Property salaries cloaked in mystery

Kiwi Income CEO Angus McNaughton's pay is not revealed.

Salaries of top real estate bosses remain a secret.

The listed property sector is dominated by trusts which are managed by New Zealand-registered companies whose shareholders are mostly Australian fund managers or banks.

The annual returns of those New Zealand-registered companies do not reveal how much the top dogs get.

The property trust structure has been criticised for its lack of disclosure, transparency and accountability. So while annual reports of listed companies usually show how much top-earners get paid, this is not so for the listed property sector.

One of the few listed real estate companies, Trans Tasman Properties, declared it paid its top employee $530,000 to $539,999. Its chairman is Don Fletcher.

Now three trusts:

NZX-listed Calan Healthcare Properties Trust is managed by Calan Healthcare Properties which paid directors' fees to Martin Lyttelton of $101,250 (previously $90,000) and to Brian Freestone of $123,750 ($122,500). But how much it paid chief executive Miles Wentworth is never stated.

The annual return of the biggest listed NZX real estate entity, Kiwi Income Property Trust, managed by Kiwi Income Properties, shows it earned $8.1 million (previously $7.9 million) in management fees in the year to June 30, 2005. Its directors were paid $168,473 (previously $95,000) but there is no disclosure of what its chief executive, Angus McNaughton, nor its chairman, Sean Wareing, received.

Asked how much he earns, McNaughton said he was paid by the manager but refused to say how much.

The annual report of AMP Multiplex Management, which runs NZX-listed AMP NZ Office Trust, tells us it owns a $20 million asset, of which $17 million is its management rights over the trust. But how much it pays boss Rob Lang is not a line which appears in the accounts. Lang defended the way trusts deal with the pay details, saying there was no onus on the entities to declare that figure.

"In defence of the listed property trusts, I think our public disclosure is very good relative to other listed companies. Performance is very transparent as are the activities of the trusts. The fees paid by the unit holders are also very clear," Lang said.

So will he say how much he is paid? We got a flat "no" - but a Happy Easter from one of the sector's friendliest blokes.