Strategic report Governance Financial statements Other information ANNUAL STATEMENT BY THE CHAIR OF THE REMUNERATION COMMITTEE CONTINUED We have developed our service journeys, improving ease of use We have continued to focus on our colleagues and community and Further details on how bonuses have been determined for the 2021 and efficiency through new payment solutions such as enabling I’m pleased to report we have not taken government support or performance year are set out in the annual report on remuneration. 24/7 bank transfers to the Fund & Share and SIPP accounts, and used the furlough scheme, nor made any redundancies as a result Areas of focus for the forthcoming year partnering with Stripe to improve our payments infrastructure. We of the pandemic. Instead we have been able to increase our We intend to build on the review of our remuneration approach have also continued to evolve our increasingly popular mobile app, headcount in line with the growth we have seen over the period. throughout the organisation to ensure we remain compliant with making it easier for clients to view and engage with individual We continue to invest in our people, building our development our governance and evolving regulatory requirements, and that we investment information including purchase and sale information, opportunities, supporting colleague progression and implementing are clear, fair and transparent in how we assess and recognise the and next dividend date. salary increases in line with wider business success. We are proud to contribution of all our colleagues and that these reflect our culture In light of the uncertainty created by the pandemic the Committee have become living wage accredited this year and have continued to and values. In respect of the financial year beginning on 1 July 2021, has been mindful of the need to ensure that business performance expand our support in the community. . I would like to highlight the following: targets have remained appropriately stretching in the context of In keeping with our CSR strategy to ‘Help Bristol thrive’ we have Executive Director bonus metrics support the growth strategy the evolving trading environment. To support this approach the focused on supporting the economic recovery in the region. • Committee carried out a mid-year assessment of business We seconded four colleagues to the Local Enterprise Partnerships of the Company and, as such, we have retained our financial/ performance to ensure that targets continued to remain suitably recovery taskforce and worked with Bristol City Council to launch growth metrics (50% weighting) with no changes. However, we challenging in light of the prevailing market context. Despite the a West of England pilot for the #10,000BlackInterns project, have adapted our client metrics so that they reflect our strategic challenging external environment, it has been a year of record providing opportunities for a group disproportionately impacted focus on service, technology and risk, supported by our HL Way volumes with net new business reaching £8.7 billion, and where by the COVID-19 pandemic culture framework. Our client focused metrics (30% weighting) we have welcomed our highest ever number of net new clients are all aimed at improving the client experience. at 233,000, which takes us to over 1.6 million clients. Investor In determining Executive Director bonuses, the Committee has In order to articulate and assess progress across ESG measures, taken account of the strong business performance delivered in the • confidence improved over the period, driven by political events and difficult external environment outlined above, the improvement to we have adapted the Executive Directors’ personal objectives progress with managing the COVID-19 pandemic and this led to business capability and the strengthening of our corporate culture (20% weighting) to reflect more clearly the strong focus strong equity trading volumes up 53% on prior year. over the period, alongside the continued strong dividend flow. across governance and social activity and increased focus Through effective management action we were able to maintain We acknowledge the significant contribution made by both Chris on environmental matters, both for the business and our our service through these increasing volumes of client activity Hill and Philip Johnson in driving this performance through their clients’ investments. and reacted quickly to resolve rare service outages when they leadership and effective stakeholder management. We have occurred. We have also continued to grow our position as the considered individual performance based bonus outcomes for the market leader in the direct to consumer platform market with Executive team and recognise that, although they appropriately market share increasing from 41.1% to 42.9% , whilst our share1 reflect performance in the round, there were occasions when the of the execution only stockbroking market has grown from 39.5% overall client experience was not at the high standards we set to 43.3%.2 ourselves. As a result we felt it was appropriate to exercise discretion and reduce their overall 2021 bonus by 5%. Notes 1 Source: Platforum UK D2C Market Update (June 2021) 2 Source: Compeer Limited XO Quarterly Benchmarking Report Quarter 1 2021. 89 Hargreaves Lansdown Report and Financial Statements 2021