Directors’ pensions pots worth £3.8m, TUC claims

The union said this would translate into an average annual pension of £227,726, a figure which is 26 times the average occupational pension, which stands at £8,736.

The TUC heavily criticised these findings. Brendan Barber (pictured), general secretary of the union, said: “Employers often tell us that decent staff pension schemes are no longer affordable. Directors’ representatives are in the vanguard of those attacking public sector pensions.

“Yet greed is still good in the nation’s top boardrooms where directors continue to reward themselves with seven figure pension pots.”

The National Association of Pension Funds expressed concern over the TUC's findings and called for greater clarity around boardroom pensions.

Joanne Segars, chief executive of the NAPF, said investors may have questions about fairness if boardroom pensions are much more generous than those on the shop floor.

She added: “Special arrangements like lower retirement ages and higher contribution rates need to be explained.

“Investors such as pension funds need more information about these schemes if they are to hold management to account.”

However, the Institute of Directors (IoD) said the figures were “far removed from the experiences” of its members.

Graeme Leach, director of policy at the IoD, said: “IoD members’ pension funds are in line with the majority of the private sector, and are much less generous than those found in the public sector.”

The TUC report claimed the majority (54%) of top directors are still in defined benefit (DB) schemes, while companies continue to move to defined contribution schemes for ordinary staff.

Nearly two third of companies (63.5%) provide DB schemes for at least some directors. The most common accrual rate was 1/30th – far more generous than the 1/60th to 1/80th typical for the majority of ordinary scheme members, the TUC added.
 
For directors in defined contribution (DC) schemes, the average company contribution was £134,760 and the average contribution rate was 19%, around three times the rates normally available to employees (6.7%).