The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that Royal Bank of Canada chief executive officer Dave McKay's compensation is tied to his perceived strategic performance. The Globe's David Milstead writes that at RBC, 60 per cent of its annual bonus plan is based on hitting certain profit targets. RBC bases 10 per cent of the annual bonus on client satisfaction and loyalty, and 30 per cent on a category called "risk and strategic." In nine years RBC has never paid Mr. McKay less than 140 per cent of the target for risk and strategic objectives. Mr. McKay has made a total of $3.61-million in bonus pay over and above the target amounts for the risk and strategy category over the past nine years. Rival Canadian banks do not reward their very strategic CEOs as much as RBC does. One of RBC's points about Mr. McKay's compensation is that the bank's return has beaten peers over multiple periods, reflecting his ability to create long-term value. Indeed, that is true. When Gord Nixon retired as CEO in 2013, he said Mr. McKay's job was quite simple, to boost net income from $8.4-billion to $16.8-billion within five years. RBC has not yet reached that level. Perhaps Mr. McKay is not as strategic as the RBC board thinks.