Global FTSE 100 companies seek shareholder support for more competitive remuneration packages

• 24% (13) are looking to significantly increase incentive levels and/or introduce more innovative pay structures;
• 18% (10) are accelerating their policy reviews, submitting proposals ahead of the usual three-year cycle;
• The median FTSE 100 CEO package for 2024 increased by 7% – from £4.49m in 2023 to £4.79m in 2024¹.

Deloitte analysis reveals a significant increase of FTSE 100 companies seeking to make changes to executive pay: 24 out of 55 companies that have already published their FY24 reports are seeking shareholder approval for new binding remuneration policies, compared to 16 at the same time last year.

There has been a marked rise in companies seeking to increase incentive levels, with 13 of the 24 proposing significant increases and/or more innovative pay structures. In some cases these structures incorporate a move towards hybrid long-term incentive proposals² (comprising a mix of performance and restricted share awards), which are currently most common in the US market, as well as increases to performance-linked long-term incentive pay. This is compared to nine at the same time last year.

For the banks, significant incentive increases have been accompanied by a sizeable decrease in fixed pay.  The structural changes are in part a response to the removal of the bonus cap.  

Significantly, 10 companies, over 40%  of those proposing changes, are submitting their policies ahead of the three-year cycle, a marked increase to the three companies who went early in 2023.

Mitul Shah, Partner in Deloitte’s Executive Remuneration and Reward practice, said: “This year, a significant number of large global FTSE 100 companies are putting a new remuneration policy to the vote. A number of these companies are proposing substantial changes to pay amounts and/or compensation structures, highlighting the need to attract top talent in a competitive global market and address pay compression challenges.

“We have seen a significant number of companies submit early policies ahead of the three-year cycle. It will be interesting to see whether investors and proxies³ are as open to these proposals this AGM season as they were last year. Boards appear to be continuing to do what they feel is in the best interests of their company and there is clear evidence that many companies have engaged extensively with their investors to explain their specific case for support.  Investors and proxies also appear more open to reviewing proposals on a case by case basis.”

FTSE 100 CEO packages

The median FTSE 100 CEO package increased by 7%, from £4.49m in 2023 to £4.79m in 2024⁴.

The median CEO annual bonus payout was 78% of maximum (2023: 80%). 20% of companies used discretion and judgement to reduce bonuses to reflect performance factors such as health and safety, ESG factors or risk and governance issues. We have also seen five companies exercise positive discretion to adjust incentive outcomes upwards where it was considered to better reflect performance.

Median long-term incentive vesting – the extent to which performance conditions are achieved under long term incentive plans – was 68% of maximum, the same as 2023. Under UK Corporate Governance Code requirements, shares will not generally be released to executives for a further two years.

Most (70%) CEO salary increases for 2025 are projected at or below the average workforce increase, with a median increase of 3%. Sixteen companies are implementing significant one-off salary adjustments for their CEOs, with increases of 5% or more.

Companies are continuing to evolve their approach to how they incentivise the delivery of their sustainability/ESG⁵ strategies. Just over half of companies in the sample with a distinct ESG metric have made changes to their approach, for example adjusting the weighting on ESG or refining the choice of metric. This includes, to date, nine companies who have removed a diversity metric from their incentive schemes for 2025. 

ENDS

Notes to editors

Deloitte’s “2025 AGM season – FTSE 100 early insights” analysis includes remuneration data in respect of 55 companies with financial years ending on or after 14 September 2024 and who had published their Annual Report prior to 27 March 2025. For comparison, last year's data is based on the same group of companies.

UK regulations require quoted companies to follow specific rules for reporting on directors' pay. These companies must have a directors' remuneration policy, which shareholders vote on at least every three years. They must also produce an annual report on directors' remuneration for the past financial year. This report also explains how the current policy will be implemented in the coming year and is subject to an advisory shareholder vote.

1. Based on Deloitte analysis of data from the first 55 companies to publish their 2024 annual reports (from 14 September 2024).
2. Hybrid long-term incentive plans refer to a mix of performance-based share awards and restricted share awards. Restricted share awards are typically subject to continued employment only (and in the UK may be subject to an additional ‘satisfactory performance’ underpin).
3. Proxy agencies provide shareholder meeting research, analysis and recommendations for institutional investors in respect of voting resolutions.
4. In accordance with UK reporting regulations, total CEO pay packages (single figure total remuneration) reported for 2024 include estimated values of long-term incentive awards. Total CEO pay packages for 2023 (median £4.49m for this sample) are based on the actual values re-stated by companies in 2024.
5. Environmental, Social, or Governance related metric.