LONDON—A leading shareholder advisory group has criticized Royal Dutch Shell PLC's decision to award its chief executive a chunky bonus in 2015 and recommended investors vote against the payment plans at the company's annual meeting this month.

Shell's chief executive, Ben van Beurden, took an 8% pay cut in 2015 as the company's profits plunged 80%, but his bonus increased by 6% compared with its 2014 level.

"We remain concerned by the disconnect between bonus payouts and financial performance," proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis said in a report seen by The Wall Street Journal. "We find it troubling that the CEO continues to receive payouts at just short of maximum while the company's financials deteriorate."

Glass Lewis says it advises over 1,200 clients, including many of the world's largest institutional investors.

A Shell spokesman said the company's executive compensation reflects "delivery of our strategy, measured by both short-term and long-term targets," adding that there is a clear alignment between the company's performance and its compensation policies.

Investors exposed to the suffering commodity sector have raised their voices against executive pay packages after a year in which slumping prices in crude and other raw materials dented company financials.

Last month, shareholders at BP PLC and Anglo American PLC voted in large numbers against pay packages for the companies' CEOs. Though the votes are nonbinding, they signal investor discontent to company boards and executives.

In its annual report published in March, Shell said Mr. van Beurden's bonus was based on his "strong leadership both strategically and operationally."

The Dutch oil man has navigated Shell through a difficult time since he became chief executive in 2014. Over the course of 2015, he oversaw a wave of cost cuts in response to falling oil prices, shelved big projects in the Alaskan Arctic and Canadian oil sands, and pushed Shell's roughly $50 billion takeover of BG Group PLC.

Not all proxy advisory services are taking the same hard line as Glass Lewis. Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., another major shareholder advisory group, has recommended shareholders approve Shell's proposed executive pay package.

Write to Sarah Kent at sarah.kent@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2016 13:55 ET (17:55 GMT)

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