Worldwide Executive Compensation 2015 – A new E-reward survey of Global FT 200 Companies

This landmark survey from E-reward.co.uk examines the remuneration landscape in the world’s largest global corporations. Focusing on the top 200 companies from the annual Financial Times Global 500 list, it provides benchmarking data on 182 of the largest global organisations from 25 countries – including 83 US businesses, 15 major UK firms and over 80 from other countries. We collected information on 1,339 directors and non-executive directors. Year-end dates ranged from 27 September 2014 to 31 May 2015 with over 90% on or after December 2014.

Salaries

• Salaries of FT Global 200 companies’ most senior board members (referred to in our report as principal directors) are the largest in Europe, followed by those in the North America.
• Rates in Japan and China are significantly lower.
• The median salary for principal directors is £968,647.
• The medians for all finance and other directors are £540,963 and £507,592 respectively.
• Median amounts range from £824,139 (in firms with market values of under £35b), up to £1,061,020 (between £60b and £74.9b).

Realised remuneration

• When all other elements of remuneration were taken into account, the picture changed significantly – amounts received by principal directors in North America far exceed those in other regions.
• Behind North American directors are their counterparts in the UK and Germany although, at the median, amounts were under half as large.
• Next in the hierarchy are directors in other parts of Europe and those in 'other countries' with the exception of Japan and China where directors earned the smallest amounts.
• The median realised remuneration level for principal directors is nearly £5.9m.
• By region the variations were great, stretching from a median of £500,000 for principal directors in China & Japan up to £11.9m in North America.

Fair value potential future remuneration

• Based on conservative estimates of potential future remuneration levels, figures in North American are significantly higher than elsewhere with a median for principal directors of £7.9m.
• Comparable levels for directors in Germany and the UK are £5.3m and £4.3m respectively, while those in other parts of Europe are £3.3m.
• Even when amounts were corrected for differences in companies’ market values, North American levels are still significantly greater, illustrating that higher pay did not always reflect larger organisational size.

'Worldwide Executive Compensation 2015: Survey of Global FT 200 Companies', published by E-reward.co.uk in December 2015. to find out more, please visit: www.e-reward.co.uk/executive-pay/reports/wo...