New Legal & General chief Antonio Simoes lands a £7m pay bonanza

Investment management giant Legal & General (L&G) has named a former HSBC banker as the successor to its long-serving chief executive Sir Nigel Wilson.

Antonio Simoes, who currently runs the European arm of Spanish bank Santander, will take over as chief executive of the FTSE 100 firm at the start of next year.

The 48-year-old, who lives between London and Madrid with his husband and two children, will become the first openly gay head of a FTSE 100 company.

His appointment came after Wilson announced plans to retire having led L&G for more than a decade.

‘Antonio brings a formidable leadership track record at the most senior level of financial services, working across complex, global organisations,’ said L&G chairman Sir John Kingman.

New role: Antonio Simoes (pictured) who currently runs the European arm of Spanish bank Santander, will take over as chief exec of Legal & General at the start of next year

L&G shares fell 2.5 per cent, or 6p, to 232p yesterday. When he takes over as chief executive, Simoes will receive a base salary of £1.175million and a cash allowance of £117,500 in place of a pension.

He could make up to another £5.9million in bonuses, which would take his total potential package to over £7million.

Simoes will also be compensated for any pay and bonuses given up at Santander.

‘This is a critical time for our industry, clients and customers, with emerging technologies, changing societal dynamics and wider economic forces presenting new challenges and opportunities,’ he said.

‘I look forward to working with the board and an exceptional team of colleagues to shape this important next chapter,’ he added.

Simoes is known as a strong advocate for LGBT+ representation in the business world. 

In 2015 when he was the head of HSBC’s UK banking operation, Simoes said that he believe he owed his success to being gay, which had made him ‘a more authentic person, with better empathy, better emotional intelligence’.

‘If I wasn’t gay, I probably would not be CEO of the bank,’ he said.

His commitment to diversity is likely to fuel speculation that he will continue the move towards ‘inclusive capitalism’ pioneered by Wilson, which focused L&G’s efforts towards funding long-term assets such as infrastructure and housing developments.

Before arriving at Santander, Simoes spent 13 years at HSBC and also served as a partner at consultancy McKinsey & Company.

Analysts at Barclays said his appointment may have come as a surprise to some in the market given Simoes’ experience had mainly been ‘focused on banking and strategy’.