An annual survey by the firm found that the average salary of a trustee who is also a pensioner of a scheme rose from £5,000 last year to £9,000, while the median salary for chairmen is £20,000.
Mercer concluded this was due to recruitment and retention issues and the perception of trusteeship.
Schemes that found recruitment difficult blamed the widespread belief that trusteeship is time-consuming and difficult (65%); the fear of personal lia-bility (13%); and a lack of
interest (11%). The remainder blamed a shortage of suitable candidates.
Although the percentage of schemes paying at least one trustee had risen from 47% last year to 59%, it is still unusual for the entire board to be paid.
Three-quarters of schemes with more than £250m assets are likely to pay trustees, although the percentage employed by smaller schemes had risen from 35% to 47% over the same period.
Salaries are used by a third of schemes to recruit and retain trustees, while 17% pay salaries because trustees demand it, up from 11% last year.
Rachel Brougham, principal in the Mercer’s governance team, said schemes are recognising that trustees should see themselves as directors of multi-million pound businesses.
“We can see increased training, better governance and better structures being put in place. More thought is also being given to board structure and performance evaluation. The thorny issue of remuneration remains. It may be that trustees are becoming more demanding as their role becomes tougher.”
The survey showed that schemes had a median average of seven trustees. Active scheme members sit on 95% of trustee boards and pensioners sit on 68%, up from 60% last year.
The survey of 158 schemes also revealed a hefty increase in the number of trustee boards with a governance sub-committee, which has risen to 41% from only 25% last year.
Tom Willetts
