NZX Director Remuneration Guide FY2020

Q: How much did NZX directors earn in FY2020?

The average NZX director fee in FY2020 was approximately $104,949 per year across 439 directors at 90 companies.

Q: What was the highest director fee on the NZX in FY2020?

The highest director fee recorded in FY2020 was $890,000.

Q: Do NZX directors get paid extra for committee work?

Yes, most NZX directors receive additional fees for chairing or serving on board committees such as Audit & Risk, Remuneration, and Nomination committees. Committee chair fees typically range from $10,000 to $25,000 annually.

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Insights/Director Pay/FY2020

NZX Director Pay FY2020

Board remuneration across 90 NZX-listed companies

All Years FY2021

We analyzed remuneration data from 439 directors across 90 NZX-listed companies for financial year 2020.

$104,949

Average Fee

$88,245

Median Fee

$890,000

Highest Fee

439

Directors

Top Earning Directors (FY2020)

Highest paid board members in FY2020 — 521 fee records across 90 companies

Rank	Director	Company	Total Fee
1	John McFarlane	Westpac Banking Corporation (WBC)	$890,000
2	Brent Robinson	Rakon Limited (RAK)	$837,332
3	Glenn Milnes	ikeGPS Group Limited (IKE)	$793,896
4	Ross Ernest Barker

Director Pay by Sector (FY2020)

Average director fees across industries

Materials$155,444

21 fee records

Communication Services$135,651

28 fee records

Utilities$117,453

46 fee records

Healthcare$110,066

48 fee records

Director Fee Ranges (FY2020)

$11,917

Minimum Fee

Smaller companies, partial year

$88,245

Median Fee

Typical mid-cap company

$890,000

Maximum Fee

Large cap chair/committee roles

Key Insights — FY2020

Chair Premium

Board chairs earn approximately 50% more than regular directors on average, reflecting their leadership responsibilities.

Coverage

FY2020 covers 521 fee records across 439 directors at 90 companies.

Sector Variation

Materials pays the highest average director fees at $155,444. Information Technology pays the least at $86,139.

Research Director Pay on NZXplorer

Company Profiles: Visit any company page to see director fees in the board composition section.
Director Profiles: View individual director profiles to see remuneration across all board positions.
CEO Pay vs Returns: Check our CEO Pay vs Returns analysis to see if director pay aligns with performance.
All Years: View all annual reports to compare trends over time.

Data sourced from NZX company annual reports. Last updated: 21 April 2026.

Related Insights

Compensation Benchmarks

Board fee and executive pay percentiles by sector and market cap

Chair Remuneration Benchmarking

Chair premium vs NED fees by sector, market cap, and gender. Per-company outlier detection. First chair pay analysis in NZ.

Board Fee Trends: Above & Below Average

Which NZX companies consistently pay above or below market rates for director fees over time?

Data sourced from publicly available records. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.