Aviva to review executive pay

Insurance giant Aviva is the latest firm to sit up and take note of disgruntled shareholders as it announced a review of executive remuneration practises.

It also said that chief executive Andrew Moss, who received a £2.69m package for 2012, would waive his pay rise for the year.

It follows a stormy meeting of Barclays' shareholders on Friday where the board was heckled over management pay.

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At that meeting 27% of voting shareholders to back the bank's executive pay package.

Aviva said that following the publication of its remuneration report at the end of March, a number of shareholders had voiced concerns about pay levels.

These included the Association of British Insurers, which advised its members to think about voting against the report.

"These concerns have mainly centred on how we structure the compensation paid when we recruit executive directors and whether overall levels of remuneration, driven by the operating performance in 2011, appropriately reflect changes in shareholder value through the year," Aviva said.

The firm stood by the payouts, saying proposed levels of remuneration were appropriate reward for Aviva's operating performance and strategic progress in 2011, as well as for attracting and retaining key executive directors.

These factors meant the pay plans were in shareholders' long term interests, it added.

"Reflecting on shareholder feedback, the remuneration committee has agreed to review how Aviva will compensate future joining executives for the loss of entitlement from their previous role," the company said.