Investec shows the money
Investec Asset Management founder and CE Hendrik du Toit is the highest-earning director of an SA financial services company so far.
Du Toit, who is based in London, was awarded a whopping remuneration package of R86m for the financial year to March.
His pay was made up of a salary of £451 130, which includes benefits and a bonus of £4,36m. If the value of a vested long-term incentive plan worth £3,3m is included, Du Toit’s cost to company accelerates to £8,1m (R143m, based on an average exchange rate of R17,97).
Of the entire Investec group, Du Toit took home the most — more than both CE Stephen Koseff (based in Johannesburg) and MD Bernard Kantor (also based in London). Investec’s remuneration report shows the total compensation of Koseff and Kantor was £3,9m (R70m) for the year.
The bigwigs at SA’s big banks are known to be top earners among SA’s executives. But Du Toit’s income has taken remuneration to a whole new level.
The total emolument packages of CEs of SA’s listed big four banking groups ranged between R19m and R35m in the 2014 financial year.
A former economics lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch, Du Toit (53) joined Investec from Old Mutual in 1991 after meeting Kantor several times before making up his mind about the move. He initially joined the zebra-branded company as portfolio manager before becoming CE of the asset management unit.
Du Toit has been hailed for transforming Investec from an SA start-up with assets under management of about R200m to a global institution which boasts assets under management of £77,5bn (about R1,4 trillion). Investec Asset Management now operates in the Americas, Europe, the Asia Pacific (which includes Australia and the Middle East) and Africa.
When Investec launched the fund manager side of the business, it invested just under US$1m in capital. Today the division is worth more than R24bn ($1,9bn).
As founder of the asset management business, Du Toit is entitled to 1,85% of Investec Asset Management’s earnings before tax and variable remuneration.
In the year to March the money manager posted an operating profit of £149m. Investec Asset Management contributes more than a quarter of Investec’s group profits.
To some Du Toit’s wage might seem excessive, but he not only kick-started the business but was the driver of strong growth thereafter.
In its latest annual report Investec went into detail why Du Toit deserved such a rich reward for his efforts.
The explanation came after a significant number of shareholders at Investec’s 2014 annual general meeting voted against the company’s remuneration policy, one of the reasons being the lack of transparency on how Du Toit’s pay was determined.
In its remuneration report Investec states that the structure and quantum of Du Toit’s remuneration differed from those of the other executive directors