The future of executive pay - speaking engagements

This week I had the pleasure of discussing the future of executive pay with two significant bodies – a breakfast meeting with the FTSE 100 Remuneration Group, and a panel discussion at the Share Plan Lawyers annual conference which, in addition to myself, comprised representatives from Hermes Investment Management, BMO Global Asset Management and the proxy adviser ISS ensuring a diversity of views were represented.

I was particularly encouraged by the continued high level of interest in, and engagement with, the research study I worked on last year for the Purposeful Company. This explored the state of the market in relation to simplified alternatives to the conventional LTIP and surfaced there is significant demand across the market for pay reform. The study was highlighted in the Investment Association’s “Principles of Remuneration for 2020”, and as a result of the study the IA have committed to look at the circumstances in which deferred share schemes may be more widely implemented in the UK. The report can be found at http://bit.ly/2olQA8n

There was also discussion on the growing interest in how ESG factors can be incorporated into pay ranging from climate change through to more nuanced issues relating to employees or societal obligations. Long-dated equity could be a simple and effective way to do this given that ESG factors should be reflected in the share price over the long enough term.

The FTSE 100 Remuneration Group are Heads of Reward from major listed companies – thanks to the Chair Sally Moore for the invitation and Ruth Coomber for organising everything. Share Plan Lawyers are a group of senior lawyers from around 70 major City and regional law firms who advise on employee share plans – thanks to Janet Cooper at Tapestry for the invitation and Nicholas Stretch at Ashurst for hosting