Top 5 highest-paid insurance executives

News of AIG Chief Peter Hancock’s raise sparked discussion over just what these powerful industry figures are bringing home.

Insurance News

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Soon-to-be AIG Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock made news this week after a regulatory filing from the company revealed he would be receiving a raise, bringing his total pay package to $10.2 million.

While that figure is nearly inconceivable to some, many top dogs in the industry actually bring in more. Insurance CEOs are particularly well-compensated, according to information obtained by Insurance Business America through Salary Wizard and Forbes.

According to researchers, most CEOs see compensation rise on a year-by-year basis, with stock awards and performance pay increase. Some CEOs, including Aetna’s Mark Bertolini, saw a full-year increase of 25.8% in the most recent year-previous period.

As of 2013, the top five highest-paid insurance executives were:

1. Jay Fishman, Chairman and CEO of Travelers
Base Salary: $1 million
Non-Equity Incentive Pay: $6.5 million
Other Compensation: $105,605
Value Realized on Exercising Options and Stocks Vested: $22.3 million
Total Compensation: $ 18,087,994

2. Evan Greenberg, Chairman, president and CEO of Ace Ltd
Base Salary: $1,200,000
Bonus: $6,250,000
Restricted Stock Awards: $6,825,052
All Other Compensation: $900,776
Option Awards: $2,609,519
Total Compensation: $17,785,347

3. Liam McGee, Chairman and CEO of Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.
Base Salary: $1,100,000
Restricted Stock Awards: $8,750,000
All Other Compensation: $330,315
Option Awards: $3,750,000
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: $3,740,000
Total Compensation: $17,670,315

4. John D. Finnegan, CEO of Chubb
Base Salary: $1,330,000
Bonus: $3,100,000
All Other Compensation: $10,970,000
Stock Gains: $1,440,000
Total Compensation: $16,840,000

5. Robert Benmosche, President and CEO of AIG
Base Salary: $2,269,231
Restricted Stock Awards: $6,452,514
All Other Compensation: $52,694
Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation: $6,000,000
Change in Pension Value and Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Earnings: $60,123
Total Compensation: $14,834,562

Interestingly, Forbes notes that insurance executives are “at the low end of the pay scale” in comparison to other US CEOs, making an average of $7.9 million annually. That’s in comparison to drug and biotech executives who earn an average $18.3 million, media executives ($17.3 million), household and personal products executives ($15.7 million), restaurants and leisure executives ($14.4 million) and consumer durables executives ($13.8 million).

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