In the money: New Legal & General boss Antonio Simoes (pictured) received a $7.4m golden hello
Legal & General has defended a golden hello worth £7.4million awarded to new boss Antonio Simoes.
The insurance giant admitted that the cash and share handout to the chief executive was ‘significant’ but said it was ‘critical to securing Antonio’s appointment’.
The payout covers the cash and share awards he forfeited by leaving Spanish bank Santander. It comes on top of an annual package for Simoes worth up to £7.2million, meaning he could take home £14.6million in his first year.
He is also eligible to receive a one-off undisclosed sum to cover his relocating from Spain.
Simoes took over this year and is carrying out a ‘thorough review’ to be unveiled in June.
Details of his golden hello were disclosed in Legal & General’s annual report yesterday.
It read: ‘The remuneration committee is comfortable that these represent the genuine levels of awards being foregone.’
It comes at a time when some are blaming levels of pay in the City for the UK’s diminishing status as a venue for listed companies.
But Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre said: ‘The pay culture that we have allowed to develop, where a tiny number of top earners are able to suck such extraordinary sums out of companies, needs to be addressed.’
Simoes will receive £3.1million in cash and shares to replace his bonus at Santander plus £1.4million in cash and £2.9million in share awards.
His pay of £1.175million is supplemented by an annual bonus worth up to twice that and performance linked share awards of up to three times salary, plus a 10 per cent pension.
#fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle#mobile {display:none} #fiveDealsWidget {display:block; float:left; clear:both; max-width:636px; margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; font-size:12px} #fiveDealsWidget div, #fiveDealsWidget a {margin:0; padding:0; line-height:120%; text-decoration: none; font-family:Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif} #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitleBox {display:block; float:left; width:100%; background-color:#af1e1e; } #fiveDealsWidget .widgetTitle {color:#fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size:18px; font-weight:bold; margin:6px 10px 4px 10px; } #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {float:left; display:block; width:124px; margin-right:4px; margin-top:5px; background-color: #e3e3e3; min-height:200px;} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {margin-right:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {display:block; margin:10px 5px; color:#000; font-weight:bold} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {float:left; display:block; margin:0; padding:0} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {border:1px solid #ccc} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage img {width:100%; height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemdesc {float:left; display:block; color:#004db3; font-weight:bold; margin:5px;} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemRate {float:left; display:block; color:#000; margin:5px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealFooter {display:block; float:left; width:100%; margin-top:5px; background-color:#e3e3e3 } #fiveDealsWidget .footerText {font-size:10px; margin:10px 10px 10px 10px;} @media (max-width: 635px) { #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {width:19%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:20%} } @media (max-width: 560px) { #fiveDealsWidget #desktop {display:none;} #fiveDealsWidget #mobile {display:block!important} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {background-color: #fff; height:auto; min-height:auto} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem {border-bottom:1px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:10px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {border-bottom:0px solid #ececec; margin-bottom:5px; padding-bottom:0px} #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem, #fiveDealsWidget a.dealItem#last {width:100%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {float:left; display:inline-block} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemImage {width:35%; margin-right:1%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent {width:63%} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemTitle {margin: 0px 5px 5px; font-size:16px} #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemdesc, #fiveDealsWidget .dealItemContent .dealItemRate {clear:both} }
