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Perpetual chief takes hefty pay cut

Geoff Lloyd has taken a $600,000 pay cut despite being promoted to chief executive at funds manager Perpetual.

Mr Lloyd was elevated to the top job in February but his remuneration package failed to rise along with his status.

Perpetual's latest annual report shows Mr Lloyd was paid $1.4 million for 2011/12, including $752,082 in salary and $437,000 in short term incentives and other bonuses.

However the package fell short of the $2 million he collected in the previous financial year as group executive of Perpetual Private and head of retail sales.

His predecessor Chris Ryan's total remuneration for 2011/12 came in at $2.7 million, including a $1.2 million termination payout, a $711,955 salary and $183,750 in bonuses.

Perpetual announced plans earlier in 2012 to cut the pay of its top executives and directors after a shareholder outcry.

Perpetual was among a group of ASX300 companies to receive a "first strike" from shareholders against their remuneration reports presented at annual general meetings in late 2011.

With more than a quarter of shareholders voting against Perpetual's remuneration report, the company faces a board spill if there is another vote against the latest remuneration report at the fund manager's annual meeting on November 1.

Writing in Perpetual's annual report, released today, chairman Peter Scott confirmed $500 million had been trimmed from the company's overall board costs.

Mr Scott's remuneration dropped by 42 per cent and non executive directors' pay fell by about a quarter.

Mr Lloyd and his fellow group executives have had their fixed remuneration frozen for 2012/13.

"These board cost reductions are being mirrored by an ongoing revision to the remuneration of key management personnel and staff in general to ensure all of our interests are fully aligned with those of shareholders," Mr Scott said.

"Evidence of that alignment can be seen in the reduction in variable remuneration expenses in the 2012 financial year, which is in line with the company's lower financial performance during the year."

The company has launched a transformation program which aims to save $50 million each year from 2015.

As part of its cost-cutting campaign, Perpetual has reduced staff numbers from 1480 to 1053 between July 2011 and 1 August 2012.

It suffered a 57 per cent fall in annual net profit to $26.7 million in 2011/12.