After two years of virtual gatherings, shareholders were back out in force to meet board members and senior leadership teams in the flesh and avail of the traditional free lunch.
These days, and particularly over the past two years when they were carried out virtually, they have become far more sedate and polite affairs, with the chairpersons usually trying to wrap things up with rapid efficiency to avoid any slippery banana skins. However, in advance of the meeting two influential advisory firms urged shareholders to oppose the salary increases which one, Institutional Shareholder Services , claimed were not justified.
Flutter chairman, Gary McGann, defended the pay increases to the media afterwards, arguing that the landscape for top corporate leaders is extremely competitive, particularly in the sector in which the company operates. Kingspan’s CEO Gene Murtagh’s remuneration package last year topped €5.7m, up around three quarters on 2020 levels.
Their pay is also very much linked to performance, which is fair. When they and their company delivers, they win, and when it doesn't, they don't. The pay restrictions put in place by the Government following the banking crisis over a decade ago continue to restrict what executives at the main Irish banks receive.