Investment Club’s Members Balk at CEO’s Pay
January 31, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Members and employees of BetterInvesting, a nonprofit umbrella group for investment clubs, are criticizing the group’s management, saying its chief executive’s compensation package is excessive and that the group suffers from conflicts of interest and a dwindling membership, reports The Wall Street Journal.
BetterInvesting’s members pay dues to the organization, which is meant to teach amateur investors how to choose stocks. The group is based in Madison Heights, Mich.
The pay package for the group’s chief executive, Richard Holthaus, totaled about $400,000 in 2004 and included a lease on a Cadillac Escalade and membership in a golf and country club, the paper reported.
Some employees of the organization raised concerns with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee after BetterInvesting directed $200,000 in business to Mr. Holthaus’s former employer, the public-relations company Fleishman-Hillard.
Membership in the organization is now at 132,000, down 70 percent from the late 1990s.
Mr. Holthaus says he has plans to raise the membership level to one million by the end of 2010. He also says the organization no longer pays for the golf and country-club membership.
See The Chronicle‘s database for more on nonprofit executives’ salaries.
(A paid subscription is required to view both articles.)
