Moorfield Estates is planning to bring in a new directors’ bonus scheme following the company’s shift in strategy.
Chairman Sir Brian Corby said that the proposed long-term incentive scheme (LTIP) is intended to reward directors’ financial expertise and their risk at investing their own money in Moorfield’s deals.
Chief executive Marc Gilbard and directors Graham Stanley and Alex MacLachlan have personally put £2m into Moorfield’s latest venture, Moorfield Capital Partners, a limited partnership backed by the Barclay Brothers. The partnership was set up to buy a £392m portfolio from Royal & Sun Alliance in Moorfield’s biggest deal to date.
Moorfield claims that its investment in MCP and other highly geared joint ventures will bring returns of at least 20% pa.
In a letter to shareholders, Corby said: “The nature and scope of Moorfield’s activities have changed significantly over the past three years. Moorfield’s strategy of coinvestment indicates a different emphasis to that of traditional property management and trading.”
Moorfield plans to award shares annually to directors through an offshore trust. Directors will receive the shares if the company’s NAV increases 5% above the IPD annual index. Shareholders will vote on the scheme at an EGM on 23 April.
Analysts said that the directors will have to convince investors that they can deliver superior returns to win approval for the incentive scheme.
- Hemingway’s shareholders have approved an LTIP which will reward directors with shares rather than the mainly cash payouts made under the company’s previous scheme.
