Former chief of Alliance Trust still being paid

Katherine Garrett-Cox received £830k last year despite leaving office in 2016

Former chief executive Katherine Garrett-Cox was paid more than £800,000 by Alliance Trust last year despite having left the Dundee finance house in early 2016.

The group’s annual report shows Ms Garrett-Cox, once one of the highest profile women in UK financial services, received a total package worth £831,388 in the year to December 31.

Ms Garrett-Cox’s time as CEO came to an end on February 3 2016, when the trust moved to a new leadership structure without executive directors.

She was made redundant and left the business the following month.

The document also shows Alan Trotter, who was chief financial officer during Ms Garrett-Cox’s tenure and who left the business in June 2016, also continued to benefit from accrued longterm share awards during 2017.

Ms Garrett-Cox’s departure followed more than a year of intense pressure on the management team after the trust’s then largest single shareholder, Elliott Advisors, mounted a concerted campaign to drive boardroom change.

The private equity group’s motives included its concerns over the long-term underperformance of the investment portfolio.

Ms Garrett-Cox and then trust chairman Karin Forseke decided to put up a fight but Elliott’s activism eventually bore fruit and the group was forced to change.

Lord Smith of Kelvin was brought in as chairman in January 2016 and has overseen a major overhaul.

The new non-executive board he put in place was responsible for bringing forward a plan to outsource the funds management function of the trust to Willis Towers Watson, a proposal that was ratified by shareholders last spring and implemented.

In the annual report, remuneration committee chairman Anthony Brooke set out both fees paid to the current board members and “historic” outlays.

Lord Smith’s fee as chairman in 2017 was £120,000, up from £109,000 in his first year in the role.

Ms Garret-Cox’s total remuneration in the year to Hogmanay 2016 was £1.3 million, and she was paid a further £831,388 last year.

The latter figure is made up of a £75,000 base salary, pension payments of £19,000, a taxable benefit of £1,000 and long-term incentive awards valued at circa £737,000.

The annual report notes the payments made to Ms Garrett-Cox and Mr Trotter are in accordance with agreements approved by shareholders when they were in office.

While the duo will see shares awarded under the group’s long-term incentive plan, neither are due to receive further payments from the trust.

Mr Brooke states in his report: “In the implementation reports for 2015 and 2016 we detailed the payments to which both Katherine Garrett-Cox and Alan Trotter were entitled and here we report on the payments actually made to them during 2017.

“All these payments were within the terms of the trust’s remuneration policy which was approved by shareholders on 1 May 2014.

“No discretionary payments were made to either of the former directors in 2017 and all payments made were in accordance with those detailed in the 2015 and 2016 remuneration implementation reports.”

Katherine Garrett-Cox during her time as chief executive of Alliance Trust.