Pouring through company statistics can be a real bore. But then again, when you’re looking for the executive pay and compensation of Asia’s largest-listed companies, it can be rather fascinating.

With some invaluable help from S&P Capital IQ, CT pulled out the top 100 best paid CFOs for 2011 for Asian-listed companies (including Japan and Australasia). The numbers are taken from 21, 095 listed companies from 28 exchanges in the region. All the numbers come from the companies’ most recent annual filings.

(Just to be clear, this article is not a scientific study, merely an acid test for curious CFOs.)

To let you down gently, CT’s findings confirm that being a CFO in Asia is not quite like being an investment banker but, clearly if you’re at the top of the CFO tree, it’s a comfortable life. The average total compensation for the top ten (see below) CFOs works out to be $4.39 million.

There’s also some geographic bias to compensation. It clearly pays to be a CFO of an Australia Stock Exchange-listed company. Of the top 100 highest paid, 65 worked for companies primarily listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Hong Kong houses 30 of the top-paid CFOs, with the remaining few to be found on the Tokyo, Singapore and Bombay stock exchanges.

In terms of industry, S&P Capital IQ broadly categorises companies as such that out of the top paid 100 CFOs the top industries to work in term of cash compensation are materials, industrials, consumer discretionary and, in top spot, financials.

In terms of the top company names there should be few surprises. Top CFO pay is clearly linked to size and scope of a company.

Top of the pile is Peter Allen, CFO and board member of Australia’s property company Westfield Group, with a total compensation of $6 million. Frank John Sixt, group CFO of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa is second with a total compensation of just over US$5.5 million, with US4.3 million of that his cash bonus package.

Peer pay review

Compared to the top ten CFOs at S&P 500 companies, the salaries in Asia are conservative. According to a Wall Street Journal/S&P Capital IQ study published in July, the lowest compensated CFO in the top ten is Joseph R. Ianniello at CBS Corporation, who received total compensation $11.74 million.  

The wealthiest CFO on the block is Michael J. Angelakis of media company Comcast. His total compensation came in at a tasty $21.9 million.

Being on the board

It is also be worth mentioning that out of top ten Asian-listed companies, eight of the CFOs are also members of the company board. Out of the top 100 – based on compensation ranking – 49 CFOs are members of the company board.

From a corporate governance standpoint, CFO membership on a board is not always considered desirable. In the words of KPMG, “This is because too much executive representation on the board can compromise the board’s independent oversight role. Good practice suggests that only the CEO should be a member of the board, and more global companies are adhering to this practice.”

We’re certainly not suggesting there are any governance issues in any the companies listed above but it would interesting to see whether CFO board membership in the top Asian-listed companies does reduce in future.

Note: Total calculated compensation is the sum of all executive and director compensation components. This includes (but isn't limited to) salary, bonus, stock awards/grants, option awards, pension plan changes.