Management

Management & Board of Directors

Demant employs a two-tier management structure, consisting of the Board of Directors and Executive Management. The Board of Directors supervises the performance of the company, its management and organisation on behalf of the shareholders. It also contributes to determining the company strategy. The Executive Board, in turn, is responsible for the company's daily operations.

Executive Management

The Executive Board consists of two members: Søren Nielsen, President & CEO, who is also President of Oticon A/S, and René Schneider, Chief Financial Officer.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of Demant A/S has eight members: five elected by the shareholders at the general meeting and three members elected by employees in Demant's Danish companies.

The Board members elected by the shareholders are elected for one year at a time and staff-elected Board members for four years at a time. The last staff election took effect after the annual general meeting in March 2019.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall strategic management as well as the financial and managerial supervision of the company, and it currently evaluates the work of the Executive Board. The Board of Directors' duties and responsibilities are set out in its rules of procedure. These are revised once a year.

Board committees

The Board of Directors has decided to set up an audit committee, a nomination committee, a remuneration committee and an IT security committee.

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Evaluation of the Board

Once a year, the Chairman of the Board evaluates the Board’s work. Every other year, such evaluation is performed through personal, individual interviews with the Board members by the Chairman of the Board, and every other year, the evaluation is carried out by means of questionnaires to be filled out by the Board members. In both instances, the results of the evaluation are discussed at the subsequent Board meeting.

In connection with the evaluation in December 2019, the Board members expressed great satisfaction with the manner in which the Board works emphasising the constructive working climate in the Board where trust and openness are key elements. The Board considered the evaluation procedure appropriate and satisfactory, but nevertheless decided to include external assistance when the next evaluation is due.

Competences

The Board of Directors continuously strives to ensure that between them the Board members have the relevant knowledge and professional experience required to fulfil the company’s needs. These competences must cover the following areas:

• International management experience at corporate level
• Board experience from listed companies with international operations
• Industrial management experience
• Insight into globalisation challenges
• Profound knowledge of economics and finance
• Insight into and knowledge of the political aspects of business
• Board experience from multiple lines of business
• Academic level of education

Though Board members are up for election every year, they traditionally sit on the Board for an extended number of years. This ensures consistency and maximum insight into the conditions prevailing within the company and within the industry. This is considered to be extremely important in terms of the value that the Board of Directors brings to the company. In fact, it is considered just as important as the professional skills listed above.

Board of Directors’ fees

The basic fee for a Board member is DKK 350,000. The Chairman’s fee is three times the basic fee and the Deputy Chairman’s fee is twice the basic fee.

There is no separate fee for nomination, remuneration and IT security committee members. Audit committee members receive a fee of DKK 50,000.

The remuneration of the Board of Directors and the Executive Board is designed to support the strategic goals and to generate value in Demant and thus support Demant’s business strategy. Additionally, the remuneration policy supports a straightforward and transparent remuneration structure for the Board of Directors and the Executive Board. The remuneration policy was adopted at the Annual General Meeting held on 10 March 2020.

Remuneration reports are published annually. The remuneration report for 2019 is available here.

Board meetings in 2019

In 2019, the Board of Directors convened on seven occasions.