RSA chief Stephen Hester receives nearly £5m pay packet after strong 2017 for the insurer

The chief executive of RSA Stephen Hester will take home nearly £5m after a strong 2017 for the insurer which saw it achieve a record underwriting profit of £394m.

On top of his salary of £987,000, the former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) boss received a £1m bonus, £2.6m as part of a long-term incentive plan and nearly £300,000 in pensions related benefits.

Last year he was paid just under £4.5m, representing an 11 per cent increase in total remuneration this year.

Read more: RSA hikes dividend as it grows premiums and profits

RSA announced a strong set of results for 2017, in contrast to many of its competitors which saw a steep rise in claims following natural disasters which included a devastating 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.

The RSA Group wrote £6.7bn in premiums last year, achieved record underwriting results and a profit after tax of £322m, up from £20m in 2016.

In comparison, insurer Hiscox scrapped bonuses for its senior executives this year after a spike in claims triggered by hurricane damage in the US and Caribbean.

Read more: Hurricanes blow bonuses away at insurer Hiscox

Its chief executive Bronek Masojada received £2.3m for 2017, a fall of 42 per cent from the previous year when he was paid nearly £4m.

Pay for Lloyd’s of London chief executive Inga Beale also fell this year after Lloyd’s crashed to a £2bn loss, its first in six years.

Read more: Lloyd’s of London reports £2bn loss after year of natural catastrophes

Beale’s pay fell from £1.5m in 2016 to £1.3m last year, a fall of 15 per cent.

In 2010 while at RBS Hester waived a £1.6m bonus amid political pressure and a wave of public anger at pay in the banking sector following the financial crisis.