Glass Lewis and Pirc have expressed “severe reservations” over UK asset management giant Schroders’ latest executive pay report.
Schroders paid its CEO, Peter Harrison (pictured), £6.3m in 2016, which Glass Lewis said was higher than the median CEO remuneration for a similarly sized UK company, despite the fact the asset manager “performed worse than peers” overall.
The “absence of limits on bonus payouts has provided for unnecessarily high payouts that, given the reliance on short-term performance assessment, may fail to properly account for long-term growth,” the firm said.
Glass Lewis also highlighted concerns over the £3m contractual settlement awarded to Massimo Tosato following his departure from the group, criticising the “opaque nature of the payment.”
Pirc reportedly echoed these concerns, calling Harrison’s proposed pay “highly excessive.”
The claim of a discrepancy between Harrison’s remuneration and that of other fund house bosses comes after he received short-term incentive awards of £5.5m last year.
This is the second time this week a fund house has been hauled through the coals for its executive remuneration practices.
Jupiter Fund Management was criticised for plans to boost its chief Maarten Slendebroek’s £250k salary by an additional £125k, leading to the proposal being thrown out altogether.
