval the ratification of this decision of the supervisory board on October 16, 2024, to transfer the company's registered office to 66 Rue Pierre Charron in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. We will now move on to the extraordinary resolutions. By way of resolution 16, we propose to renew the authorization granted to the management board to reduce the share capital by canceling all or part of the shares that the company holds or may acquire under share buyback programs up to a limit of 10% of the share capital per 24-month period.
This authorization will cancel and replace resolution 22 voted by the AGM on April 26, 2023. By way of resolution 19, we propose that you renew the authorization granted to the management board to allocate existing or newly issued shares of the company free of charge to employees or corporate officers of the company and/or its affiliates. It is proposed to renew this authorization under the same conditions as the authorization granted on April 28, 2022, in its 35th resolution, namely, the maximum number of shares that may be allocated free of charge is 3% of the share capital for a period of 38 months, an average of 1% per year. Within this limit, the number of shares that may be allocated free of charge to corporate officers is limited to 1.5% of the share capital on the date of the management board's decision.
We note that on the recommendation of the CAG Committee, the Supervisory Board on March 6th, 2024, decided that starting in fiscal 2024, the long-term compensation of Management Board members and eligible employees will consist solely of performance shares. Consequently, it has been decided not to renew the resolution authorizing the granting of options to subscribe for or purchase shares in the company, which will expire on June 27th, 2025. Resolution 20, renew the authorization granted to the Management Board to carry the capital increase through the issuance of shares and/or securities giving access to capital reserved for members of the company's savings plan, employees of Eurazeo or its affiliates. Affiliates, so for a maximum nominal amount of EUR 2 million, which is identical to that authorized by the shareholders' meeting on May 7th, 2024.
By way of resolution 21, we propose in accordance with the provisions of the Attractiveness Act of June 13, 2024, to amend Article 13 of the Articles of Association relating to the deliberations of the supervisory board in order to specify the procedures for consulting the members of the supervisory board in writing, using postal voting, and for any member of the supervisory board to object to the use of written consultation. It is specified this mechanism is intended for ad hoc meetings where applicable, in addition to the six meetings scheduled in the supervisory board's annual calendar. Finally, the 22nd and last resolution grants the power to complete the customary formalities. Thank you for your kind attention. Chers actionnaires, nous avons maintenant le grand plaisir de. Dear shareholders, time for Q&A. We're standing by to answer your questions. We have ushers with microphones and placards.
Please raise your hand should you want to ask a question. Question 1, Monsieur Le Bois. Mr. Le Bois, rather. Bonjour, messieurs-dames. D'abord, félicitations à Monsieur Ducos.
Good morning. Congratulations, Mr. Ducos. Il paraît très objectif. For so objectively describing the current economic environment. I have a question regarding subscription to the products. Can they be subscribed directly with Eurazeo, or do we need to go through a financial intermediary? Second question regarding the increase in dividend. Do we need to subscribe with a financial intermediary? How long does it take to get it, or do we register directly? And this ties in with my first question regarding the wealth fund, which is intended for individual investors. Thank you kindly for your answers.
Thank you, sir, for your comment and your three questions. I'll let Christophe, William, and Gabriel answer those three questions.
Let me start by thanking you first and foremost for showing such a keen interest. Now, the funds intended for individual investors can be subscribed to with banks, insurance companies, and wealth managers. We're happy to recommend some of our partners. You can include them in life insurance schemes, retirement funds, and some of those products can be subscribed directly, and this gives you tax breaks. You may or may not go through dedicated financial intermediaries because we do not specialize in individual investors, and the outstandings for this product already come to EUR 3 billion. It's our flagship product, EPEV-3. Like I said, outstandings under management come to EUR 3 billion. It's easy to subscribe. You can do it every week. It's open for 99 years, so that's a long time. You can exit through our gates for exiting every quarter.
Our teams will be happy to provide you with additional details if necessary, but it's simply to go through a retirement savings fund or life insurance schemes. That's the easiest way to subscribe. Now, the increase is 10% for holders of pure registered shares who have been holding those shares for over two years. Hold your horses. Please repeat the question. Because we can't really hear you up here on stage. Vous passez par un intermédiaire financier, mais quand même. You go through a financial intermediary, but there's still registered shares? The answer is yes, it is possible. So you need a financial intermediary in order to convert those shares to registered shares. Does that answer your question? On vous attend sur le fonds Wells. We are looking forward to your subscription of the wealth fund. We have people in this room. They can help you. Number two. No worries.
Everybody will get a chance. Hello. Cher Lucas, I'm an individual shareholder. I'm extremely disappointed in share in stock exchange performance, whether over the past nine months, the past year, the past three years. There are several things I want to understand. First of all, what about your poor performance in investment? The cherry on the cake, isn't it? How do you explain such dismal performance? Secondly, Eurazeo's investment philosophy, how do you stand apart from your competition, other investment players, and what are the common denominators? We have Berkshire Hathaway's method because they're the benchmark at a global level. Maybe there are things that you disagree on. It's very possible. Since Virginie Morgon left the group, what's happened to the group? Up until 2023, you had on board one of the top most influential women on the planet. Objectively, have you stock taken?
It came to EUR 1.1 billion, down by EUR 430 million in 2024. What is the trademark of the new leadership team? Thank you. Since this lady's departure.
Oui, comment c'est? On ne va peut-être pas répondre sur la question de ce que vous pensez du management. No, I'm not going to answer your question regarding your thoughts on our management team, but this actually ties in with your first question on share price. EUR 65 is true. This is much lower than the intrinsic value. We believe that the company's intrinsic value is much higher than EUR 120 per share, take the EUR 108. That's the value of the portfolio to date. You need to take out EUR 18. That's net debt on December 31st. And add, if we take the average from the different financial analysts that follow our share price, take out EUR 30 million for asset management.
As you can see, we are significantly lower than the company's intrinsic value, considering today's share price. If you look at it from a different angle, there is huge potential for improvement. There are other things that are much more positive that have taken place. For example, the new leadership team. Let me tell you that in 2023, 2024, until mid-2024, Eurazeo's share price outperformed the various indices in its sector, and that is something that had not happened in a long time because we finally adopted a clear strategy, a clear business model for capital allocation and growth. Also, asset managers and our positioning as asset managers. You may remember that in November 2023, the share price improved by 15%, and then throughout 2023, it improved by 24%, which was higher than the sector's index in Europe and also the SBF 120.
In 2024, political stability happened in France and Europe. We re-established correlation with the SBF 120, and we decorrelated from the SPX. Since 2025, early 2025, we have been outstanding quarter storm. Eurazeo, minus 9%. It is, of course, a source of disappointment for us. Equity minus 9%, Bridgepoint minus 25%, Antin minus 12%. Same thing for the rest of the competition. There are global events that are impacting our model. As a result, diversified finance players, specialist players such as asset managers, are withstanding quite a storm. I understand that this answer may not satisfy you. How can we satisfy you? How can we go back to the good old days of November 2023 to mid-2024?
The situation of overperformance, as Françoise Mercadal-Delasalles said earlier, that's precisely why a correlation between compensation, share price compensation, has been strengthened by the Compensation Committee. That is the indicator that we'll monitor closely as a token of success. Now, in our equity story, there are two plans that are seen as attractive by investors. A growth plan in order to restore our leadership as a true asset manager. Let me remind you of what happened. This is an important factor. As you can see, the indicators are moving into positive territory on our ability to show that the asset management is well understood by the clients. It has a good positioning. It's gaining market share, whereas you have negative collection in the industry as a whole. Next, there's a transformation plan. The transformation plan is very closely linked to our ability to exit assets.
You're talking about 2021, which was an exceptional year in investments, a rebound, a recovery in the indices after the pandemic in 2020. Eurazeo rotated over 35% of its balance sheet at the time. That was a different situation altogether. Our context is the war in Ukraine, energy crisis, negative interest rates between 2014 and 2022, and now interest rates that are well back into positive territory with all the consequences on inflation. You can see what's happening in the asset management industry as a whole. You see what's happened in terms of turbulence since early 2025. Fundamentally, we're operating in a completely different environment. However, we've made gains. We've sold more assets than the sector on average, looking at the rotation indicator. We presented a four-year plan, a four-year plan that will bring out value in four dimensions. One, growth of a robust asset management.
Number two, the reweighting, adjustment of the weighting between what we have on the balance sheet, which is still discounted across most of the holdings, it's a 50% discount, and the asset management should enable the discount to close in on the portfolio section. You have EUR 2.3 billion basically that has been returned to investors. There is some turbulence since the beginning of the year. You're quite right in saying that the stock market performance is unsatisfactory, but it's for us to deliver results consistently over the four-year period, which is the average period for holding assets. We can't rotate the whole balance sheet in less than four years. Just a few words on what has changed. I don't want to talk about persons. You have people in a company, and you respect the people you have.
The first thing we've given to this company is that we have endowed the company with a business model. We're not a hybrid operator. We're an asset management. We have structured everything that had to be structured in order to be a high-performance asset management. We've laid the foundations regarding transactions, steering operations, allocation of balance sheet, compliance, IT. We built the base with HR. We've built the foundations for the HR, and then we've closed in on performance. With that very long reply, I'll now answer to your question on investment. For those who joined the company three years ago, we have the legacy of many years where there were not only good investments, so the weight of the inventory accounts for the fact that in 2023 and 2024, we had zero value creation on the balance sheet.
Put in other words, everything that was invested since 2023 has posted a double-digit value creation. We've been here since February 2023. As a reminder, we'll see how it works out over time, but that's the answer I can give here and now. I'll have a question on the investment philosophy of Eurazeo. You had a question there. Attacking the Americans on all this, we have to be humble here, but we're sharing the fact that there's an investment philosophy at Eurazeo, and it's fairly unique, and it's very difficult for others to copy it. What we're financing are companies, small, medium-sized companies, and we're helping them to grow more quickly than average. To do that, we have methods.
What you should take away, if there's one thing to take away, the Eurazeo teams have their expertise, but the ones who really have the talent are the managers of the stakes that we hold. We ensure that the growth of these companies is higher than average. We take small companies sometimes. We invest a lot in innovation. We're among the biggest investors in venture firms, in highly innovative companies. We take other companies, and we help them to consolidate their sector. Europe is a wonderful universe for mid-sized companies. We have to help them. What we're doing is applying buy and build, external growth. ITRASYNG is the leader in cybersecurity, and when they buy their leading U.K. competitor and become a European leader, they become number one in Europe. It is more expensive than a local leader.
Another thing that we're doing, and we have offices around the world to do this. Very few investment funds can say that they have a team of a dozen persons in China that are helping the companies funded by Eurazeo. We're not talking about relocating. We're talking about increasing our business in China and Asia. When we take a company like Dork, which makes medical equipment for eye surgery, and we help them to open up the Chinese market to penetrate the market. When you're the leader in medical equipment for eye surgery in Europe and you go into the Asian market, this creates value. You have heard this in Sophie's presentation. The fourth driver is to say, with or without Trump, we have climate change. It's upon us. If we don't help companies, there's no secret here.
In five years, we'll be thinking about this and handing over to another financial investor. If we don't help these companies on climate change today, to better understand that in five years, the criteria will be even more strict on processes, on governance, and societal environmental issues. Eurazeo's philosophy is that we take European champions. Dork, maybe a lot of you know, the leading company for medical equipment for eye surgery. We take those champions. We help them to grow through innovation, through external growth by buying their competitors, through international growth, by improving their ESG processes. That's the philosophy of Eurazeo. To conclude, after those answers, William and Christophe's answers are very clearly articulated. Going back to the last point of your question, to a few words.
When you make that kind of decision, when a supervisory board makes that kind of decision, it's a decision that's based on facts. There were different issues that led us to make this decision. First of all, clarification of the strategy that was necessary. I think that was implicit in your question when you asked the question. The second thing is that we had announced since 2018 an acceleration in the transformation of the company and a shift towards asset management. Finally, a business model that has to be based on the long-standing structure, but on the client culture and the approach, the philosophy of our partners, which is quite different. We felt that this has not been dealt with sufficiently in depth, in speed, and quality of execution.
The third point, and William made this clear, it was the method for a company that's an international company that has a horizon that's European and that seeks to take European or domestic champions in order to make them into large global groups. You need a method and a process. Investment is not an art. It's a science. Art is, from time to time, and science is consistent over time. Even though people may no longer believe quite as strongly across the Atlantic, we do have to base ourselves on science. The fourth important point was consistency in performance. For all of those reasons, and without talking about individuals, I don't like doing that at all, we needed change.
That is why in 2023, the change took place, notwithstanding all the qualities that you've referred to, which are clearly very real. It was not a matter of personal issues here. It was a matter of corporate strategy. Looking at the share price, it is obviously very important because it is the referee. If you are a joint CEO, I am just the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board. As you know, the strategic execution is in the hands of the Management Board. The Supervisory Board plays its role, but does not exceed that role. It is important to recall that if this general meeting had taken place six months ago, the picture would have been, the snapshot would have been very different. As you are an experienced, enlightened person, you know this for a while. The spot stock price is always a very delicate matter.
We definitely cannot say that the share price is where it should be. Not so long ago, it was at EUR 80. It is now at EUR 65. I do not think that reflects all the work that is being done with a lot of commitment by the management board, which is here today, and for all the teams, some of which are here with us in the room. Inevitably, inexorably, the reality will emerge. Geopolitics is not an excuse, but it does provide an explanation. The choices we have made in recent weeks should help us in that clarification, this acceleration, and the consistency of the results over time of our excellent company. I think there were some other questions.
Sir? Three? Hello, chairperson. I am an individual long-term shareholder.
With a long-term view, from what I've understood, the strategic evolution of the group is such that investments are being made in share capital and investment that are being done through funds that are going to grow. What are the benefits and drawbacks of both of these forms of investment or investment channels? Clearly, investors may want to see a return over a specific timeline, four to five years. Is it not possible to have investments that take you beyond four to five years? That's the benefits and drawbacks of investing in share capital. Next, on debt, you're saying that debt represents an investment for the future. You have debt on the one hand, and you have equity capital on the other. You need to be very careful that you maintain a proper balance between the two.
Now, the thing is, not everyone takes part in general meetings. Not everyone votes on the important decisions for the company. How can I put it? How can you exercise your knowledge to develop the company? It's not altogether clear to me. Next, you invested in many companies. Could we not hear a bit more about that? Looking at AI companies, can you tell us how you go about meeting business leaders, CEOs, funding these companies? Are these companies going to remain in a portfolio for five years, and there will be a multiple of 2.3 or 2.5? Could it be an investment, which is what others have done in OpenAI? The valuation levels are very significant. As a small shareholder, we would be very happy to be able to enjoy the investment and the development of companies. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you for those three questions. There's no such thing as a small shareholder, not for Eurazeo. Okay, I'll take the first one, and Christophe will answer the other two questions. We would like to thank individual shareholders for their loyalty. You account for 12% of the total share capital, and the number of individual shareholders has increased by 50% over the past three years. Let me address your first question and also your second question regarding debt. That's true also for the third question on strategy. Obviously, all of that is core to our strategy. This ties in with the question raised by the previous person. At the end of the day, this is core to what we try to define, and that's our business model. What about this company's future business model? Eurazeo was an investment holding, and then it switched to a more hybrid model.
This is not a model that revolves around the stock exchange. It's not a management-based model either. People need to understand why they get up in the morning. They get up to serve their customers. Today, this is a model that does not allow for a perfect alignment when it comes to capital allocation. We have decided to radically overhaul the model. We decided to switch to something new. It's a bit like digital technology or customer base. We do not do things halfway. We decided to switch to an asset management-based model. This means that in the future, in terms of our balance sheet, we will invest only in funds developed by the asset manager. We will no longer be developing pure on-account strategies. No. This being said, we will not invest in funds systematically. For each fund, we take a look.
We decide whether or not making an investment will improve our competitive edge when it comes to fundraising. Maybe customers feel that it's a good thing to have Eurazeo on their side with specific structure, etc. We won't do that. We won't do that unless we are convinced that the fundraising strategy works for you and makes your money work for you and delivers the level of performance that's compatible with the best quartile for our comparables. The third aspect, and you're absolutely right, this means that we don't need EUR 8 billion to develop our asset management activity. We have about EUR 8 billion in equity. This means that we told the markets and we shared the strategy with the market. We're going to calibrate the balance sheet based on what we need in the future to develop asset management and have proper performance levels.
The rest, we will return to our shareholders. That is what we are doing. Now, as a subscript to what William said, do not pit the two together. Management for yourself and management for third parties. I mean, why should you pit one against the other? It means we have more resources. We have a team of 10 people in China that helps those companies financed by Eurazeo to grow their business in China. It is a good thing. Very few investment funds can boast the same, can claim that they have a structured team and that they have already supported French SMEs and ETIs on the Chinese market. We need to do much better than this. We do not have a team in India, but the Indian market is very promising. The middle class is rising there.
This is why we're working in the field of ophthalmology, because eye surgery is a key requirement in the Indian market. There is no opposition between developing on-account and third-party asset management. We've invested quite a bit into our HR, into our own talents. Using this example, one day, we will need to be able to provide the same level of service to our companies in India. You had a question on debt. It's true. It's a main aspect of the kind of financing we provide. We never provide funds to a company through both debt and equity. When we do use debt, we use the same investment philosophy. This brings us back to your question. We use the same philosophy as when we provide equity. We provide financing to companies that are busy consolidating their presence in Europe.
You cannot consolidate unless you have received a little bit of help from a partner through debt. There is this company called CVTs, and they are busy consolidating the vet clinic market. Many of these vet clinics are held by 60-year-old vets. Sixty years ago, they used to be the entrepreneur in the neighborhood, but not anymore. Their children are not going to keep up the business. There are chains that are taking over the market, and they want to streamline their cost structure. Getting back to what we are doing, for debt, we use the same philosophy, the same investment philosophy as we do for equity. If that is your key takeaway, make it this. Duly noted.
There are hundreds of companies that receive financing from Eurazeo, and they deserve that we spend the time and explain to you the extent to which companies in Europe are talented, and they can fast-track their innovation drive. They can consolidate the market. Instead of just being a leader on the French market, they can become a leader in Europe. It is a social pride for us all as French citizens and as EU citizens. We want to do better than the Americans. We need to adapt better to global changes. Thank you. One last question. The clock is ticking.
Hello. A quick question. My name is Mr. Jander. You invest 6% of your capital in treasury shares that are about EUR 2.5 million. That is 3% of the capital allocated to performance shares or bonus shares. Do you believe that is the right ratio?
Do you believe this ratio will last over time? You said you wanted to return money to shareholders. Ultimately, on their limitations when it comes to canceling 10% of the share capital, is that a restriction for you? The management board had four members. Now, three members. Will things stay as they are? Regarding Romezone, Romezone is extremely popular. We do not know their figures, but do you think those figures are good? Also, when it comes to funds, you do not co-invest in all of your funds. What about third parties that invest into those funds? Do they systematically know whether Eurazeo is going to invest in the funds? There are six pages of co-management possibilities. It is quite difficult to understand. How about a summary? We do not understand who is investing. Is it Eurazeo? Is it the management board?
Is it the leadership team? There are lots of different formulas. It's very hard to find your bearings. Also, there are performance shares in there, so it's hard to understand. Thank you, sir. Question rapide, mais plusieurs questions rapides dans la question. Non, non, mais très bien, très bien.
That was supposed to be a quick question, but it's a really dense question. You're asking a lot of questions in a single one. That's okay. Regarding distribution and the connection with own shares or treasury shares. Now, as part of the program, as presented to the market, we're planning to return EUR 1.5 billion to shareholders. There are share buyback programs over four years: 2025, 2026, 2027. By and large, and I guess it depends on the circumstances, but at the required rhythm, the maximum is 5%.
5% of the capital that you need to buy back before you can cancel the shares. Relative to the 10% quantum, when you add up what you need to do in order to execute the plan, that's—of course, we are subject to performance criteria, as you know. Also, for share buyback purposes, 10% is enough. We do not need more. We do not need to proceed differently. When it comes to Eurazeo funds, yes. We always work very explicitly. Whenever we market a fund to a customer, the share and the amount of what Eurazeo, as a company, intends to invest into the fund, that's always made extremely explicit. Now, obviously, there may be some voting restrictions to avoid conflicts of interest, but for customers, things are always out in the open. When it comes to Romezone, Antonia, do you want to say a few words?
Maybe not give figures, but yes, this is a very handsome company that is doing really well. This is our Melbio partner here. He's driving the portfolio. We are very happy with Romezone success. It's just been fact-checked over the past few quarters, and this reflects our current investment strategy. Romezone used to be a primary company, and for the past three years now, we have helped it structure its leadership team. We've worked in very much in depth. We're helping them improve the depth of their commercial offering and expand their sales team in France and in the U.K. That's what we'll be doing over the next few months. In terms of co-investment programs, that's a conventional mechanism, conventional throughout the markets, obviously. All of our competitors use that mechanism. Since our group was created in 2003, we've been using this mechanism.
You can find details in section 5.14 of the EORD. Investors who invest in our funds, and sometimes those investors include Eurazeo, because we're investing in our own equity, and investors are asked to invest alongside us, so as to share risks and share capital gains. That's what we call co-investment programs. For transparency reasons, because members of the Executive Board are also corporate officers, every year in the EORD, we publish all of the money invested as part of these programs, as allowed by the corporate officers. Whenever the capital gain is materialized, we also publish the outcome after eight or nine months. We're looking at the amounts received by Eurazeo, third-party investments, and also Eurazeo employees who invested alongside the other investors. As part of this change in philosophy, we are trying to expand our teams.
Obviously, we understand that senior investors can't necessarily invest the same amounts as junior investors, but we are trying to promote that. We are trying to make sure that our teams can invest very broadly. It's a paradigm shift. Antonia is part of a team that's in charge. We promote team spirit in co-investment. This gentleman raised his hand several times. We'll make an exception and answer his question.
After talking about this wonderful company, another company that's important to you, I think, I was astounded when I heard about this is Doctolib. Now, Doctolib is losing EUR 150 million for several years. What is management doing? What can be done for that great company, which, of course, we all know? Thank you.
William, I'll take that question as I supervise the growth equity, because Lala Fadel, who's in charge of growth equity, couldn't be with us today. Yes, Doctolib is a great company. It's one of the companies in our portfolio that has the strongest growth. It posted over 25% organic growth in 2024. It's a unicorn that has become part of the landscape with market share that is really excellent, both in France and increasingly in Germany. It's at a turning point here, a very promising turning point with a tool that is developing for doctors based on artificial intelligence. This company still has very significant potential value creation. I can clarify the following. It has greatly reduced its use of cash, which was due to its growth investments. In France, in its core market, it's very close to equilibrium.
We're not at all on the basis of the EUR 150 million loss that you were talking about. Finally, it has a strong capital base. It has several years of cash ahead of it, of available cash to absorb any losses. In actual fact, it's reaching a breaking point. Right. I suggested that we move on to the vote of resolutions after these question and answer sessions. Gabriel. 77.5%.
On the video, I'll just display the video for use of the tablet. Ladies and gentlemen, shareholders, the remote control device is strictly for personal use. The number of votes that you have or represent has been loaded onto the remote control device or that you'll have to use are the green, yellow, and red buttons. The green button is a vote for. The yellow button is for abstention.
The red button is for a vote against. After voting the resolutions, we will declare that the vote is open. At the present time, you can see on the screen a rectangle which is indicating the number of seconds that you have to vote. When the countdown is over, we will declare that the vote is closed and you can no longer vote. The display of the result will be done on the screen a few moments after close of the vote. Finally, please switch off your mobile phones during the vote and hand back the devices when you leave the room. Vote on the approval of the company financial statements for 2024. Please vote. Resolution adopted. Resolution two. Allocation of the result and the dividend. Allocation of the net loss and dividend distribution. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number three.
Approval of consolidated financial statements for the year ended 2024. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number four. Approval of agreements and commitments governed, etc. Please vote. Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution five. Renewal of the term of office of Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau as a member of the supervisory board. Please vote. Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution number six. Renewal of the term of office of JCDecaux Holding SAS as a member of the supervisory board. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number seven. Approval of the compensation policy for supervisory board members. Voting ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution number eight. Approval of the 2025 compensation policy for the executive board members. Please vote. Vote ends. Resolution adopted. Resolution number nine. Approval of information relating to corporate officer compensation as presented in the corporate governance report. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Vote 10.
Approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded for 2024 to Jean-Charles de Castella, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number 11. Approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2024 to Christophe Bavière, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. Vote over. Resolution adopted. Resolution 12. Approval of compensation benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2024 to William Kadouch-Chassaing, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. Vote over. Resolution adopted. Resolution 13. Approval of compensation and benefits paid or awarded in respect of 2024 to Sophie Flak, member of the Executive Board. Please vote. Vote over. Resolution adopted. Resolution 14. Approval of compensation and benefits paid in respect of 2024 to Mr. Olivier Merveilleux-Duvigneau, member of the Executive Board, as well as the terms of termination of his duties. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number 15.
Authorization of a share buyback program by the company for its own shares. Please vote. Vote 16. Nomination de la société Forvis Mazars en qualité de commissaire aux comptes en charge de la certification des informations en matière de durabilité. Le vote est ouvert. Vote 18. La résolution est adoptée. Resolution de ratification du transfert du siège social de la société. Le vote est ouvert. Vote 19. La résolution est adoptée. Resolution 18. Délégation de compétence donnée au directoire à l'effet de réduire le capital social par annulation des actions achetées en application du programme de rachat d'actions. Le vote est ouvert. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution number 19. Authorization to the executive board to grant free shares to employees and corporate officers of the company and/or its affiliates. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 20.
Delegation of authority to the executive board to increase share capital by issuing ordinary shares and/or securities granting access to share capital reserved for members of a company's savings plan with cancellation of shareholder preferential subscription rights in their favor. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Resolution 21. Amendment of Article 13 of the company's bylaws. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Last resolution. Powers to carry out formalities. Please vote. Vote closed. Resolution adopted. Thank you. Thank you, Gabriel. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending today's general meeting, which is now over. I look forward to seeing you again for our general meeting to be held in 2026. I would like to wish you a very enjoyable day ahead. Thank you.