Emily McCormick
Vice President of Editorial & Research
Focus on Survival
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About the authors
Written by
Emily McCormick
Vice President of Editorial & Research
Emily McCormick is Vice President of Editorial & Research for Bank Director. Emily oversees research projects, from in-depth reports to Bank Director’s annual surveys on M&A, risk, compensation, governance and technology. She also manages content for the Bank Services Program. In addition to regularly speaking and moderating discussions at Bank Director’s in-person and virtual events, Emily regularly writes and edits for Bank Director magazine and BankDirector.com. She started her career in the circulation department at the Knoxville News-Sentinel, and graduated summa cum laude from The University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Business.
The pressures brought to bear upon the banking industry as a result of Covid-19 and the related economic downturn promise to exacerbate two long-term challenges facing bank boards and management teams: tying compensation to performance, and managing compensation and benefits costs.
In early July, the U.S. remained “knee deep in the first wave” of the Covidu201119 pandemic, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. States paused or began rolling back their efforts to reopen businesses and public areas. Tens of millions of Americans were unemployed. By September, newly reported cases remained above infection levels in March and April nationally. Many states were experimenting with school reopenings, and case counts were rising in the U.S.
“I’m really concerned about it,” said William Demchak, chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, who warned of an impending wave of loan defaults in a July interview. “I don’t know that it’s going to devastate us, but I think it’s going to put us into a period of really slow growth.”
Bank Director’s 2020 Compensation Survey, sponsored by Compensation Advisors, was conducted in March and April, just as Covid-19’s broad reach became clear, leading banks to embrace remote work and respond to the monumental task of issuing Paycheck Protection Program loans.
The survey highlights key concerns for bankers in this unusual environment, which will be explored in this white paper. How will bank boards evaluate CEO pay? What about director compensation and efforts to refresh the board? Finally, will banks be prepared for the impending turnover in the C-suite once baby boomers retire?
Forward-looking banks could emerge stronger from this crisis, says Flynt Gallagher, president of Compensation Advisors. “This environment is an opportunity for them, because it gives them the ability to make the changes they’ve been wanting to make,” he says. With so many Americans unemployed, more high-quality talent is available, and he believes institutions should find a way to bring them into the organization – even if a position isn’t open.
“You never go wrong when you get good people,” Gallagher says.
To read more about addressing board and CEO pay challenges, read the white paper.
To view the full results to the survey, click here.
WRITTEN BY
Emily McCormick
Vice President of Editorial & Research
Emily McCormick is Vice President of Editorial & Research for Bank Director. Emily oversees research projects, from in-depth reports to Bank Director’s annual surveys on M&A, risk, compensation, governance and technology. She also manages content for the Bank Services Program. In addition to regularly speaking and moderating discussions at Bank Director’s in-person and virtual events, Emily regularly writes and edits for Bank Director magazine and BankDirector.com. She started her career in the circulation department at the Knoxville News-Sentinel, and graduated summa cum laude from The University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Business.