How much is too much? That is the question being asked by some about the pay package of Joseph DiMartino. The former Dreyfus president and chief operating officer took home $816,000 as a director for Dreyfus' mutual funds last year. The package is drawing criticism from many advocates for fund shareholders, including Mercer Bullard, founder of Fund Democracy.

The revelation also comes as Congress is looking into the role played by fund directors.

DiMartino's pay was roughly seven times the average compensation of $113,000 for fund directors, according to calculations made by Management Practice.

All counted DiMartino serves on the boards of 191 Dreyfus funds, a number well beyond the responsibilities of many of the directors covered by Management Practice. He also holds the chairmanship of several of the boards. He left Dreyfus after Mellon Financial purchased the firm in 1994 and now serves as an independent director.

Still, even with the heavy responsibilities DiMartino may recieve little sympathy from reporters and shareholders considering that his 2002 was a roughly equal to his 2001 package even as most fund shareholders lost money.  

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