Netwealth’s joint managing directors and founders, Michael, and his son Matt, are the sixth highest paid ASX 200 chief executives, earning a combined $25.85 million in realised pay in the 2021 financial year.
As well as ranking sixth out of the ASX 200, the pair also topped the list of highest-paid ASX CEOs within the ASX 101-200 category in FY21 while delivering a 93.5% return to shareholders for the year, according to a report released by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).
The Heine’s, who listed their business on the ASX in 2017, had shot up from 69th place to first on the ASX101-200 CEO pay list after the sale of a combined 4.375 million shares in FY21.
Overall, the report found that while Australian boards had reduced CEO pay outcomes in 2020 in response to the pandemic, the pendulum had swung markedly the other way in FY21.
Where the median bonus received in 2020 was just 30% of potential maximum, it shot up to a record-breaking 76.7% in 2021 – the highest in the seven years the research has collected this data. The average bonus awarded to ASX100 chiefs has also hit a record $2.31mn, exceeding 2017’s record of $2.30mn.
Ed John, executive manager, stewardship at ACSI, said: “After their lowest year on record, big bonuses have returned, but they haven’t just rebounded, they’ve hit new heights.
“That’s why investors, and ACSI, will be scrutinising closely the results-reporting season to see if this concerning trend of bonus ‘catch-up’ continues. This year’s outcomes will be judged against a backdrop of difficult financial markets and an uncertain economic outlook.
“Bonuses for CEOs shouldn’t be awarded for business-as-usual outcomes. Payments to senior executives have to be aligned with value created for shareholders and reflect true outperformance.”
Fixed pay for ASX 100 CEOs rebounded from pandemic lows and, for ASX 101-200 CEOs, remained the second-highest recorded in the history of ACSI’s CEO pay study.
After falling 5.1% in FY20 to $1.68mn, ASX 100 median CEO fixed pay rose 8.1% to $1.81mn, the highest for the ASX 100 cohort since 2014 (although only 2.6% higher than the last pre-COVID year, FY19).
Of note was Magellan’s former chief investment officer, Hamish Douglass, with a fixed pay of $2.64 million.
