Man boss Clarke defiant in face of investor anger
ANGRY investors staged a revolt over pay at beleaguered hedge fund Man Group after chief executive Peter Clarke was awarded a $7m package despite the sinking share price.
Around one in seven shareholders voted against the remuneration report while nearly a third came out against Alison Carnwath, just days after Barclays investors criticised her role in handing a £17m package to chief executive Bob Diamond.
Yesterday 14.9 per cent of Man shareholders failed to back the pay report, with 13.9 per cent voting against it.
Results from the AGM also showed 32.6 per cent of shareholders did not back Carnwath’s re-appointment, with 29 per cent voting against her, although City A.M. understands she has the full confidence of the board.
The meeting caps a tumultuous period for Man, whose share price has lost nearly 60 per cent since September. One investor said the key performance indicators are “trending horribly in the wrong direction”.
Clarke’s package for last year could be worth up to $6.98m. Chairman Jon Aisbitt said 85 per cent of institutional investors had voted in favour of the remuneration report but admitted the firm was involved in “ongoing and intense discussions with our leading shareholders”.
Clarke told the meeting Man is not interested in a takeover approach after analysts at UBS last week said it was a “likely take-out candidate”.
“We do not feel we need a big brother in order to achieve our strategic objectives,” said Clarke. “I do not feel our shareholders do anything other than support existing management, as witnessed by the proxy votes.”
Clarke’s comments come as Man said client withdrawals slowed to a net $1bn in the three months to 31 March, beating expectations. In comparison, the firm saw $2.5bn of net outflows in the final three months of 2011.
Total funds under management inched up one per cent to $59bn in the first quarter.
Man’s outflows were largely at its $21bn “black box” hedge fund AHL, which is down 2.2 per cent so far in 2012 after falling 6.4 per cent last year.
Funds at Man’s manager-driven GLG unit made gains this year. Its European Long-Short hedge fund, run by star trader Pierre Lagrange, was up eight per cent in the first three months of the year.