that’s alot of money

July 24, 2009

Pay, perks of new SGX chief

He will also get $4.8m as compensation for loss of incentives at Nasdaq

By Gabriel Chen

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) will pay incoming chief executive Magnus Bocker a guaranteed base salary of $750,000 a year and a minimum variable bonus of $933,000 for his first seven months. The bourse operator announced on Thursday that Mr Bocker, who is currently president of Nasdaq OMX, will also get $4.77 million over three years as compensation for loss of long-term incentives and bonuses from the job he is leaving. Of this amount, $2.63 million will be paid when he takes up the SGX top post. Mr Bocker, 47, is replacing Mr Hsieh Fu Hua as SGX CEO, and he will take up his new position from Dec 1 for an initial three-year term, the company announced earlier this week. His other perks include a housing allowance of $300,000 a year for the first two years, relocation costs of $100,000, a club membership, a car and a driver. These extra benefits are not unusual for CEOs. Apart from pay, other common perks include a car or car allowance, and country club membership – a relatively insignificant portion of the full package. Mr Gary Lai, manager for financial services search firm Robert Walters, said that Mr Bocker’s base salary of $750,000 and anticipated annual bonus of $1.6 million (pro-rated from the $933,000) is a ‘fair amount’ when compared with other company chiefs. Typically, head honchos here have a basic salary of between $200,000 and just over $1 million a year, usually making up 30 per cent of their total package. Mr Lai noted that Mr Bocker’s $4.77 million compensation for loss of long-term incentives and bonuses is somewhat high. As president of Nasdaq OMX, Mr Bocker earned US$3.2 million (S$4.6 million) last year. Mr Hsieh was paid $7.18 million in the year ended June 30 last year, of which $5.3 million was bonuses.