Corporate Governance Community
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Remuneration committees
Guidance and considerations for corporate governance professionals on remuneration committees looking at executive pay and benefits.
Need to know
In this section
Articles and features
Executive pay rises amid cost-of-living crisis
Average CEO pay is now 118 times that of the average UK worker, compared with 108 times in 2021 and 79 times in 2020.
Hefty executive payouts come under the spotlight
As we await the verdict of the lawsuit challenging a $56bn pay package from Tesla to Elon Musk by aggrieved shareholders of the carmaker, is enormous executive remuneration really necessary – or indeed ethical – in today’s market?
Investors to probe FTSE companies on climate change and diversity
Women and people from minority ethnic groups on boards will be a major focus of the annual general meetings season this year.
UK executive pay increasingly linked to ESG targets
The UK’s top companies are increasingly including ESG corporate goals in executive pay plans, suggesting investor pressure for greater ESG disclosure is taking effect, new research shows.
ICAEW guidance and reports
How to end excessive pay
Our first application of the Connect and Reflect approach looks at how organisations can tackle excessive executive pay. It requires connecting with the public on pay, reflecting on what is said and taking action if it is required. In this paper we examine the challenges and provide a 10-step action plan to support boards in their approach to remuneration of executives.
Executive Remuneration: Factors influencing consultants’ advice
This briefing examines the factors that influence the advice executive remuneration consultants provide to their clients. Based on insights from interviews with consultants, the briefing identifies the key factors influencing their advice and their client relationships.
Webinars and other recordings
How should a board approach exec pay?
In this special Insights In Focus episode, we discuss the thorny and often contentious topic of executive pay.
Does remuneration benchmarking reward failure?
Mark Freebairn, Partner and Head of the Financial Management Practice at Odgers Berndtson, and Ruth Bender, Professor of Corporate Financial Strategy at Cranfield School of Management, discuss executive pay and remuneration benchmarking.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by external guest speakers in interviews or other publications included on this website are, by their nature, those of the speaker. They are not necessarily fully endorsed by the ICAEW or purport to reflect the official policies and views of the ICAEW or its members.
Bloomsbury Accounting and Tax Service
Eligible firms have free access to Bloomsbury Professional's comprehensive online library, comprising more than 60 titles from some of the country's leading tax and accounting subject matter experts. Find out who is eligible and how you can access the Accounting and Tax Service.
Directors' remuneration
Overview of key recommendations made for directors' remuneration, as well as the statutory and common law position.
Board remuneration committees
Practical guidance to assist remuneration committees with their responsibilities.
Board committees
Practical guidance on the effectiveness of audit, risk, remuneration and nomination board committees.
Terms of use: You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the Acceptable usage terms.
The Library & Information Service provides a collection of eBooks as a benefit of membership. Please note that ICSA publications are only available to ICAEW members and ACA students. Please log in to access these titles. If you are unable to access an eBook, please see our Help and support or contact library@icaew.com
Executive directors
Chapter 12 - The role of the executive director, chief executive and finance director are outlined as well as director remuneration and the roles and responsibilities of the remuneration committee. Pay, pensions and other benefits, disclosure requirements, contracts and severance are also covered.
The board structure and its committees
Chapter 3 deals with the structure of the board, its governance role and responsibilities. It also gives brief overviews of the different types of board committees, including: audit; nomination; remuneration; and risk committees. These are dealt with in more detail in later chapters.
Unsolved governance problem: performance measurement and executive pay
This title provides comprehensive, expert-led coverage of all aspects of corporate governance for public, nonprofit, and private boards. This section comprises five chapters on the subject of executive remuneration, the remuneration committee and performance measurement and incentives.
Terms of use: You are permitted to access, download, copy, or print out content from eBooks for your own research or study only, subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.
The Library & Information Service provides a hand-picked collection of industry press articles as a benefit of membership. If you are unable to access an article, please see our Help and support or contact library@icaew.com
The big picture for compensation in a pandemic
The article discusses several foundational principles for compensation committees in developing new approaches to executive pay. The foundational principles include the need to prioritize stakeholders, the need to focus on engagement rather than retention and the need for the boards to align performance and pay outcomes to create the appropriate incentives.
Recommendations for compensation committees curing the COVID-19 crisis
COVID-19 is challenging compensation committees who must consider the impact on employee and executive compensation
Executive compensation in era of stakeholder primacy
Article discusses Integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) metrics into pay plans. Topics discussed include quantify the right ESG metrics to hold management accountable for their outcomes; quantify the right ESG metrics to hold management accountable for their outcomes; and reducing energy usage, reducing waste, or offsetting emissions.
Terms of use: You are permitted to access articles subject to the terms of use set by our suppliers and any restrictions imposed by individual publishers. Please see individual supplier pages for full terms of use.
Useful links
Corporate Governance Review
Grant Thornton's review of the annual reports of 273 of the UK’s FTSE 350 companies with years ending between April 2021 and June 2022.
Remuneration committee - terms of reference
Guidance note for a 'company seeking to comply fully with the requirements of the UK Corporate Governance Code, published in July 2018 (the Code).' The ICAEW Library also holds a reference copy.
Investment Association principles of remuneration
Published in November 2021, the annual report from the Investment Association reflecting best practice for listed companies. A number of related documents, including 'Joint Statement on Executive Contracts and Severance by the ABI and NAPF', are available from the Institutional Voting Information Service (IVIS) website.
Role of the RemCo: How to achieve good governance of pay, people and culture
High Pay Centre and CIPD research offering practical guidance to HR leaders and board members on how to improve their people and pay governance through Remuneration Committee reform and the inclusion of the workforce in the pay-setting process.
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