Top Church of England investment officer under fire over pay package

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Canada isn't the only country where executive compensation has become a hot topic. Several British companies, including BP, Anglo American and Shire, have faced shareholder unrest this spring over what many saw as excessive pay packages. Now, the Church of England is coming under scrutiny for how much it paid its top investment officer.

In an annual report released Monday, the church said the Director of Investments, Tom Joy, earned a salary of £255,000 ($473,000) in 2015. That was a £5,000 increase from 2014. He also received a £208,000 bonus last year, an increase of £48,000. That brought his total compensation to £463,000, or about $857,000 Canadian.

Mr. Joy directs investments for the church's £7-billion pension fund, which returned 8.2 per cent last year. The fund is used to pay for clergy pensions, church mission activities and other costs. It is overseen by the Church Commissioners, a group of officials some of whom are elected by church members while others are appointed by the Queen.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who heads the church and is a former oil company executive, has been a frequent critic of executive pay. He has slammed the "culture of entitlement and greed" in big business and vowed to use the church's investment fund to vote against excessive pay packages. Critics have pointed out Mr. Joy's pay is almost 20 times what a parish priest earns.

The church defended Mr. Joy's pay on Monday, noting that the fund has grown by an average of 9.7 per cent in the past 30 years.

"We judge ourselves by the same measures we apply to others," a church spokesman said. "Performance payments are calculated over the long term to reflect the commissioners' view that investment should be a long-term issue. The performance of the commissioners' investments has been very good and those responsible for securing those returns should be rewarded appropriately. That money goes to fund clergy pension payments and mission funding for the church. If we want to spend more money on the ministry and mission of the church, we need to have good returns on investments."

The church is also facing questions about its holding in Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company. Google has been embroiled in a long-running battle over accusations of tax avoidance in Britain. Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay £130-million and it has insisted that it has followed all tax rules. The company generated around £24-billion of revenue in Britain between 2005 and 2015, the period covered by the settlement. It has paid a total of £180-million in tax over that time, including the settlement amount. Archbishop Welby and other church officials have criticized Google and other companies for not paying their fair share of taxes. Archbishop Welby said last year that companies should pay tax in the country where revenue is generated.

On Monday, church officials told The Times of London that "we do intend to engage with Alphabet."