NZ Super's $1.2 million paycheck to CEO Adrian Orr is the price of good talent.

That's according to Strategic Pay CEO, John McGill, who said despite the fund's chief being the highest paid public servant, he's actually paid less than the average CEO.

He told Mike Hosking the taxpayer's forking out $1.2 million to keep a skilled professional in the country.

"When you're looking at a salary this big, or a job of that size, you'd look to where you'd get people from or where you'd lose them to. So most likely it's an international market and you're talking about salaries like that."

LISTEN ABOVE AS JOHN MCGILL SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING