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FTSE 100 Companies Move to Enhance CEO Pay Competitiveness Through Accelerated Policy Reforms
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From Governance Trends to Sustainability Strategy: Navigating Investor Expectations in a Changing UK Landscape

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    Press Release

    FTSE 100 Companies Move to Enhance CEO Pay Competitiveness Through Accelerated Policy Reforms

    LONDON (19 October 2026) – ISS-Corporate, a leading provider of robust SaaS and expert advisory services to companies globally, today announced the findings of its 2026 U.K. Proxy Season Review report analyzing executive compensation trends at FTSE 100 companies from the 2026 U.K. proxy season. The proxy season unfolded against a backdrop of discussions about the competitiveness of U.K. Pay, alongside the publication of the Investment Association’s revised Principles of Remuneration in late 2024. The updated guidance provided companies with greater flexibility to adapt pay structures to their business needs and strategy, provided they offer an appropriate explanation to shareholders. This was followed by a growing number of companies reviewing and, in some cases, revising their remuneration frameworks.

    Key findings include:

    • FTSE 100 companies proposed revamping their CEO compensation plans at an accelerated rate in the 2026 proxy season, suggesting that more boards are reassessing pay structures as they seek to remain competitive in an increasingly contested market for executive talent. In PY2025*, 40 FTSE 100 companies sought shareholder approval for a new remuneration policy, up 53.8 percent from the previous year. Notably, 16 of these companies proposed a new policy before their existing policy had reached the end of its three-year cycle. The trend continued in PY 2026 when 49 companies proposed a new remuneration policy, with 15 of them doing so before their current frameworks expired.
    • Shareholder support for remuneration policies remains strong despite higher remuneration, with no FTSE 100 companies failing to obtain majority shareholder support in the past five years. However, there are signs that investor scrutiny is growing: since PY 2024 the number of policies that received dissent of more than 20 percent, which is considered material, increased to eight companies from five in the year prior.
    • The strong shareholder support is particularly noteworthy given remuneration policies proposed in PY2026 reveal a clear trend towards higher executive pay across the FTSE 100 index, with the most significant increases concentrated in long-term incentives. Median granted total pay for FTSE 100 CEOs increased from GBP4.8 million in PY2022 to GBP 5.8 million in PY2026, representing a 21.2 percent increase over four years.

    Stephan Stegmueller, Head of EMEA Compensation & Governance Advisory at ISS-Corporate, said: “The 2026 proxy season demonstrates that FTSE 100 boards are moving decisively to address concerns around executive pay competitiveness. Although shareholders remain broadly supportive of these changes, investors continue to expect a clear and compelling rationale for higher remuneration opportunities and strong alignment with long-term performance.”

    To download the full report, please click here.

    *In this analysis, for comparison purposes, each proxy year (“PY” thereafter) includes meetings held from 1 August through 31 July. Specifically, Proxy Year 2026 includes all AGMS held from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026.

    ISS-Corporate is a leading provider of robust SaaS and expert advisory services to companies, globally. ISS-Corporate’s data-driven, research-backed Compass platform empowers businesses to understand and shape the signals they send to institutional investors, regulators, lenders, and other key stakeholders. By delivering essential data, tools, and advisory services, ISS-Corporate can help businesses around the world to be more resilient, align with market demands, and proactively manage governance, compensation, sustainability, and cyber risk initiatives. ISS Corporate Solutions, Inc. (“ISS-Corporate”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (“ISS”) and part of the ISS STOXX GmbH group of companies. This document and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs, charts (collectively, the “Information”) is the property of ISS-Corporate or its affiliates. The Information may not be reproduced or disseminated in whole or in part without prior written permission of ISS-Corporate. ISS-Corporate MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION. ISS-Corporate provides advisory services, analytical tools and publications to companies to enable them to improve shareholder value and reduce risk through the adoption of improved corporate governance practices. The ISS STOXX Governance and Sustainability research teams, which are separate from ISS-Corporate, will not give preferential treatment to, and are under no obligation to support, any proxy proposal of a corporate issuer nor provide a favorable rating, assessment, and/or any other favorable results to a corporate issuer (whether or not that corporate issuer has purchased products or services from ISS-Corporate). No statement from an employee of ISS-Corporate should be construed as a guarantee that ISS STOXX will recommend that its clients vote in favor of any particular proxy proposal or provide a favorable rating, assessment or other favorable result. For more information, please visit https://www.iss-corporate.com

    ISS STOXX provides actionable insights through its comprehensive product offerings, proven expertise, and high-quality data that capital market participants around the world can use to inform their decision-making. Across indices, investment stewardship, corporate governance, sustainability, and fund intelligence, institutional investors and companies rely on us to help them manage investments, strengthen their governance practices, and bring new products to market. ISS STOXX, which is owned by Deutsche Börse Group, employs approximately 4,000 professionals operating across 34 locations in 20 countries. ISS STOXX’s clients include many of the world’s leading institutional investors and corporate issuers who turn to ISS STOXX for its objective and varied offerings.