Head of Scottish Widows sees pay go up by half

Published on Tuesday 3 April 2007 12:04

THE pay package of the boss of pensions giant Scottish Widows has soared by almost 50 per cent in two years.

The Lloyds TSB subsidiary appointed Archie Kane to the position of chief executive in Autumn 2003, in place of Mike Ross.

Its latest annual report shows that Mr Kane earned 1.25 million last year, 36 per cent more than the 919,000 he got the year before and up 46 per cent on 2004.

According to the report, his earnings were made up of a 500,000 basic salary and a performance bonus of 715,000, as well as other benefits worth an additional 37,000.

It means that he has now more than doubled the 622,000 of earnings he made in his first year in the job.

The pay rise comes after Scottish Widows reported a 62 per cent annual rise in sales of its saving and investment products.

Its bancassurance business now worth 5.3 billion.

The figure is partly seen as a sign of the success of the stronger alliance it now has with its parent company.

Over the course of the last year, Lloyds TSB's pre-tax profits climbed 11 per cent in 2006, to 4.25bn.

Lloyds said that Scottish Widows enjoyed a year of "excellent growth", with overall sales up 24 per cent on 2004.

Finance industry veteran Ewan Brown, part-time chairman of Lloyds TSB in Scotland, also saw his earnings rise to 134,000 last year - up 50,000 on 2005.