Charles Haldeman, chief executive of Putnam Investments, earned more than his boss in 2005.

Haldeman, who has led Marsh &McLennan's asset management unit since 2003, took home at total of $14.5 million in salary, bonus and stock awards and options last year, while Marsh CEO Michael Cherkasky earned $10.7 million, according to a Marsh proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Boston-based Putnam, which has bled assets since it was implicated in a fund trading scandal in the fall of 2003, registered a 12-percent drop in revenues to $360 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. Assets under management totaled $188 million, down from $211 billion in the same period in 2004.

Cherkasky has repeatedly made plain his intention to keep Putnam, whose troubles has made it a constant target of sale rumors.

Haldeman's salary was "appropriate for the industry he's in," a spokesperson for Marsh told Reuters.  

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE