The world’s largest fund manager has launched a crusade against “fat cat” pay deals, threatening to unleash a new shareholder spring unless companies curb board excess. BlackRock has written to the chairmen of more than 300 of Britain’s largest companies, demanding cuts to pension entitlements and an end to lavish pay rises. In last week’s blistering letter, the New York-based firm said it would no longer tolerate the generous retirement allowances routinely given to executives. And in future it would only approve pay rises for executive directors if employees’ wages were increased by a similar amount. The intervention is likely to send tremors through boardrooms. Over half of Britain’s biggest quoted companies are preparing to put their pay plans to binding shareholder votes over the
BlackRock, the world’s largest fund manager, has written to the chairmen over of 300 of the UK’s biggest companies calling for reductions in pension entitlements and excessive pay rises. The New York-based firm, which controls assets worth $4.9tn, said it would only approve pay rises for executives if they were matched by similar increases for employees. “While we are not proposing a specific increase at this time, our view is that any such move should be accompanied by an equal reduction in executive pay, as well as other measures designed to improve corporate BlackRock is believed to be among the top three shareholders of every FTSE 100 company.