Laurentian CEO’s total pay dipped 4% in 2016

Laurentian CEO François Desjardins made 4% less in 2016. His total compensation dropped from $3.1 million in 2015 to just under $3 million in 2016, says the bank’s proxy circular.

This was Desjardins’s first full year as the bank’s leader. He replaced former CEO Réjean Robitaille in November 2015, after Robitaille announced he was stepping down in January 2015. So, while Desjardins’s total direct compensation increased from $1.8 million in 2015 to $2.7 million in 2016, his pension and benefits decreased, resulting in lower overall pay.

For 2016, the bank says Desjardins’s performance was “superior.” Laurentian says its adjusted net income rose 9% from 2015, and, as the bank’s leader, Desjardins “provided his team with a greater role in decision-making, thereby increasing their accountability and their performance.”

The proxy notes, “Desjardins’s short-term incentive target for fiscal 2016 was 100% of his base salary.”

Unlike Desjardins, the rest of the bank’s top executives received pay increases:

• François Laurin, executive vice-president and CFO made total compensation of $1.2 million, compared to nearly $141,000 in 2015. Laurin was hired in August 2015, so this was his first full year.

• Stéphane Therrien, executive vice-president of personal & commercial banking for Laurentian (he’s also president and CEO of LBC Financial Services), made total compensation of $1.7 million, compared to $1.6 million in 2015.

• Deborah Rose, CIO of Laurentian (she’s also president and CEO of B2B Bank and executive vice-president of Intermediary Banking), made total compensation of $1.3 million, compared to $1.1 million in 2015.

• Susan Kudzman, executive vice-president, chief risk officer and corporate affairs, made total compensation of $1.2 million, compared to about $460,000 in 2015. Kudzman was appointed to her current role in October 2015, so this was her first full year in the position.

Shareholder proposals

For 2017, Laurentian received four shareholder proposals, and one that was withdrawn. One of the proposals suggests the bank should “inform its shareholders of the corrections made following the 8.74% vote against its compensation policy.”

The proposal was put forward by the Mouvement d’éducation et de défense des actionnaires, or MÉDAC, which argues, “Over the past three years, this percentage has been steadily increasing,” from 2.67% in 2014 to 8.41% in 2015, and to 8.74% in 2016.

MÉDAC points to the significant increase in former CEO Robitaille’s pay between 2013 and 2015, as an example of why “a significant number of shareholders” are uncomfortable with current practices.

Still, the bank recommends voting against this proposal—the same with all the other proposals. It says, “The Board of Directors believes that the Bank’s compensation philosophy, together with details of the design and operation of the Bank’s executive compensation program described in this year’s Management Proxy Circular, accurately reflect our normal compensation policy.”

Gender diversity

Laurentian’s proxy circular notes five out of 11 proposed board members are women (45%). So, “excluding the president and CEO, the only non-independent member of the Board, the bank would achieve gender parity on [its board].”

It adds that among the bank and its subsidiaries, 23 out of 59 executives are women (39%). The proxy points out the bank “hasn’t established a specific target with respect to the number of women that should be on its executive team because it has always maintained good practices in this area.”