How should a board approach exec pay and what are the risks of getting it wrong?

• Read the transcript of this episode here.

The highly experienced panel doesn’t ignore the most common exec pay conversation – the eye-watering amounts sometimes paid to senior managers  – but the discussion doesn’t stop there either. We hear first about the growing use of ESG metrics in assessing executives’ performance and rewarding them accordingly, and whether this is a good idea.

The panel then moves on to discuss the pressures on businesses to strike the right approach to exec pay, including from the chair of the remuneration committee at listed asset manager, Liontrust, and the risks of getting executive compensation decisions wrong. The conversation has pointers not only for senior managers and board members who might face a similar situation but also for anyone who aspires to be in senior roles in the future.

Host Peter van Veen, Director, Corporate Governance and Stewardship, ICAEW discusses the topic with Sandy Pepper, Emeritus Professor of Management Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of a recent book: “If You’re So Ethical, Why are You so Highly Paid?”, George Yeandle, FCA, Non-Executive Director at Liontrust Asset Management plc and Chair of the Remuneration Committee, and Luke Hildyard, Director at the High Pay Centre, a think tank focused on pay and governance.

Links

• More on ICAEW’s major content series on boards and corporate governance

Host

Peter van Veen

Guests

• Sandy Pepper, Emeritus Professor of Management Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science
• George Yeandle, FCA, Non-Executive Director at Liontrust Asset Management plc and Chair of the Remuneration Committee
• Luke Hildyard, Director at the High Pay Centre

Producer

Guy Ruddle

Episode first published: 16 February 2023
Podcast recorded: 2 February 2023