Equilar, the market leader in executive compensation data and research released its 2009 Committee Member and Chair Compensation Trends reports today. Three reports were released specifically analyzing compensation trends segmented by company sizes from S&P 600 (for companies under $500M in revenues), S&P 400 (for companies from $500M to $2B in revenues) to S&P 500 (for companies over $2B in revenues).
As new SEC rules are now being finalized, compensation professionals are beginning to see a legislative shift that emphasizes the need for qualified compensation committee members and independent compensation consultants. In light of these new proposals, compensation professionals are beginning to rethink their compensation philosophies and prepare for the new disclosure rules that will go into effect in the upcoming proxy season.
With respect to the growing importance placed on compensation committees, these reports are intended to provide compensation professionals with practical insight into the nature and value of pay practices. To do so, this report provides a comprehensive analysis of the following topics:
• Comparative overview of committee member tenure and meetings for audit, compensation, and governance committees
• Year-over-
• An analysis of current pay structures
Among the many key findings were:
• Median board-level compensation (cash retainer, equity awards, and total meeting fees) ranged from $107,564 at S&P 600 companies to $190,129 at S&P 500 companies (excludes payment for committee service)
• Across all committees, Governance members had the most tenure
• Audit committees met most frequently
• Compensation committee chair pay at large organizations rose 13.3% from 2006 to 2008 and Compensation committee member pay at smaller organizations increased by 20%.
The complete 2009 Committee Member and Chair Compensation Trends reports are provided to all Equilar Executive Compensation Knowledge Center subscribers. Non-subscribers can request a copy of the report by visiting http://www.equilar.com/
