Finance Ceos Pocket Most Pay

The heads of financial service companies were the highest paid executives in 1994, but those in the construction industry enjoyed the largest boost in compensation, a survey found.

In those cases and others, much of the money came from bonuses based on performance, said Marc-Andreas Klein, author of The Conference Board report.

“Annual executive incentives, which increasingly link pay to performance, are virtually universal,” Klein said.

The study analyzed the total 1994 compensation for the five highest-paid executives in 1,070 medium to large companies in 13 different industries. The information was obtained from proxy statements and released last week.

In financial services, the median - or middle - compensation was $1.47 million, the highest of the businesses surveyed, but 6.6 percent lower than in 1993.

Klein said there were no surprises in the report, which saw trends from previous years continue. Financial services showed the highest median CEO bonus, 255 percent of base salary, while utility executives received the lowest, 38 percent.

“The low bonus awards in utilities are probably due to the constraints of a more regulated industry,” he said.

In neither the construction industry nor in financial services was compensation linked to company size, Klein said. He would not release the names of individual companies.

In other industries, the median compensation for chief executives was:

$1.24 million in telecommunications, an increase of 5.8 percent.

$929,000 in communications, up 10 percent.

$893,000 in insurance, up 4.8 percent.

$826,000 in commercial banking, up 6 percent.

$695,000 in construction, up 15.2 percent.

$675,000 in manufacturing, up 13.4 percent.

$582,000 in energy, up 6.4 percent.

$575,000 in transportation, up 9.9 percent.

$567,000 in retail sales, up 5.6 percent.

$523,000 in diversified services, up 12.3 percent.

$507,000 in utilities, up 5.6 percent.

$459,000 in wholesale trade, up 14.3 percent.