Proxy advisor Glass Lewis has urged Abrdn shareholders to vote against the Edinburgh asset management giant’s remuneration report due to the £675,000 salary of its new chief financial officer Jason Windsor.

Glass Lewis said it was “unable to recommend that shareholders support this proposal at this time.”

Glass Lewis argued that despite Windsor’s salary matching his previous job “incoming executives should be appointed on a base salary lower than that of their predecessor.”

ISS, by far the largest proxy agency representing Abrdn’s shareholder base, is recommending a vote in favour of the firm’s remuneration report.

Abrdn’s AGM is scheduled to take place in Edinburgh on April 24.

An Abrdn spokesperson said: “Jason provides significant experience as a CFO who has spent several years working in large public companies.

“His appointment followed a rigorous process, including a detailed assessment of compensation that was based on a range of factors.

“He is already proving a valuable addition to the board and management teams.”

Abrdn’s remuneration committee report reads: “The structure and quantum of the chief financial officer’s remuneration package is consistent with our policy and falls below the maximum levels permitted under the policy.

“Jason’s package was calibrated in the context of an assessment of what it would take to attract the required skills and expertise from the market (utilising benchmarking data for similar roles across FTSE Financial Services peer group companies), the expectations of other candidates put forward for the role and Jason’s previous remuneration packages.”

Windsor joined Abrdn as CFO in October 2023. His most recent role before Abrdn was CFO of Persimmon plc. Prior to that, he was group chief financial officer of Aviva between 2019 and 2022. Before joining Aviva in 2010, Windsor spent 15 years at Morgan Stanley in London and Singapore.