Liontrust faces shareholder rebellion over plans to hike executive salaries
London-listed asset manager Liontrust is facing a shareholder rebellion over plans to hike the salaries of its C-Suite executives as Britain faces rampant inflation and a widespread cost-of-living crisis.
A significant proportion of Liontrust’s shareholders are expected to vote against the asset manager’s new remuneration policy, at a specially convened general meeting tomorrow, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman reported this evening.
Two influential shareholder advisory groups, Glass Lewis and ISS, have advised Liontrust’s shareholders to vote against plans to give its chief executive, John Ions, a 58 per cent pay rise.
Liontrust’s proposed remuneration policy would also see the the firm increase the salary of its joint-CFO/COO, Vinay Abrol, by 28 per cent.
Liontrust CEO, John Ions, earned a total of £6.6m from his position at Liontrust last year, on the back of a £348,000 a year salary.
The asset manager’s new remuneration policy would see Ion’s salary boosted to £550,000 a year, plus bonuses and equity.
Liontrust had sought to justify the pay rises on the basis that its market capitalisation has quadrupled over the past three years, to heights of £1.35bn at the end of 2021.
However, the vote comes in the midst of heightened sensitivities around executive pay outs, as Britain faces rampant inflation and a spiralling cost-of-living crisis.
Any shareholder revolt would be particularly embarrassing for Liontrust, due to the role asset managers have in holding other companies to account – particularly on matters of pay and governance.
The potential mutiny comes after Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, called on workers to refrain from asking for pay rises.