Macquarie Group’s Nick O’Kane earns more than $1m a week

Macquarie’s commodities and markets boss Nick O’Kane has had an ‘exceptional’ year and now takes home over $1m a week. Is he Australia’s highest-paid executive?

Macquarie’s commodities and global markets boss Nick O'Kane saw his awarded pay break through $50m.

Macquarie Group’s commodities and markets boss Nick O’Kane raked in a bumper $57.6m in awarded pay for the firm’s 2023 financial year, putting him on track to top the ASX pay stakes after he again eclipsed his chief executive’s annual pay.

The massive pay packet for a company dubbed the Millionaires’ Factory reflects that Mr O’Kane’s division was the biggest contributor to a jump in Macquarie’s full-year profit to a record $5.18bn. The huge payday also puts Mr O’Kane in line to be among the best paid executives, if not the highest, on the ASX this year.

Macquarie chief executive Shemara Wikramanayake’s awarded pay for 2023 jumped to $32.8m, from $25.8m in the prior year. Within the total pay, however, her fixed salary is just $821,081.

Last year, Ms Wikramanayake took the mantle for the highest paid CEO across the ASX’s top 300 companies measured by reported pay, followed by Lovisa Holdings’ boss Victor Herrero who came in at almost $21m.

Mr O’Kane’s remuneration -- as it is paid out over coming years -- would reflect more than $1m a week in pay.

Awarded pay reflects what was allocated to the Macquarie executive in salary, bonus and shares for the 12 months ended March 31.

Mr O’Kane joined Macquarie in 1995 and took the reins as head of the commodities and global markets division four years ago. He relocated back to Australia, from the US, with Macquarie several years ago and in 2021 reportedly paid about $40m for a luxury home in Sydney’s Point Piper, in the eastern suburbs.

Mr O’Kane’s 2023 pay comprised $723,419 in fixed remuneration, $17.1m in performance-related pay and $39.8m in retained profit share. The $57.6m was up from $36.2m for 2022.

It’s among the biggest remuneration packages ever reported on the ASX, alongside that of former CSL CEO Paul Perreault who had take home annual pay of almost $61m in 2021. Other large ASX companies typically report on a June 30 year end, meaning their annual reports won’t be released until later in 2023.

Shemara Wikramanayake. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles

Macquarie’s annual report, which was released on Friday to coincide with earnings results, showed the board exercised discretion to increase the amount of Mr O’Kane’s retained pay to 70 per cent from 60 per cent. None of Macquarie’s other executives saw their retention rate rise for the year, but as CEO Ms Wikramanayake’s remuneration is already subject to a higher 80 per cent retention threshold.

The commodities and global markets division saw its annual net profit contribution surge by 54 per cent, buoyed by income from customers’ inventory management and trading activity.

The statutory pay tables -- which are required by regulators -- include the amortisation or scaled payment of Macquarie’s share awards that are paid to executives. Retained profit share arrangements are paid on a rolling basis over several years.

Mr O’Kane’s pay in the statutory report was $42.7m, swelling from $32.4 in 2022. Over the past four years, Mr O’Kane’s combined pay has totalled almost $140m.

Macquarie has faced fierce criticism for its lucrative pay packets over the past 20 years, but the firm has argued the structure is highly linked to performance.

Asked if Macquarie’s board had considered capping executive annual pay, chairman Glenn Stevens said that was a “blunt instrument” and it was not something they had contemplated.

“Our approach thus far and I think this will continue has been...to operate the time-honoured, very effective profit share model,” he added.

“It’s worth emphasising he’s (Mr O’Kane) put together that collection of businesses over 20-odd years, so he’s assembled an incredibly capable team of people.

“This is an exceptional year so it’s not a surprise I guess that there are some exceptional (pay) numbers, but we think it’s actually very important to remain true to that system because ...this is a global business, it’s operating in a global market.”

JPMorgan’s global CEO Jamie Dimon saw his 2022 annual pay remain steady at $US34.5 million ($51.2m), while Morgan Stanley’s CEO James Gorman remuneration last year slipped to $US31.5m.

Mr Stevens - also a former Reserve Bank governor - noted Macquarie undertook “extensive benchmarking” around its pay levels and structures.

“Our most senior people are incredibly loyal to Macquarie so it’s not just all about the money, but it’s important that we keep the integrity of the system that’s worked so well throughout our history,” he said.

Macquarie’s 2023 annual report said: “Fixed remuneration for our executive KMP (key management personnel) in FY2023 comprised approximately 5 per cent of total awarded remuneration, with the balance at risk and explicitly linked to performance.”

The next highest paid Macquarie executive was head of the asset management unit Ben Way, who had awarded pay of $16.9m for 2023, up from $15.2m. Not all of the Macquarie executive team received higher annual pay with investment banking boss Michael Silverton seeing a drop to $10.6m, from $16.8 in 2022, in line with softer results in his division.

Separately, Macquarie signalled it expected current and former employees to be interviewed in coming months by German authorities as part of a regulatory probe.

While Ms Wikramanayake and former CEO Nicholas Moore were listed as suspects in the case, they are not among those being interviewed.

The matter relates to a controversial practice that allowed both holders of shares and those that bought stocks from a short seller to claim tax credits on the same dividend payment.