Campus

IR male executives better paid than their female equals

Gender and market capitalisation are decisive factors in the pay levels of professionals in investor relations. In German companies, women IR executives have a basic salary of up to 100,000 Euros lower than their male colleagues – an average shortfall of some 42 percent per year. While a joint survey on pay conducted by HR Korn-Ferry consultants and the IR Club showed that Investor Relations is preponderantly female, career prospects for women are much poorer. In IR companies, fewer than 1 woman in 3 (28 percent) achieves a position of hierarchic responsibility. Women on the career ladder in this their chosen profession get inexorably left behind. While IR heads in "Micro Caps“ and “small Caps“ have a base pay of not more than 120.000 and 160.000 Euros respectively, their remuneration with “Mid Caps“can get as high as 240,000 per year, if not more. The survey interviewed 151 IR specialists and executives in Germany.

Ever fewer shareholding employees

The number of people in Germany who own shares has again dropped substantially. Despite the increase in listings, the actual number of people investing has fallen for the second year running. In 2014, approximately 500,000 people sold their shares or bond holdings as the Deutsche Aktioneinstitut (DAI) announced in Frankfurt on February 12. The number of German shareholders dropped to 8.4 million, meaning that a mere 13% of the population held shares directly or indirectly. In the view of DAI directress, Christine Bortenlänger, this new loss deals a heavy blow to shareholding culture. Indeed, German interest reached its lowest point during the financial crisis; the downward trend was triggered by the fall in number of shareholders from 4.5 to today’s 4.1 million, 6.4 percent of the population with the most pronounced reduction – from 1.2 million to 820,000 – among employees.