RSA mollifies investors with directors' pay cut

British insurer RSA 's 28 percent cut in directors' pay was enough to secure backing from shareholders angered by a sharp reduction in the company's dividend.

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RSA's pay plans won 91 percent approval in a vote at the annual shareholder meeting in London on Wednesday.

In response to a series of hostile questions from investors, RSA Chairman Martin Scicluna said total director remuneration was lower in 2012 compared with the previous year.

 

The company was reinvesting money saved by the dividend cut in its business, not in executive salaries, he said.

Total director remuneration fell 28 percent to 4.3 million pounds from 6 million pounds a year earlier he said.

Many shareholders were angered by RSA's announcement in February that it would cut its final dividend by one third.

Guy Jubb, head of corporate governance at Standard Life Investments, which owns more than 4 percent of RSA according to Thomson Reuters data, told the board on Wednesday that payouts to shareholders were cut too far.

"We believe that excessive prudence was brought to bear in determining the scale of the cut," he said. Jubb did not reveal how he voted.

One private investor at the meeting prompted applause when he called on the board to align salaries with payouts to shareholders, cutting director pay by the same proportion they cut future dividends.

Chief Executive Simon Lee was awarded a pay package for 2012 amounting to 1.99 million pounds, according to the firm's annual report.