Dave McKay, CEO of RBC, poses on Bay Street in Toronto on Friday, July 25, 2014. In 2012, Mr. McKay, then Royal Bank of Canada’s personal and commecial banking head, was given the task of shaping RBC’s U.S. growth strategy. After some brainstorming, he set his sights on Los Angeles-based City National, which specializes in serving high net-worth clients.Darren Calabrese/The Globe and Mail
David McKay, chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada, received total compensation of just over $7.5-million in 2014, for his first year at the helm of the bank.
That amounts to a 39 per cent boost to his pay in 2013, when he was RBC's group head of personal and commercial banking.
Mr. McKay looks like a bargain next to RBC's previous chief, Gordon Nixon, who took home nearly $9.2-million last year.
The numbers are a little wonky, though, given that neither executive held their respective roles for a full year. Mr. McKay's pay reflects three months as chief executive and nine months in his previous role; Mr. Nixon's pay is for serving nine months as chief executive.
Mr. McKay's salary is in line with his banking peers, at just shy of $1-million. The rest of his compensation comes in the form of cash incentives for clearing short-term financial objectives and share-based compensation for meeting longer-term goals.
In the first-quarter reporting season, RBC's results shone next to a lacklustre group average for the Big Six banks. The bank reported net income of nearly $2.5-billion, up 17 per cent year-over-year, despite concerns about cheap oil prices, lower interest rates and a weaker dollar.
David Berman