In a recent study of top 200 companies by our firm we analyzed the relationship at large U.S. companies between performance measures in long-term incentive plans and company performance as measured by total shareholder return (“TSR”). We were surprised to find that there was no clear-cut...

The transition from pre-IPO to a publicly traded company is significant in many areas, including executive compensation levels and practices. Our study is comprised of 46 companies in the high technology, biotechnology and alternative energy arena that went public in the year 2011 and have since...

With shareholder (and election year) outrage over top executive pay at a new peak, board compensation committees must put increasing faith in the numbers and advice they receive from executive pay consultants. Yet research finds that many of the big compensation consulting firms suffer from the...

The evolving sophistication of “mid-market” companies in the United States is demonstrated by the fact that executive compensation plan structures among many mid-cap companies have started to mirror that of top performing, large-cap companies. One of the biggest findings from Gallagher's...

There is much data on director pay for publicly traded companies, little data for private companies, and virtually no data for family-owned business that have a unique corporate governance structure. This article focuses on director pay for family-owned businesses and will provide a guideline on...

This article focuses on cash compensation, which includes base salaries and annual bonuses (also referred to as “short-term incentives”). As of the outset of this current economic crisis (early April 2020), the state of change is as follows: Many companies have already begun reducing base...

Private companies seeking to grow their business should also consider equity-based compensation for their employees while at the same time retain control of the company and minimize potential problems associated with creating minority shareholders. Successful private companies are competing with...

This article discusses the increasing use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors within executive incentive plans among publicly traded companies in the United States. These factors are meant to measure corporate sustainability, and their use in executive incentive programs...