Bharat Masrani, Group President and Chief Executive Officer of TD Bank Group, is photographed outside the bank offices in downtown Toronto, on Sept. 3, 2020.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Toronto-Dominion Bank’s TD-T chief executive officer, Bharat Masrani, received the biggest pay bump of the most senior executives at Canada’s five largest banks.
Mr. Masrani’s total compensation jumped 11.7 per cent in the past fiscal year to $15.08-million, making him the highest-paid bank CEO after Royal Bank of Canada’s RY-T David McKay. Canada’s second-largest lender, TD reported pay for its top executives in its annual proxy circular released Tuesday afternoon, and was the last of the big banks to disclose compensation for the year ended Oct. 31, 2022.
TD’s financial performance target for fiscal 2022 was to earn $13.49-billion in net income after tax (NIAT), less than the $14.65-billion than it earned in the prior year. The bank earned $15.43-billion in NIAT in 2022, beating its target by 14 per cent – the most significant metric that drove Mr. Masrani’s compensation increase.
He received a bonus of $2.69-million, up slightly from $2.37-million in the prior year, and stock and option awards valued at $10.82-million, up from $9.56-million.
In addition to his total compensation, Mr. Masrani was also paid for his role as a board member of Charles Schwab Corp. SCHW-N, which he holds as part of TD’s investment in the company. For the year ending Oct. 31, he received a retainer of US$119,167, which he took as deferred, restricted stock units; a stock option award of US$86,000; and a restricted-stock award of US$129,000.
The rest of Canada’s biggest banks released their annual proxy circulars in early March. The five bank CEOs earned a combined $70.34-million in total compensation, compared with $69.97-million in 2021, when pay surged 23 per cent, as financial institutions massively beat the lower profit targets set at a time of uncertainty about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three top executives received lower paycheques. Mr. McKay saw his total compensation fall a slim 1.8 per cent. While the bank beat its profit target, it said that the portion of his bonus based on financial performance declined by nearly $1-million, since RBC didn’t beat its goal in 2022 by as wide a margin as it did in 2021.
Bank of Montreal’s BMO-T Darryl White and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s CM-T Victor Dodig saw their pay slump 4 per cent and 13.6 per cent, respectively.
Along with Mr. Masrani, Bank of Nova Scotia BNS-T CEO Brian Porter, who retired early this year, was the only other CEO that received a pay increase. Mr. Porter’s total compensation climbed 11.6 per cent. His share and options awards were slightly less than the proposed target as Scotiabank fell short of its business goals, but an estimated increase in his pension benefits boosted his total to $13.6-million.
Scotiabank’s filings also outlined the compensation for its new chief executive Scott Thomson, who took on the role on Feb. 1. His target pay is set at $9.5-million – less than his predecessor. He is set to earn $1-million in base salary and $8.5-million in variable compensation, including bonuses and stock awards, this fiscal year.
He will also participate in a defined-contribution plan, rather than the defined-benefit pension that Canadian bank CEOS typically participate in.