Ahead of a possible flotation, the investment group said it would be shoring up its governance and business structure, including adopting a single group executive committee to report to the main board and a “scorecard-based” remuneration strategy.
The new remuneration measure, which has already been approved by the group’s committee, will consider financial performance in addition to non-financial criteria, like compliance and risk issues, as well as client management, when determining wealth manager pay.
Smith & Williamson said the strategy would create better alignment between performance and reward, while helping to “retain the best talent” by acknowledging individuals that are meeting objectives that are in line with the company strategy.
“We regularly review our comprehensive remuneration package, including appropriate equity incentives, to ensure it remains competitive within the market,” the firm said in its full-year results.
“We continue to develop our reward structure to support our strategic objectives and to incentivise appropriate conduct and behaviours alongside financial performance.”
IPO
The tax and wealth planner reiterated that it will not pursue an IPO until late 2019 at the earliest when it expects to complete investment into its new technology platforms.
The company had been in talks with Rathbones over a potential merger but backed out and instead chose to pursue a stock market listing.
But Smith & Williamson cautioned on Monday its IPO could be pushed back further as “there can be no certainty as to the time it will take to complete this investment programme”.
Year of solid progress
Elsewhere, the group revealed that adjusted operating profit had grown by 13.8% to £46.2m year-on-year.
Funds under management and advice hit £20.1bn in the 12 months to 20 April 2018, up 6.9% from £18.8bn. Its funds under administration rose 27.2% to £11.7bn.
The group hiked its dividend to 36p from 32p in 2017 on the back of what co-chief exeuctive Kevin Stopps called the firm’s “year of solid progress”.
