Everyone from shareholders to regulators wants a “say on pay” these days, but compensation committees must continue to ensure their programs attract, retain and motivate executive talent in a way that is aligned with the bank’s strategy and culture.
Meridian recently completed a study of CEO compensation practices at 58 publicly-traded banks with assets between $1 and $5 billion. Based on our work with clients and the results of our research, we anticipate the following will be some of the key trends in executive pay as compensation committees work to balance competing expectations.
Increase in percentage of pay delivered through incentives. In our study, on average, base salary comprised half of CEO total direct compensation (base salary, annual incentive and long-term incentives). Incentives have become a larger component of total pay over the past few years, and we anticipate that trend will continue as shareholders expect a more direct alignment of pay and performance. The majority of this increase will likely come through equity-based long-term incentives, which defer compensation through multi-year vesting and payment schedules and help mitigate the overall compensation risk.
Broader view of performance. With the rising regulatory focus on the perceived risk of compensation programs, committees are using a variety of performance factors to determine incentive payouts. Some committees use a fully discretionary approach to determining incentive payouts, which typically involves a holistic review of performance. Banks with formulaic approaches to annual incentives are increasingly using multiple measures, and we expect the trend to continue. Almost half of the banks in our study included four or five measures in their formula, while only 20 percent rely on just a single measure. While earnings measures (e.g. earnings per share) remain prominent, banks are also including measures focused on returns, capital levels, credit quality, and growth.
Increased rigor around discretion. Regulators have recognized that discretion can play an important role in ensuring that payouts appropriately reflect risks taken during the performance period, as well as make it less likely that executives will manipulate performance results to increase payouts. However, they expect sufficient structure around discretion so that decisions can be justified and made consistently. Shareholders and their advisors generally prefer formulaic plans, but will accept the use of discretion if it is reasonable and well explained. More than 80 percent of the banks in our study indicated that their committees use discretion in determining incentive payouts. We anticipate committees will refine their use of discretion to include the development of scorecards that reflect a variety of measures from both an absolute and relative perspective, as well as principled guidelines that specify the types of circumstances that will trigger discretionary adjustments.
Use of multiple long term incentives, with increasing use of performance-based vesting. Among banks in our study, the prevalence of performance-based vesting on long-term incentives doubled from 17 percent to 34 percent between 2009 and 2011. We expect this trend to continue in response to shareholder expectations and broader industry trends. While we expect the use of performance-based long-term incentives to increase, we do not anticipate the elimination of time-based awards. We expect most banks will choose to grant a combination of awards—both performance-based and time-based. Many shareholders and their advisors expect a minimum of 50 percent of long-term awards to be performance-based, but the inclusion of time-based awards can help provide balance. Additionally, many time-based awards will likely begin to include provisions that provide for reductions if poor risk outcomes occur during the vesting period.
More transparency. Say-on-pay has given public company shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation, and their expectations for insight into the committee’s decision making have increased. Likewise, the Securities and Exchange Commission is expecting clear disclosure of performance targets in most circumstances. We expect proxy disclosures to increase their clarity as to how compensation decisions are made, particularly how performance criteria were established and how those performance results led to incentive payouts.
The banking industry continues to be on the forefront of change in executive compensation due to scrutiny from both regulators and shareholders. Compensation committees must remain vigilant to ensure their executive pay programs balance the increasing expectations of regulators and shareholders while continuing to support bank objectives.
