JSE-listed financial services business Purple Group has encountered vocal push-back of its proposed remuneration for directors in 2019.

Purple – soon to be renamed Easy Investment Holdings – is expected to hold its Annual General Meeting on 7 January 2019. There are a couple of key areas where shareholders and market commentators are raising questions including:

• The R2.8m remuneration package for chairperson Mark Barnes, who is ostensibly supposed to be focused on his turnaround efforts at the Post Office and occupies a non-executive role in the business while non-executive directors are remunerated at a rate of R274 752 per year
• A further R2m to be paid to Mark Barnes for his efforts in raising R100m in new capital from Sanlam
• A salary of R3.9m to CEO Charles Savage despite a R26m loss in full year 2018 and a loss of R57.8m in the previous year
• The re-election of Ronnie Lubner (84) and Dennis Alter (76) and lack of transformation in the board despite taking investment from black owned equity partners

While Purple is to be commended for its work in making investment more accessible to the man on the street, the company has been very vocal about democratization of the investment landscape and its likely to face some tough questions at its AGM.