Job losses won't stop rate cut; CEO pay revealed; super's good year

Job losses won't stop rate cut; CEO pay revealed; super's good year

News in brief

The nation’s top CEOs earn about 55 times the pay of an average worker, and while it is getting cheaper to dump the boss of an ASX listed company, the heads of smaller companies are catching up to the big caps, at least in terms of remuneration.

 

Superannuation funds are closing in on another strong financial year, with the median growth fund set to return around 9 per cent. That would make three years in a row of outsized returns, according to Chant West, and super funds are now almost guaranteed to record the 14th positive year in 16.

 

Australia’s universities have performed poorly in the latest rankings of global unis, with the highest ranked University of Melbourne dropping seven places to 19. That’s according to the QS World University Rankings. Number two in Australia, the University of New South Wales, went from 19 to 20, while the University of Sydney, fell from 18 to 25.

 

Donald Trump has made his most explicit comments yet about possible US military action against Iran, saying that the next week would be “very big” in determining the course of the war between Israel and the Islamic republic.

 

Over the past week, tanker rates using the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran controls, have more than doubled, from less than $US20,000 to almost $US48,000 a day, demonstrating how the Middle East conflict is quickly pushing up energy prices.

Fear-o-meter

Even though the unemployment rate printed at 4.1 per cent in May – the fifth straight month at that level – there is still likely to be interest rate cuts in the second half of this year.

 

The conundrum for the Reserve Bank is that the employment market is strong, and that normally means wage inflation pressure. At the same time, the economy is growing at less than two per cent per annum.

 

The slow growth says the economy needs an interest rate cut. The strong labour market says it doesn’t. It’s a tough call for the central bank.

 

Forward indicators, such as employment surveys and job ads, show the labour market is weakening. And growth in jobs in the public sector – where 70 per cent of new roles have emerged over the past year – has slowed markedly.

 

The RBA will cut rates in the next couple of months, more worried about economic growth than wage inflation.

Who's talking today?

On ACSI's annual study of CEO remuneration, with a detailed look at the best-paid CEOs, trends in bonuses, and the decline in 'golden parachute' termination payments:

 

"Following the global financial crisis, there was actually a change in the law in 2009. So just after the GFC, you saw $80 million paid out in golden parachutes to top 100 executives, which was a disaster for shareholders who'd already been impacted. And it sent a really bad message because many of those leaving, the companies were in flames at the time.

The law change which effectively gave shareholders a greater voice or an ability to vote no on large golden parachutes and termination payments. And since that time, investors, super funds as well as the mum and dad investors and others listening to this show have actually voted no on those outsized termination payments. And boards have really listened and I think held executives more accountable."

The Australian economy shed workers last month, adding to the argument for lower interest rates, even though the unemployment rate remains at 4.1 per cent. There were 2,500 fewer workers last month, though that did follow a boom April when 88,000 new jobs were created. The ABS data released yesterday shows a big drop in part-time jobs almost offset by a rise in full-time employment, meaning hours worked rose.

Greed-o-meter

CEO	Company	Pay
Victor Herrero	Lovisa	$39.6m
Shemara Wikramanayake	Macquarie	$29.8m
Greg Goodman	Goodman Group	$26.8m
Mike Henry	BHP	$19.3m
Jakob Stausholm	Rio Tinto	$19.1m
Chris Ellison	Mineral Resources	$14.8m
Rob Scott	Wesfarmers	$13m
Stuart Irving	Computershare	$11.4m
Paul Flynn	Whitehaven Coal	$10.7m
Trevor Croker	Aristocrat Leisure	$10.5m

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So who were Australia's highest-paid CEOs in FY24? These are the top ten, excluding US-based CEOs of ASX-listed companies.

Listen to today's episode 🎧 

Source: ACSI

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