Government fund manager pays $96m in staff bonuses – more than it made in profit
The Palaszczuk Government’s fund manager, Queensland Investment Corporation, paid an eye-watering $95.7 million in bonuses to its executives last year, more than it made in after tax profit and double the dividend it paid back to the government.
The Queensland Investment Corportation has paid out almost twice as much in executive bonuses as it made in nett profit. (Image: file)
The bonuses, dubbed “performance” remuneration, work out to about $123,000 per eligible employee although some executives would have received much more. About 775 QIC staff received some sort of bonus payment on top of their normal salaries.
The payments were buried in the QIC’s annual report, tabled in parliament last week.
By contrast, the QIC paid a single $45.1 million dividend to the government and recorded an after tax profit of $92.2 million.
“The majority of these payments are dependent on the satisfaction of performance conditions and are defined as ‘at risk’,” the report states.
“The maximum ‘at risk’ amount payable varies with individual roles to the extent that each role impacts on investment and corporate performance.”
In its explanation of senior executive remuneration, the QIC says most of its employees are “sourced from the various financial markets and investment sectors in which the group participates”.
“It is important that the group’s employment practices are competitive within these markets,” it said.
“Effective remuneration strategies are an essential element in the group’s ability to attract and retain investment professionals and other key employees and to ensure their effectiveness in achieving agreed performance benchmarks.”
The QIC has nearly $100 billion in assets under management, including power stations overseas, shopping centres interstate and the above-ground development rights for the new train stations being built as part of the Cross River Rail project.
QIC chief executive Kylie Rampa said the corporation produced positive investment performance, saying this had “delivered $3.7 billion for the Queensland Government”.
“In a year where rising inflation and heightened geopolitical tension were significant influences on markets, this is an outstanding result and strengthens the State’s balance sheet,” she said in a statement.
“During periods of such volatility, our value proposition is reinforced. We construct and manage resilient portfolios on behalf of our investors aimed at delivering attractive, risk-adjusted returns.
“The result achieved for the State is demonstration of that value proposition in action.”
