1. Peter Clarke, Man Group, £3.978m

Clarke once again heads the list of the FTSE's best-paid finance directors thanks to another year of monster bonuses at Man Group. Clarke's bonus of £3.6m came as a result of performance targets at Man Group that are linked to diluted underlying earnings per share (which were up 18% on the year) and post-tax return on equity (which increased by over 33% during the year). Clarke will step up to the chief executive role next April.

2. Andrew Higginson, Tesco, £2.3m

Higginson moves up a place in this year's table thanks to a strong financial performance by Tesco - all of the company's six executive directors received over £1m during the year and all but one were paid more than £2m. Higginson's £1.5m bonus includes a short-term cash bonus of £645,000, short-term deferred shares of £626,000 and £312,000 under the company's long-term scheme.

3. Robert Dyrbus, Imperial Tobacco Group, £1.712m

Payments of £500,000 from a long-term incentive plan and £384,000 from the share matching scheme, as well as a cash bonus of £352,000, lifted Dyrbus from number seven in last year's list. He joined Imperial Tobacco from Hanson plc in 1989.

4. Peter Sands, Standard Chartered, £1.559m

It was another good year for Standard Chartered directors and former McKinsey director Sands saw his remuneration increase from £1.391m last year. Sands is paid in dollars and the strong pound has an effect on comparative figures.

5. Trevor Reid, Xstrata, £1.496m

Reid makes another appearance in the best-paid list, although a one-off bonus of £415,000 last year lifted him to number two in the lineout. His package this year includes a deferred bonus of £535,000 and a housing allowance of £76,000.

6. Paul Richardson, WPP Group, £1.490m

Richardson makes his first appearance in the millionaire's club, his total remuneration rising from £814,000 last year. His bonus includes an executive share award of £450,000, deferred for two years.

7. Naguib Kheraj, Barclays, £1.451m

Barclays' strong financial performance - pre-tax profits were up 15% - ensured another good year for its directors. Kheraj's package included a cash bonus of £825,000.

8. Paul Rayner, British American Tobacco, £1.444m

Rayner's remuneration includes a performance-related share bonus of £331,000 and £178,000 in benefits in kind, including £56,000 for family education following his relocation from Australia.

9. Fred Watt, Royal Bank of Scotland, £1.399m

Watt announced his intention to resign last year, in order to spend more time with his young family, and left the group at the beginning of this year. His replacement, Guy Whittaker, was previously treasurer at Citigroup.

10. Ken Hanna, Cadbury Schweppes, £1.378m

Hanna's remuneration package once again topped £1m in his second full year in the post. Benefits and allowances of £180,000 include a payment in lieu of a pension contribution.

OTHER FDs ON MORE THAN A MILLION

11. Peter Voser, Royal Dutch Shell, £1.369m

12. Nick Rose, Diageo, £1.341m

13. Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB, £1.325m

14. Colin Day, Reckitt Benckiser, £1.285m

15. Jonathan Symonds, AstraZeneca, £1.269m

16. Chris Lynch, BHP Billiton £1.210m

17. Douglas Flint, HSBC, £1.190m

18. Malcolm Wyman, SABMiller, £1.181m

19. Jim Pettigrew, ICAP, £1.152m

20. Mike Killoran, Persimmon, £1.137m

21. Simon Ball, 3i, £1.134m

22. James Robertson, Amvescap, £1.094m

23. Byron Grote, BP, £1.085m

24. Stephen Webster, Wolseley, £1.084m

25. Andrew Moss, Aviva, £1.079m

26. Michael Ihlein, Brambles Industries, £1.062m

27. Mark Rolfe, Gallaher Group, £1.045m

28. Rona Fairhead, Pearson, £1.044m

29. Mark Armour, Reed Elsevier, £1.029m

30. George Rose, BAE Systems, £1.022m

31. Henry Staunton, ITV, £1.011m

32. Phil Hodkinson, HBOS, £1.006m

33. Guy Elliott, Rio Tinto, £1.004m

34. Philip Broadley, Prudential, £1m

ENDANGERED SPECIES

The news of Rona Fairhead's appointment as CEO of the Financial Times Group within Pearson means that there is now only one female finance director within the FTSE 100 - Helen Weir at Lloyds TSB. This compares with three female FDs in last year's survey and five in 2004. Margaret Ewing, chief financial officer at BAA, was a casualty of the changing constituents of the FTSE 100.