It’s a good time to run a bank.
The chief executives of Canada's five largest banks collectively earned $63.2 million in total compensation in 2018, up 12% from 2017, according to the latest proxy circulars from each financial institution.
Toronto-Dominion Bank's (TSX:TD) chief executive Bharat Masrani received the highest overall pay in 2018 at $15.3 million in total compensation, which includes base salary, performance-based incentives and pension value. That's up 23% from Masrani's $12.4 million in total compensation for 2017, marking the biggest annual pay bump among the heads of Canada’s five big banks.
The second-highest paid banking chief executive officer was Royal Bank of Canada's (TSX:RY) Dave McKay, who saw an 8% pay increase to $14.5 million in total compensation, followed by Bank of Nova Scotia's (TSX:BNS) Brian Porter who received $13.3 million, up 3.2% from 2017.
The Bank of Montreal's (TSX:BMO) chief executive Darryl White received $10.1 million in total compensation in his first full year at the helm, up 22% from 2017. While the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's (TSX: CM) chief executive Victor Dodig received $10 million in compensation for 2018, up 6.5% from a year earlier.
Excluding pension value and other miscellaneous compensation items, the five CEOs of Canada’s largest banks earned $54.7 million in total direct compensation, up 6.5% from 2017. The pay raises come as the big five banks delivered a collective $43.2 billion in net income for 2018, up 7.2% from the prior year. The banks continued to churn out profits despite worries over stricter mortgage lending rules and trade uncertainty.
