02 October 2006

It's a good time to be on top

If corporate executives are supposed to rewarded based on improvements to shareholder values why are boardroom salaries rising twice as fast as share prices? Could it be because executive pay is largely determined by a cozy insiders network? Could it be because a handful of pension funds and mutual funds own such a large percentage of equities that THEIR executives and boards are the only ones who have the power to effect change?

The pay of top executives in the UK rose 28% in the last year. Now that's inflationary isn't it? Should the chancellor act? In the years preceding 2005 the increases were 16%, 13% and 23% respectively. That's a cumulative increase of over 100% in 4 years! Nice work.

Last year share prices rose only 15%.

The average worker saw about 3.7%.

What can be done to arrest this runaway train? Shareholder revolts will only work if the large funds are on board and the reform is structural.

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