Easy ride? IT board pay rises despite dwindling returns

INVESTMENT TRUSTS

Jackie Beard, director of closed-ended fund research at Morningstar, asks why remuneration packages are rising for some board level directors despite underperformance of funds under their watch.

The role of the non-executive director can be considered a lucrative one – read a few board papers, turn up to a handful of meetings each year, and enjoy a nice lunch. For these efforts, non-exec directors receive an annual salary typically just a touch lower than the UK national average (full time) salary. It is common to see individuals with multiple non-exec board positions and for others to have been in situ for well over ten years, and sometimes both. One could argue it is a nice position to have – three or four directorships can mean a gross annual income in excess of £100,00...