Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX)’s named Catherine Raw as head of business performance. He is an executive of BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE:BLK) and also co-manager of one of its mining funds. She headed the mining fund with veteran Evy Hambro since 2011. BlackRock disclosed in March that Raw will leave the company to take a corporate role in the mining segment.
Barrick selected Raw on the basis of her performance in the mining sector. She was associated with a leading investor and therefore has an extensive knowledge and experience of the global mining investment world. She will opt for extended rigor in financial analysis, performance management and planning across the company.
The reshaping measures
Barrick Gold Corporation (USA)(NYSE:ABX) has been reshaping its structure and making changes in key management in order to decentralize the structure and provide extended control to mine managers. In fact at the annual general meeting last week, shareholders were against the executive compensation plan, particularly a compensation package of $12.9 million for Executive Chairman John Thornton.
Almost 75% of the shares voted at the annual meeting didn’t favor Barrick Gold advisory say-on-pay vote. The company’s shareholders expressed their discontent by withholding a greater percentage of votes from members of the Barrick’s compensation committee. Following the meeting, Thornton said to fix compensation packages, especially his own compensation. He reiterated that Barrick needs to take better decisions when it comes to allocation of investment to various projects. There is also a dire need to seek talented workforce to boost the performance.
The struggle
Barrick Gold hired one of the reputed fund managers as a part of strategic plan to support the struggling company. In December, Raw said that the sector will see some extremely painful decisions in the near term. The miner company has been facing investors’ criticisms after three successive years of net losses resulting from misfiring projects and write downs.
