The Investment Association (IA) maintains a Public Register of listed companies whose resolutions are subject to a significant adverse vote backed by more than 20% of the Company’s shareholders. The recent press release from the IA on their 2019 results shows that shareholder dissent had reached a quarter of the FTSE All Share, with a record 158 companies added to the Public Register. As executive pay remained a key concern for investors, it is no surprise that 62 of the companies in the Register had been included in relation to pay-related resolutions. Of this number, 31 were FTSE 250 companies – an increase of over 30% on 2018.

This shows the importance for listed companies of designing their employee share schemes with careful attention to the expectations of investors, the guidance from institutional investors (such as the IA), and aligning long term plans with the long term strategy of the Company.

Further guidance can be found the section of our website dedicated to Incentives for Senior Executives of Quoted Companies. To find out more about how we can help you or your client with the design and implementation of an Executive Incentive scheme, please call 0121 281 5798.