Institutional investors believe that sound
executive compensation policies and an active, dedicated and independent board
are keys to good corporate governance, according to this survey conducted by
Pensions & Investments newspaper and Vivient Consulting.
This
tool enables compensation committees to evaluate their performance in six main
areas, including the pay-for-performance linkage in compensation programs and
the effectiveness of equity programs. The self-evaluation highlights major
themes from recent requirements and recommendations by the New York Stock
Exchange, Nasdaq, NACD Blue Ribbon Commission on Executive Compensation and
the Role of the Compensation Committee, the Conference Board, the Business
Roundtable and TIAA-CREF.
Management and compensation committee members can use Vivient Consulting's
compensation committee checklist as a tool to plan their activities for the
year. The checklist details the issues that require compensation committee
approval vs. those that require committee review, and provides the timing for
when each issue is addressed by most companies.
This speech discusses the different
approaches for assessing executive compensation program alignment with
shareholder interests and provides seven practices that companies can use to
align their compensation decisions with shareholder rights.
Private companies have unique challenges in
designing long-term incentive and benefits programs for their top management
teams. This speech highlights the key issues private companies face and
describes innovative approaches that certain companies have taken to create
compelling equity compensation and benefit plans for their critical employees.
Recent corporate governance reports have
criticized sloppy competitive pay benchmarking practices. Despite the
backlash, executive compensation benchmarking remains a useful tool when it is
carefully executed and balanced with other reference points. Through a series
of mini-cases, this speech illustrates the many pitfalls that can arise in
executive compensation benchmarking and how to avoid them.
A Vivient Consulting study
of proxy statement information for Orange County public companies found that
chief executive officer (CEO) pay increased significantly in the 2003 fiscal
year, which reflects the stock market rebound and improving business
environment.
Stock options used to reign
as the long-term incentive vehicle of choice. Now, they are being
criticized by investors, and they are likely to lose their favorable tax
treatment. Given the changing environment, what are the current trends
in stock compensation? What is likely to happen in the future?
Vivient discusses these issues in a presentation to the National Association
of Stock Plan Professionals' San Fernando Valley Chapter.
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Media Coverage
"The Devil is in the Details," workspan,
February 2005
"Innovative Trends in Private Companies,"
workspan, September 2004
"CEO Pay Swells On Stock, Earnings Rise," Orange County Business Journal, May 17-23,
2004
