Forty per cent of life is showing up

Remuneration reports make for interesting reading for a number of reasons, but a particularly illuminating piece of information is the remuneration consultant's fee. While the Australian laws do not require these fees to be disclosed unless the remuneration consultant makes remuneration recommendations, the Poms are not nearly so sensitive. BHP Billiton's 2015 remuneration report released today indicates its remuneration consultants received £161,000 in fees for FY2015, including £63,850 for attending remuneration committee meetings and commentary on management proposals (and yes: that is how it is written in the report, management proposals) while £97,150 was for provision of remuneration recommendations and other technical advice and support. There were seven remuneration committee meetings in FY2015, so that's £9,000 per meeting, assuming they attended all of these meetings. I would have thought commentary, if provided separately from the meetings, would form part of the technical fees. Next time you're meeting with members of your investee company Boards, take a couple of minutes to understand how its remuneration consultants charge for their time.