Don’t use ‘boilerplate’ reasons to justify big executive pay rises, UK firms warned

Investment Association, influential group of shareholders, urges pay committees to avoid ‘benchmarking’

The UK’s largest listed companies have been warned against using “boilerplate” arguments to justify big executive pay increases by an influential group of shareholders.

The Investment Association (IA) – whose members manage £10tn of assets – has told pay committees to avoid “benchmarking”: where companies argue higher pay is needed in order to match rivals and avoid bosses jumping ship for larger salaries and bonuses elsewhere.