The season of ordinary annual shareholder meetings has arrived for Chilean companies, and with it, the pension fund administrators (AFP) are preparing to present their candidates for directors. In some companies, the administrators will renew their current directors, who have not fulfilled the self-imposed limit of two consecutive terms for maintaining the same director in a firm. However, there are also ten public companies where the AFP have presented or intend to nominate new candidates for independent directors.

These companies include Falabella, Itaú, Latam Airlines, Watt’s, Santander, Concha y Toro, Engie, Parque Arauco, Salmones Camanchaca, and SMU. Falabella was the first company this season where the AFP successfully elected a new director: former Minister of Women and Environment in Sebastián Piñera's governments, Carolina Schmidt Zaldívar, joined the retailer's board on March 17. Although they halved their exposure in the company over three years, the AFP managed to position Schmidt.

In the 2023 meeting, the administrators had a 13. 09% stake in the company, but by February of this year, they owned 6. 62%.

Schmidt replaced Andrés Roccatagliata on the board. The AFP are back in action this year. Last time they were unsuccessful, but on April 28, they aim to elect a director at Banco Santander Chile.

It has been reported that the AFP will back Juan Beavides Feliú, former general manager of Falabella, former president o…

08% of the ownership, just enough to position a candidate. In the last board renewal of nine members in 2023, the AFP nominated former Corfo executive vice president Hernán Cheyre, but he was not elected. At that time, they held 7.

66% of Santander Chile. The AFP decided to nominate a historic former executive of Banco Santander Chile for an independent director position at Itaú. However, they will likely have to compete for the spot.

The candidate is commercial engineer Raimundo Monge Zegers, who spent 27 years at Santander (1990-2018), serving in various roles including general manager and president. The administrators have already made the official nomination of Monge for Itaú. The meeting will take place on April 9.

As of February, the AFP had invested US$311 million, which is 5. 67% of the Brazilian capital bank. However, since the distribution figure is 12.

5%, it is unclear whether Monge will be elected. Nevertheless, the managers believe they can secure one of the seven director positions at Itaú: in the last renewal in 2023, the AFP held only 1. 79% of the ownership.

The AFP have significantly increased their stake in Latam Airlines. The last time the region's main airline elected a board was in 2024. At that time, the administrators held only 3.

05% of the ownership, so they did not even present a candidate, considering that the distribution figure to achieve a member is 10%. However, by February of this year, the situation was very different: the AFP had invested US$3. 603 billion in the company, representing 20.

52% of the ownership, their largest exposure to a national stock. Thus, the managers have already evaluated names to join the airline's board on April 23, and two possible candidates have emerged: Marcos Büchi, former general manager of Chilquinta, former president of Consorcio, and former director of sanitation companies and Codelco; and Luis Felipe Cerón, former CEO of AES Gener and currently a director of Molymet and Sigdo Koppers. At the shareholder meeting of the winery Concha y Toro on April 21, the AFP hope to secure a seat on the board.

In 2023, the managers positioned Janet Awad for her second term, thanks to holding 12. 84% of the ownership in a company with a distribution figure of 12. 5%.

However, by February of this year, the US$67 million that the AFP had invested in the winery represented only 8. 07%. It has been reported that they might now nominate Sandra Porcile.

The chemical industrial engineer from the Catholic University was a director for the AFP at Ripley until 2025 and is currently a director at Protteina Foods. Porcile entered the AFP directors' registry in 2020 but updated her registration on March 5. Parque Arauco and SMU are two of the companies, along with Latam Airlines, where the AFP have increased their shareholding the most since the last shareholder meeting that involved board renewal.

In the supermarket retail chain, the AFP held 12. 08% of the ownership in April 2024, but by February of this year, they recorded more than double that: US$272 million invested, with 26. 8% of SMU.

This, in a company with a distribution figure of 10%. Thus, ahead of the upcoming shareholder meeting, the AFP will aim to maintain the two directors they currently have on the Unimarc parent company, Alejandro Danús and Enrique Gundermann, but they also intend to nominate a third candidate. On the other hand, in Parque Arauco, the AFP held 7.

29% participation in 2023. By February of this year, it had risen to 19. 32%, with an exposure of US$824 million.

This means they could place two members on the board, given that the distribution figure is 10%. Currently, the AFP have Ana María Orellana on the board, but she has already completed her two terms at the Said group firm. Among the names the AFP are considering are Silvio Rostagno Hayes, vice president of Sigdo Koppers, former general manager of Viña Santa Rita and Walmart Retail; and Mateo Budinich Diez, former director of Empresas Copec, Sonda, and former advisor to Falabella.

The former is a civil industrial engineer from the Catholic University who entered the AFP registry in February of this year. The latter is a civil electrical engineer who entered the registry in December 2025. The AFP elected María Emilia Correa to the board of Watt’s in 2024, when they held 13.

07% of the ownership, in a company with a distribution figure of 10%. But in addition to Correa, they will now present a second candidate for director, as they have increased their stake to 17. 75% of the ownership, with US$51 million invested.

In Engie, the AFP chose a principal director, Joanna Davidovich Gleiser, and a substitute, Daniel Vercelli Baladrón, in 2024, when they held 14. 9% of the ownership. Today, they have a similar stake: 14.

04%. However, there may be a change in the substitute director candidate. Furthermore, in Salmones Camanchaca, the AFP nearly tripled their participation from 5.

92% in 2023 to the current 15%. This secures them a seat in a firm with a distribution figure of 12. 5%.

Since Joaquín Villarino has completed two consecutive terms, they will present a new candidate.