Backlash over fat cat pay at the Pru
PensIons giant Prudential is facing a backlash on sky-high pay and lucrative bonuses which could see top staff pocket ten times their base salary.
seven senior figures at the firm trousered £32.7m between them in 2016 – and a new earnings policy will see the bonanza continue for years.
shareholder advice group Pirc is now calling on investors to oppose the payouts at Pru’s annual meeting today.
It comes amid an increasingly truculent mood in the City as shareholders are more willing to vote down deals which reward poor performance.
Premier oil, estate agent Foxtons and gambling software firm Playtech all suffered major rebellions yesterday.
Fossil fuel giant BP avoided a backlash only after slashing boss Bob dudley’s 2016 pay by 40pc to £9m and cutting his maximum earnings by £3m for the next three years.
Campaigners were infuriated by the deals on offer at Pru, particularly as it manages £599bn of other people’s investments and should therefore be seeking to restrain excesses.
stefan stern, of the high Pay Centre, said: ‘These are the firms we’re looking at to exercise control and stewardship of other PLCs. It’s very important that the asset managers themselves set the right example – if you’re a board and Prudential starts being critical of your pay, you can just point to what its bosses earn.
‘extraordinarily unbelievable numbers have started to emerge on executive pay. Pirc’s annoyance was particularly sparked by the bonus deal for Anne Richards, a star fund manager who runs Pru’s investment arm M&G.
she took home £3.9m for seven months’ work after joining the board in June.
The consultancy said the 52year- old would be able to take home bonuses worth 1,050pc of her base salary if she hit targets.
her fixed pay is £400,000 – meaning she could take home up to £4.4m as a bonus, the equivalent of more than ten years’ wages.
Pirc also hit out at last year’s bonus for north America head Barry stowe, 59, who got a £6.4m bonus, more than seven-and-ahalf times his £820,000 salary.
Meanwhile, chief executive Mike Wells, 57, pocketed £6.9m in total last year, including an ‘excessive’ £873,000 of benefits such as insurance, security and a car and driver. his base salary of £1.1m is higher than any of the firm’s rivals, Pirc said.
And his total bonuses could in future amount to six times his £1.1m salary.
Pru is not thought to be expecting a major shareholder revolt on pay today. A spokesman declined to comment.
shares fell by 2.2pc, or 38p, to 1731p yesterday.