The average total pay for chief executives in Australia’s top listed companies has hit $4.84 million – 63 times an average worker’s earnings.
The bosses of Australia’s top 100 companies listed on the stock market received 2.9 per cent more in total statutory pay in the 2013 financial year than in the previous 12 months.
But the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors’ (ACSI) annual survey of CEO pay found that their average total pay was at its lowest level in a decade when compared to average earnings. On that basis, total CEO pay was 33 per cent below the peak in 2007, when it was 94 times average earnings.
Also, the increase in average total pay in 2013 was boosted by termination-related payments to the boss of blood products and vaccines maker CSL, Brian McNamee, who retired.
Excluding those payments, average CEO statutory pay would have been $4.73 million – marginally higher than in 2012.
ACSI said greater focus by investors and boards on executive pay following the global financial crisis in 2008 had resulted in CEO pay lagging behind inflation and general wages growth.
“We have seen fewer votes against remuneration reports over the past year as remuneration packages have improved in the market,” ACSI chief executive Gordon Hagart said.
“Specific improvements include the major reduction in termination payments, more demanding bonus hurdles, longer performance measurement periods, and an end to the culture where bonuses are seen as entitlement rather than reward for outperformance.”
Mr McNamee was the highest-paid chief executive in ACSI’s survey, taking home $19.1 million. That sum included $10 million related to his retirement at the end of 2013.
The lowest-paid CEO in the top 100 was Regis Resources’ Mark Clark, who received $616,972.
The survey also found that the “golden parachute” given to terminated chief executives wasn’t as shiny as it used to be. The median termination payout to CEOs dropped from $3.5 million in 2008 to $1.3 million in 2013.
Thirteen payouts in 2008 to top 100 CEOs totalled $83 million. In 2013, there were nine CEO payouts totalling $12 million.
TOP FIVE PAID CEOS IN 2013 (STATUTORY PAY)
1 Brian McNamee, CSL, $19.1m
2 Peter & Steven Lowy, Westfield Group, $18.4m
3 Mike Smith, ANZ, $10.1m
4 Sam Walsh, Rio Tinto, $9.5m
5 Gail Kelly, Westpac, $9.2m
