Despite the large numbers of employers closing their final salary pension schemes, the majority of chief executives and finance directors are in their organisation’s DB plan. KPMG’s 2004 Survey of FTSE 100 Directors’ Compensation shows some 62% of chief executives and 78% of finance directors have a defined benefit pension and only 22% of CEOs and 21% of finance directors have a money purchase pension plan in their current firms. Where executives are receiving a final salary pension, the most common accrual rate – the proportion of salary employees receive for each year of service – is 1/30th. This is received by 36% of finance directors and 35% of CEOs. For executives that receive a defined contribution pension, the average employer contribution is 15%, although some senior employees are getting as much as 25% while others are only receiving 6%. If an executive joined their organisation’s pension scheme after 1989 there is currently a limit on the amount of salary that is classed as pensionable earnings. So for employers to provide pension benefits over this amount, which now stands at £102,000 a year, they must use other vehicles. The study also shows that 16% of executives are afforded extra benefits through an unfunded unapproved retirement benefit scheme, also termed UURBS. • For more details on KPMG’s 2004 Survey of FTSE 100 Directors’ Compensation contact Sean O’Hare on 020 7694 4054 or email sean.o’[email protected]
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