To clarify the impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including companies ability to pay dividends under IFRS.
To outline dividend policy, especially where remuneration is rising and share price and dividend are static.
To elaborate on aspects of remuneration policy, particularly where there are sizeable increases in pay and not in company performance.
Where an acquisition has been made, when is the company likely to achieve its expectations?
Questions to encourage voting of resolutions
Ask the company to:
Elaborate on rationale / hurdles for executive performance schemes.
Provide detailed justification for increased non-executive directorsÂ’ (NED) remuneration pool. Take into account the number of new directors and progress in appointment and individual director pay rise.
Explain re-election of directors. Discuss the impact of director conflicts of interest, for example consider how often have directors had to withdraw from meetings due to conflict, ask for an explanation of non-attendance at meetings, and how directors can juggle workload given other directorships.
Remuneration: The loss of trust with regard to the oversight of remuneration in the past has arisen from a number of high profile situations (which impacted many shareholders directly) where poor share price and company performance was coupled with high remuneration. As a shareholder you want to be reassured that the company are not only asking 'how much do we have to pay executives to retain them?' but also 'how much is too much?'
