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Meet Ontario's Highest Paid University Executive: U of T's asset manager!
I'm not sure how I feel about the UTAM head making $550K, the most of all Ontario university execs.
The good - U of T's endowment fund is massive and someone who could manage it would need to be given a competitive compensation. PMs on the street generally make much more than 550K.
The bad - someone who lead a fund to lose 30% - a good 10 points more than the benchmark index - was paid half a mil out of student dollars. And we all know students are the brokest of the broke.
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U of T investment manager was paid more than $550,000 last year, making him highest-paid university executive
Article Comments (7) ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Friday's Globe and Mail
April 3, 2009 at 5:25 AM EDT
EDUCATION REPORTER
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The highest paid university employee in the province is not a campus leader, but the man responsible for managing investments at the University of Toronto.
John Lyon, managing director and co-chief investment officer of University of Toronto Asset Management, was paid $557,474 in salary and benefits last year - at a time when the investments he oversaw lost a staggering $1.3-billion. His salary was revealed in this week's disclosure of compensation for Ontario public servants.
UTAM, an independent arm of the university created in 2000, said the 29.5-per-cent loss was caused by weak equity markets, hedge fund investments and a currency-hedging program, which it has since reduced.
William Moriarty, president of UTAM, took up his post partway through the year and so received less than his investment manager. Mr. Lyon's pay also tops that of U of T president David Naylor, who earned $430,048 in pay and benefits.
Colum Grove-White, president of the university's Arts & Science Students Union, said the numbers show students are being asked to carry an inequitable amount of the burden from the current financial crisis. Mr. Grove-White is currently fighting a move by U of T to impose a flat tuition fee on full-time arts and science students at its downtown campus to replace existing course fees. The move, he said, would penalize students who take less than five courses by charging them the same fee as those who take a full course load.
A spokesman for U of T said the pay levels were set before the financial crisis and reflect market value for their skills.
This week's salary numbers also show that Lorna Marsden, who left her post as president of York University in the summer of 2007, received $412,000 in salary and benefits last year. That's more than the pay packet of several current campus leaders, including Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy, who took home $391,216.
The payout to Ms. Marsden is described as "standard practice" by York University spokesman Alex Bilyk. Most presidents receive a paid sabbatical year for every term they serve as "a cushion to get back into academic life," he said.
Mamdouh Shoukri, who replaced Ms. Marsden at York and led the school through a lengthy strike, earned $484,357.
Last year, the highest paid university leaders continued to be outside Toronto. Once again, McMaster University's Peter George had the highest compensation at $533,913, followed by David Johnston at the University of Waterloo, who received $488,242.
Rick Miner, departing president of Seneca College, was the top paid leader among his peers, with $411,000. Yesterday, Seneca announced it had chosen David Agnew, former secretary of cabinet for Ontario during the early 1990s, as its next leader. Mr. Agnew will take his new post in July.
The rising pay of campus leaders has become the focus of much debate in recent years, especially after employment contracts became public last summer, revealing rich deals for some presidents when they complete their terms. Many universities, faced with budget cuts and investment losses, have responded by freezing the pay of their top administrators.
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