Mr Burdett said more companies should allow their remuneration committees more discretion to choose how to award bonuses each year, rather than limit them with complicated financial targets set in advance.  “This is particularly [relevant] where the fall in sterling might produce huge swings in profits, up or down, which have little to do with management performance. This may require investors to trust the remuneration committee, but surely it’s about time they placed more faith in them?” he said.  Despite a series of rule changes trying to tie pay to performance after the so-called shareholder spring in 2012, pay for most senior executives has not changed dramatically over the past year.  The median salary for a chief executive has fallen £10,000 to £850,000, which the researchers said was a result of several firms hiring new bosses on slightly lower pay, as well as the reshuffle in the membership of the FTSE indices.  Long-term incentive plans are worth 262pc of salaries at their face value, the research showed. The average maximum bonus is 180pc of base salary, in line with the prior year, with just under 80pc of all bosses receiving the biggest possible payout.  The average FTSE 100 boss was paid £4.4m in total, up from £4m a year ago, with a rise in some of the biggest firms in the index masking a fall in numerous pay packets at smaller companies.  Almost every member of the FTSE 100 has adopted “clawback” rules, which allow firms to ask executives to return their bonuses if the company gets into trouble in subsequent years.  There has been a slight uptick in companies coming under fire for controversial pay plans, even though all FTSE 100 firms and all but one FTSE 250 groups have had their remuneration reports approved so far this year.  The Investment Association (IA) has given its “blue top” all-clear rating to less than 50pc of remuneration reports and policies this year, and around one in 20 were given a “red top” warning about serious concerns. The ratings serve to inform major investors as they prepare to vote.  The IA said in April that many investors were growing frustrated with long-term incentive plans, which are seen as “complex and target setting is difficult”.
The complexities of executive pay packets could move up the agenda following the EU referendum vote, as investors capitalise on Theresa May’