Here's a note to CEOs: do you think you're paid too much? Some of the people on your board do.

That seems to be the suggestion in a Heidrick & Struggles survey which showed that one in three directors think CEO pay is "too high in most cases". Only half (51.8 per cent) indicated that CEO pay was "about right except for a few high profile cases."

The study might shed some light on the fix directors are in. Most of them seemed to blame soaring CEO pay on consultants, even though they are the ones who make the decision. That suggests that even though they might think the CEO is over-paid, they are reluctant to pay him less in case he leaves.

According to the study, most directors are underwhelmed by the Securities and Exchange Commission attempts to make CEO pay matters more transparent. Less than 12 per cent thought SEC-mandated executive compensation information was easily understood and only one in 10 thought thought the information did a good job of explaining how compensation decisions were made.

Clearly, the SEC has a long way to go before it shows it's on the side of investors.