Insurer L&G under fire over £7.4m golden hello

LEGAL & General has defended a golden hello worth £7.4m awarded to new boss Antonio Simoes.

The insurance giant admitted that the cash and share handout to the chief executive was ‘significant’ but said it was ‘critical to securing Antonio’s appointment’.

The payout covers the cash and share awards he forfeited by leaving Spanish bank Santander.

It comes on top of an annual package for Simoes worth up to £7.2m, meaning he could take home £14.6m in his first year.

He is also eligible to receive a one-off undisclosed sum to cover his relocating from Spain.

Simoes took over this year and is carrying out a ‘thorough review’ to be unveiled in June.

Details of his golden hello were disclosed in Legal & General’s annual report yesterday. It read: ‘The remuneration committee is

‘Critical to securing his appointment’

comfortable that these represent the genuine levels of awards being foregone.’

It comes at a time when some are blaming levels of pay in the City for the UK’s diminishing status as a venue for listed companies.

But Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre said: ‘The pay culture that we have allowed to develop, where a tiny number of top earners are able to suck such extraordinary sums out of companies, needs to be addressed.’

Simoes will receive £3.1 min cash and shares to replace his bonus at Santa nd er plus £1.4 min cash and £2.9 min share awards.

His pay of £1.175m is supplemented by an annual bonus worth up to twice that and performance linked share awards of up to three times salary, plus a 10pc pension.