Chief executive's pay falls but directors top £1m

7 July 2011 | By Natalie Holt

Financial Services Compensation Scheme directors were paid a total of over £1m for the year to the end of March, compared with £871,000 the previous year.

The highest-paid director was chief executive Mark Neale, paid £249,191 between May 4, 2010 when he was appointed and March 31, 2011. The figure includes a basic salary of £213,910 and a £35,250 bonus.

Neale’s remuneration package is 28 per cent lower than previous chief executive Loretta Minghella.

For the year to March 31, 2010, Minghella was paid a total of £346,454, including a basic salary of £251,443, a £47,000 bonus for 2008/09 and a £45,575 bonus for 2009/10.

Neale also received a £12,533 money-purchase contribution as part of an FSCS pension, which compares with a £30,931 defined-benefit contribution paid to Minghella for 2010.

Despite the drop in pay for the chief executive, the overall cost of directors’ remuneration rose as the number of executives double from two to four during the year.
Annual fees paid to chairman David Hall stayed at £73,500. Annual fees to the non-executive directors were also the same at £21,000.

Highclere Financial Services partner Alan Lakey says: “These salaries reinforce the view that IFAs are a convenient cash cow for every regulatory body to draw on when they need it.”

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