Pension groups urge firms to listen to investors on exec pay June 19, 2012 INVESTOR groups complained yesterday that executive pay in the financial sector remains “wildly out of line” with the rest of the country. Speaking the day before business secretary Vince Cable is due to unveil his plans to tighten up executive pay rules, bosses from the National Association of Pension Funds and other investing bodies told [...]
Government must stop meddling and leave pay decisions to shareholders June 19, 2012 DEMANDS for government intervention to limit executive pay are misguided. As the WPP vote against Sir Martin Sorrell’s pay and other AGMs this spring showed, shareholders can act – corporate governance is their responsibility. The only way that governments can improve corporate governance is by removing obstacles to shareholder action. Government regulation of corporate governance [...]
Shake-up starts as Man Group hires Sorrell June 18, 2012 STRICKEN hedge fund Man Group yesterday responded to poor performances and investor disquiet by dropping its finance chief. Outgoing finance director Kevin Hayes has been replaced with immediate effect by Jonathan Sorrell, son of billionaire WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. The fund, which is the world’s second largest by assets, has made the switch [...]
PROFILE: JONATHAN SORRELL June 18, 2012 AS yet it is unclear whether a 34-year old who enjoyed the best of the City’s booming noughties is best placed to help dig out Man Group from a large-scale crisis. But Jonathan Sorrell certainly has pedigree. Son of Sir Martin, the head of advertising group WPP, he studied law at Cambridge, from 1995 to [...]
Bell Pottinger buyout passes vote despite Sorrell’s rejection June 18, 2012 LORD Bell’s management buyout of Bell Pottinger was yesterday approved by 63 per cent of parent group Chime’s investors, despite opposition from its biggest shareholder. The £19.6m deal is expected to complete on 30 June, with new company Bell Pottinger Private (BPP) commencing business on 1 July as one of the UK’s top five public [...]
UK market’s euphoria over Greek vote is short-lived as crisis lingers June 18, 2012 UK equities closed slightly higher yesterday, slipping off one-month highs as initial euphoria after Greek elections reduced the chances of an imminent euro exit quickly gave way to the realisation that the region’s crisis is still far from resolved. Greek conservatives secured a narrow victory over the radical left at the weekend, increasing the likelihood [...]
Management reshuffle at Man Group June 18, 2012 Embattled hedge fund firm Man Group today sacked its finance chief in a management reshuffle designed to regain investor confidence and reverse poor performance at its flagship fund. Kevin Hayes is to leave the firm immediately and will be replaced by Jonathan Sorrell, son of WPP chief Sir Martin Sorrell and formerly Man’s head of [...]
Rosen called to resign on WPP failure June 13, 2012 INVESTORS are calling for Jeffrey Rosen, the chairman of WPP’s compensation committee, to pay the price for the advertising giant’s embarrassment at its annual general meeting yesterday. The company’s remuneration report, which handed chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell a 60 per cent pay rise last year, was rejected by a whopping 59.5 per cent of [...]
WPP directors suffer after drawn out row June 13, 2012 WHILE the strongest and least surprising shareholder revolt was directed at Sir Martin Sorrell’s pay package yesterday, WPP’s directors did not escape unscathed. More than a fifth of investors rejected the re-election of remuneration committee chair Jeffrey Rosen and non-executive directors Ruigang Li and Koichiro Naganuma, in a further sign of shareholder discontent with the ad [...]
WPP shareholders reject Sir Martin Sorrell’s pay deal June 13, 2012 Investors at WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, this afternoon revived the shareholder spring by rejecting a big pay rise handed to chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. At the firm’s Dublin AGM 59.5 per cent of shareholders voted against the group’s remuneration report, which will hand Sorrell a a substantial increase to his pay package, [...]