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Alex Wynaendts has been the CEO of Aegon N.V. (AMS:AGN) since 2008. First, this article will compare CEO compensation with compensation at other large companies. After that, we will consider the growth in the business. And finally we will reflect on how common stockholders have fared in the last few years, as a secondary measure of performance. This method should give us information to assess how appropriately the company pays the CEO.
View our latest analysis for Aegon
How Does Alex Wynaendts’s Compensation Compare With Similar Sized Companies?
According to our data, Aegon N.V. has a market capitalization of €9.3b, and pays its CEO total annual compensation worth €4.2m. (This figure is for the year to December 2018). We think total compensation is more important but we note that the CEO salary is lower, at €1.3m. We looked at a group of companies with market capitalizations over €7.1b and the median CEO total compensation was €3.5m. (We took a wide range because the CEOs of massive companies tend to be paid similar amounts – even though some are quite a bit bigger than others).
So Alex Wynaendts is paid around the average of the companies we looked at. Although this fact alone doesn’t tell us a great deal, it becomes more relevant when considered against the business performance.
The graphic below shows how CEO compensation at Aegon has changed from year to year.
Is Aegon N.V. Growing?
Aegon N.V. has increased its earnings per share (EPS) by an average of 80% a year, over the last three years (using a line of best fit). Its revenue is down -67% over last year.
This shows that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Good news for shareholders. While it would be good to see revenue growth, profits matter more in the end.
Has Aegon N.V. Been A Good Investment?
Boasting a total shareholder return of 54% over three years, Aegon N.V. has done well by shareholders. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.
In Summary…
Remuneration for Alex Wynaendts is close enough to the median pay for a CEO of a large company .
Shareholders would surely be happy to see that shareholder returns have been great, and the earnings per share are up. Indeed, many might consider the pay rather modest, given the solid company performance! Whatever your view on compensation, you might want to check if insiders are buying or selling Aegon shares (free trial).
Arguably, business quality is much more important than CEO compensation levels. So check out this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.