The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) has released its 19th annual survey of CEO pay among the country’s largest listed companies – and an insurance boss has made it to the top 10.
The report included FY19 pay data for 83 ASX100 CEOs and 73 ASX101-200 CEOs. It calculated and investigated “realised pay,” which is the value of cash and equity received by ASX200 CEOs rather than accounting only valuations reported in annual reports.
Robert Kelly (pictured), of Steadfast Group, made it to the top seven highest-paid ASX200 CEOs, and was the only insurance boss who made it to the list, with a realised pay of $14.4 million.
Many companies had started exercising caution in how they structured executive pay even before the pandemic, according to ACSI’s data. In 2018, only seven CEOs did not receive any bonus. However, the number increased to 25 CEOs in 2019 – with 12 belonging to ASX100 companies.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in Australia, ACSI advised companies to rise to the challenge of meeting stakeholder expectations for appropriate levels of executive rewards.
“Boards of ASX200 companies will need to be mindful this year of how remuneration outcomes will be perceived externally, given the widespread impact of the pandemic,” said Louise Davidson, the chief executive officer of ACSI.
