Trends in Director Compensation
Partner Michael Brittian spoke with TK Kerstetter of Diligent's Inside America's Boardrooms and outlined key changes in the director pay landscape.
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Why Pre-IPO Peer Groups are (or at least should be) Different
External benchmarking provides critical information for executive pay decisions.
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Most compensation committees review information gathered from a customized peer group of companies as part of compensation program development and relative performance reviews, and peer group construction is often a matter of significant debate. Common sense would suggest that if…
Council of Institutional Investors (CII) Overhauls its Policy on Executive Compensation
On September 17, 2019, the Council of Institutional Investors (CII) announced an overhaul of its policy on executive compensation, urging public companies to reduce the complexity of their executive compensation plans and set longer service-based periods for time-based equity awards.
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CII is an influential advocacy group for institutional investors. Its membership includes a wide range of asset managers with over $35 trillion in assets under management. To advance the interests of its members and reflect changes in the corporate governance…
Compensation: Quiet Before the Storm?
Why now is the right time for an executive compensation audit. As seen in Corporate Board Member Fourth Quarter 2019.
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Compensation committees fared well in the 2019 proxy season, with the vast majority of Russell 3000 companies receiving support on their compensation programs from proxy advisors and shareholders. Yet, compensation programs continue to be a hot=button issue for stakeholders, with…
Summary of Key Results from ISS 2019 Annual Policy Survey
ISS’s recent Policy Survey previews potential changes in to 2020 proxy voting policies.
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Each year, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) surveys institutional investors, public companies (“issuers”) and the consulting and legal communities on emerging corporate governance and executive compensation issues as part of its annual policy formulation process (the “Survey”). Issuers and their advisors…
Corporate Share Repurchase Programs Draw Increasing Criticism
Since 2009, corporate share repurchase programs have been a ubiquitous feature of many public companies’ capital allocation strategies. Generally, these programs have been applauded by institutional shareholders, while raising little concern by other parties. That dynamic is now changing with share repurchase programs drawing sharp criticism from politicians, state and union pension funds, and others.
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Recently, politicians, the media, academics and governance experts have criticized company stock buyback programs as a mechanism for enriching shareholders and executives through short-term boosts in a company’s stock price, while harming employees and misallocating capital to the detriment of…
SEC Issues Guidance on Proxy Advisory Firms
On August 21, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued guidance covering the role that proxy advisory firms play in the proxy voting process and the use of proxy advisory firms by investment advisers.
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Despite reports to the contrary, the guidance (which does not carry the weight of law) does not represent meaningful federal oversight of proxy advisory firms. In fact, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis already largely comply with the guidance.…
Board Compensation, Diversity Under Scrutiny
As seen in the 3rd Quarter 2019 issue of Bank Director
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Similar to trends in other industries, banks have been simplifying their director pay programs. Slightly more than half of publicly traded banks with $1 billion to $10 billion in assets increased cash retainers instead of offering board meeting fees. Board…
Managing Executive Incentive Programs for Chemical Companies
Designing and managing effective compensation programs is challenging for chemical industry companies due to the highly cyclical and global nature of the business.
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This article offers some useful context and information for compensation committees and management teams of chemical companies to consider when designing and managing their executive pay programs. In particular, we cover key attributes of the industry and their impact on…
Institutional Shareholder Services Releases its 2019 Policy Survey Questionnaire
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently issued its 2019 policy survey questionnaire, which generally previews potential changes in ISS’s proxy voting policies.
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Through its annual policy survey, ISS seeks feedback from institutional investors, public companies, corporate directors and the consulting and legal communities on emerging trends in corporate governance, executive compensation and other matters as part of its policy formulation process. The…
Investor Group Seeking Greater Disclosure on Workplace Equity Policies
A group of 99 institutional investors are requesting “that companies increase investors’ accessibility to information related to their workplace equity policies and practices across gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other federally protected classes.”
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Through a yet-to-be launched letter campaign, so far, a group of 99 institutional investors representing over $1.6 trillion of assets owned, advised or managed are signatories to an “Investor Statement” calling for public companies to provide enhanced disclosure on workplace…
Report on Say on Pay and Select Shareholder Proposals For the 2019 Proxy Season
Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC is pleased to provide this periodic report on key voting results for the 2019 proxy season.
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Executive Summary Specifically, this report will cover the following areas: ■ Standard & Poor’s (S&P) 500 Say on Pay (SOP) Vote Results and Analysis; ■ Russell 3000 SOP Vote Results and Analysis; and ■ Analysis of Vote Results on Select…
Meridian Perspectives Video Series – Episode 2
Effective Compensation Committee Processes to Improve Decision Making and Reduce Risk
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Use Compensation to Advance ESG Initiatives
From the July/August 2019 issue of the NACD Directorship magazine.
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Directors should take a close look at how their companies can use compensation to advance an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy. A key to ESG oversight is the board’s examination of how compensation reflects and advances the company’s commitment…
2019 Say on Pay Outcomes in Oil & Gas Continue to Trail General Industry
Several oil & gas companies had a rough proxy season in 2019, with overall lukewarm shareholder support for executive pay programs in the industry.
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While many companies received kudos from investors for the addition of returns-oriented incentive metrics, others struggled to demonstrate pay-for-performance alignment or continued to make aggressive pay actions despite lackluster shareholder returns in 2018. In this posting, we take a look…
Illinois’ Proposed Board Diversity Law Stripped of Diversity Mandate
Earlier this month, the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation that requires certain public companies to report diversity data and information, but excludes the requirement that these public companies’ board of directors meet racial and gender quotas (which were a part of the initial proposed legislation).
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As we previously reported in our Client Update dated May 22, 2019, the Illinois House of Representatives and Illinois Senate were both considering separate bills that would have required subject corporations’ boards of directors to include at least one female…
Career Congratulations to Jane Romweber
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Meridian Compensation Partners LLC congratulates Jane Romweber on her recent retirement from the firm and partnership. Jane’s contributions over thirty-five years as an executive compensation and corporate governance advisor have helped build Meridian into its industry leadership position today. Many…
UPDATE: Draft Legislation Released Changing Tax Treatment of Stock Options Effective January 1, 2020
On June 17, the federal government released draft legislative language to implement the proposed changes to the taxation of stock options in Canada, as introduced in the 2019 Budget in March.
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The budget proposed to eliminate the preferential tax treatment of stock options, above an annual $200,000 face value, for large, long-established, mature firms. (See Meridian’s update here for details of the original proposal.) The highlights of the implementation language include:…
House Committee Hearing on Corporate Accountability Bills
On May 15, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services held a hearing to consider four draft bills that, if enacted, would impose new compensation and human capital disclosure requirements on public companies and additional regulatory oversight of corporate stock buyback programs.
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The Financial Services Committee (FSC) majority staff has developed three legislative proposals that would require public companies to make sweeping disclosures on officer and employee compensation, human capital metrics, and domestic and foreign employees. A fourth legislative proposal is a…
2019 NACD Directorship 100 Released—The Annual List of the Most Influential Leaders in Boardrooms and in Corporate Governance
Michael Powers and Jim Wolf were named to the NACD Directorship 100 list for 2019, making it the seventh consecutive year for both Partners.
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The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), the authority on boardroom practices representing more than 20,000 corporate board members, announced the honorees of the 2019 NACD Directorship 100™, an annual recognition of the leading corporate directors, corporate governance experts, policymakers,…