Reuters: Hot Stocks: UPDATE 1-Barrick faces heat from top Canadian pension funds

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UPDATE 1-Barrick faces heat from top Canadian pension funds Apr 19th 2013, 15:45 Fri Apr 19, 2013 11:45am EDT (Adds background, comment from pension funds) TORONTO, April 19 (Reuters) - A group of Canada's largest pension funds said on Friday it will vote against Barrick Gold Corp's planned signing bonus for the man tipped as its next chairman and against the election of the gold miner's compensation committee. In the latest blow to the world's largest gold producer, the funds said the award of an $11.9 million bonus payment to Co-Chairman John Thornton was "unprecedented" in Canada. Thornton is widely expected to succeed Barrick founder and Chairman Peter Munk as head of the company, which has faced a raft of problems in the last few months, including a slumping share price and the partial halt to construction at one of its biggest projects. In a letter to shareholders released in March, Munk said it was time for Barrick to "consider a path to new leadership at our board level." He listed the qualifications Barrick was looking for and singled out Thornton as his likely successor. Barrick has gone through a turbulent patch this month as the price of gold has slumped and construction work at one of its biggest projects - Pascua Lama, straddling the border between Chile and Argentina - has been partially halted due to a court order. Shares of the company have fallen more than 37 percent this month and have more than halved in value over the last year. The group of funds comprises Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, as well as Alberta Investment Management Corp; British Columbia Investment Management Corp; Hermes Equity Ownership Services; Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System; and Public Sector Pension Investment Board. The group said it would vote against Barrick's advisory resolution on executive compensation and against the election of the members of the compensation committee at Barrick's annual meeting, which takes place on April 24 in Toronto. "This compensation is inconsistent with the governance principle of pay-for-performance and is therefore disproportionate and sets a troubling precedent in Canadian capital markets," the group said in a brief statement. (Reporting by Euan Rocha, Julie Gordon and Allison Martell; Editing by Janet Guttsman and Dan Grebler) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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