The man from the . . . Phew!
Incredibly, the Pru’s Mike Wells is paid £28,000 a month for his mortgage ... plus £514,000 for stamp duty on his new home It’s part of a staggering £23m pay package for...
TOP executives at the Pru enjoyed an extraordinary pay and perks spree last year. The Mail on Sunday can reveal that:
Mike Wells, the insurer’s Canadian-born boss, has been handed nearly £2 million over two and a half years to cover mortgage interest and other costs on his London home. His salary, bonus and benefits since 2015 have totalled £23.6 million;
The best-paid employee, who is believed to be fund manager Richard Woolnough, took home more than £11.7 million in 2017;
A former fund management chief, Michael McLintock, r eceived nearly £1.6 million in incentive payouts, although he left almost two years ago;
Anne Richards, who now runs the fund management business, was paid more than £3 million, making her one of the highest earning women in the FTSE 100.
Wells is an insurance expert who had a long career with the company – once renowned for its ‘Man from the Pru’ door-to-door salesmen – in the US before moving to London to become chief executive.
The £2 million given to him to help buy a home in the capital includes payments of £28,000 a month to cover mortgage interest. These total £740,000 since he took the top job in the summer of 2015. He will keep any profit he makes on the swish apartment if he decides to sell or rent it out.
In addition to interest payments, the Pru handed Wells £514,000 to cover stamp duty on his new home – enough to buy a £5 million property. Because the payment is a taxable benefit, he was given £330,000 to settle his bill with Revenue & Customs.
The company paid £200,000 for his possessions to be shipped across the Atlantic. He was also given £178,000 for temporary accommodation while he was waiting for the purchase to complete. That takes the total he has received for housing costs to £1.96 million.
On top of that, he received £37,000 last year to cover flights back to the US. Wells’s package came to £8.7 million last year, taking his total pay and bonuses since he became chief executive in June 2015 to £23.6 million.
Over that period, the company has performed well with rising profits, share price and dividends. But his perks will raise eyebrows. It is common for companies to pay for new bosses to move house if they need to relocate to the UK. However, it is highly unusual to pay the boss’s mortgage interest.
Stefan Stern, director of the High Pay Centre, said: ‘This is a very revealing example of the troubling mentality of the elite CEO class. The attitude is that the salary and bonus isn’t enough, they expect bells and whistles and trinkets on top.
‘It is particularly provocative that while many of his customers will be concerned about rising interest rates and the cost of servici ng their mort- gage, the boss is safely insulated as his employer is kindly picking up the bill.’ Remarkably, Wells, who is well respected and liked in the City, is not the highest paid executive at the Pru. The identity of the highest paid employee, who received more than £11.7 million in 2017, is a secret. The company is under no obligation to divulge his or her name as the individual does not sit on the board. The most likely candidate is investment guru Richard Woolnough, who runs successful bond funds. In previous years he has received huge amounts, including £17.5 million in 2013. Executives at M&G, the Pru’s fund management business, were also richly rewarded. Anne Richards, the current boss of M&G, was paid just over £3 million last year.
Her predecessor, Michael McLintock, who left in the summer of 2016, received £288,116 and £1,277,875 in 2017 under two separate long-term incentive plans.
A spokesman for Prudential said: ‘This year Prudential has reported record profits, successfully delivered on tough long-term financial objectives, lifted the dividend by 8 per cent and continued to produce strong returns for our customers.’
Earlier this year Wells unveiled a plan to split the company into two businesses. M&G Prudential will encompass the M&G fund management business, pensions, health and life insurance, while Prudential will consist of the American, Asian and fast-growing African divisions.