Sorrell package faces backlash
• World’s biggest advertising firm prepares for a rebellion over size of payout for founder
WPP’s decision to allow founder Martin Sorrell to quit with share awards worth millions of pounds faced fresh opposition on Tuesday.
WPP’s decision to allow founder Martin Sorrell to quit with share awards worth millions of pounds faced fresh opposition on Tuesday as Hermes EOS advised shareholders to vote against the advertising company’s remuneration report.
Anger over the handling of Sorrell’s departure is set to dominate WPP’s annual meeting in London on Wednesday when investors will target the one issue that caused uproar during Sorrell’s tenure — the amount he was paid.
WPP’s incentive plans have led to opposition in the past, with Sorrell earning about £200m in the past five years alone.
One-third of WPP’s investors refused to back his £70m pay package in 2016.
Sorrell’s last award scheme could potentially pay out £20m but it is expected to come in well below that due to the recent underperformance of the group.
Other shareholders are set to target the re-election of WPP chairman Roberto Quarta, after Sorrell quit the world’s biggest advertising firm following an inquiry into allegations of personal misconduct.
Some investors have expressed concern about the handling of Sorrell’s exit. Neither he nor the company have given any details of the complaint, and he has since set up a rival firm.
“Given the lack of confirmed information about the reasons for the former CEO’s departure, we do not believe we can assess whether his termination package is appropriate,” Hermes EOS’s Pauline Lecoursonnois said in a statement.
But in a boost to Quarta, two major shareholders, including WPP’s biggest, said they still backed him.
The Hermes decision to oppose the pay report, which governs executive pay in the year just gone, means it is breaking ranks with the world’s biggest adviser, Institutional Shareholder Services, which said in May it would support it.
WPP is readying for a sizeable rebellion against the remuneration package, with concerns within the company that more than a quarter of investors could vote against it.
Investors are targeting the pay awards after WPP agreed Sorrell could leave with his long-term incentive plan intact, meaning his share awards will vest over the next five years as company targets are met.
Hermes, which advises pension schemes and other institutional investors on how to vote at corporate meetings, said it backed all other agenda items. It also supported the re-election of Quarta, who, it said, had overseen an improvement in the board’s effectiveness since taking over in 2015.
Hermes said given the structural challenges facing the industry, the board needed to make the right CEO appointment and ensure all strategic options were considered.
“We will be asking the chair for clarity on the key criteria the new CEO needs to meet, whether a formal review of the strategic options and of the portfolio has already commenced, how much can be done before the appointment of a new CEO and how the board is involved,” Lecoursonnois said.
David Herro, chief investment officer of international equity at WPP’s top fund investor, Harris Associates, said he also backed the re-election of the board.
“We support WPP on board re-election. I want to make sure on the rest,” Herro said.
Harris has a 7.5% WPP stake, according to Thomson Reuters data. A second top-20 investor, who wished to remain anonymous, said he also backed Quarta.