Saturday, December 26, 2020

Cream for the big cats

 The UK’s largest financial firms have handed their board members a near-80% pay rise since 2009.

Median pay for the three highest earning non-executive directors (NEDs) in each of the FTSE 100’s 17 financial firms surged from £90,700 in 2009 to £162,000 in 2019.

Board members overseeing the UK’s largest banks, insurance and investment firms are earning 79% more than they did a decade earlier, despite being in part-time roles.

The largest increases have been at Lloyds Banking Group, where top NEDs are earning 257% more than in 2009; the London Stock Exchange Group, where there has been a 219% rise; and investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, where fees have jumped 170%.

The median number of meetings now sitting at 26. The busiest among them sat through 48 meetings last year.

 The High Pay Centre said some board members were already earning more than 99% of the UK workforce, despite committing just a fraction of the hours.

“Many financial services firms paying six-figure sums to their NEDs will also have low-paid staff in branches, call centres or administrative roles struggling to make ends meet,” Luke Hildyard, the director of the High Pay Centre thinktank, said.

UK's biggest financial firms have given boards near-80% pay rise since 2009 | Business | The Guardian

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