Brian Porter, president and CEO of Scotiabank, received a pay bump in 2016. His total compensation was $11.8 million, compared to $10.9 million in 2015, according to the bank’s proxy circular.
His direct compensation for the year—which doesn’t include his pension and other compensation—was $10.1 million, up from $9.3 million in 2015 and 12% higher than the 2016 target of $9 million.
The proxy circular points to Porter’s “strong operating performance” and an “increase in shareholder return” in 2016, adding his raise was “due to increases in his annual incentive award (19%) and equity compensation (8%).”
Porter made more than his counterpart at TD, which was the first Big 5 bank to release its proxy circular. CEO Bharat Masrani made $10.3 million last year, down from $10.7 million in 2015. TD attributes that dip to year-over-year decreases in performance targets for his senior executive team (still, as TD’s proxy circular notes, TD had the second-largest market cap out of Canada’s big bank’s as of October 31, 2016, while Scotiabank was in third).
Read: TD head made less in 2016
Most of Scotiabank’s other top executives saw pay increases:
- Sean McGuckin, group head and CFO, made nearly $4 million in 2016, up from $3.1 million in 2015.
- Ignacio Deschamps, group head of International Banking and Digital Transformation, made $12.8 million in 2016 (Deschamps was hired in January 2016 as Strategic Advisor to the CEO, digital banking; he assumed his current role in March 2016).
- Dieter Jentsch, group head of Global Banking and Markets, made $6.2 million in 2016, up from $4.4 million in 2015. Jentsch also changed roles in March 2016, after previously serving as group head of International Banking.
- James O’Sullivan, group head of Canadian Banking, made $4.1 million in 2016, up from $3.2 million in 2015.
The proxy circular notes Canadian banking was a major business driver in 2016. In reviewing O’Sullivan’s performance, the bank says, “Canadian Banking contributed more than half of the bank’s earnings in 2016, with net income of $3.7 million, up 12% from last year […] Results were partially offset by higher provision for credit losses and non-interest expenses, [but] customer loyalty results were well above target.”
Scotiabank says shareholders can have their say on pay by participating in an advisory vote on its approach to executive compensation. It notes the Board of Directors has held this vote annually since 2010, and says, “Last year, the vote was 94.1% for our approach to executive compensation, and shareholder support has been 92.6% or higher each year.”
Read: Bank earnings roundup
Gender diversity
In fiscal 2015, five out of 16 executive officers at Scotiabank were women (31%), compared to six of 21 in fiscal 2016 (29%), according to the proxy circular.
For 2016, Scotiabank says it “strengthened its written diversity policy and aspires to have at least 30% of its members be women.” Since 2013, women have represented more than 28% of the bank’s board.
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