November 7, 2011
Two New Surveys: Perks and Equity Grants
– Broc Romanek, CompensationStandards.com
Equilar recently released two new surveys. One examines Fortune 100 CEOs from 2005 to 2010, evaluating how the financial crisis and the recession have changed boards’ approach to perks. A few of those findings:
– Total “other” compensation drops: After falling 28.3 percent from 2008 to 2009, the median value of “other” compensation for F100 CEOs fell again in 2010, with a more modest decline (8.3 percent) from 2009 levels.
– Tax gross-ups on the chopping block: The median value of perquisites related to tax gross-ups fell 48.4 percent from 2009 to 2010. Their prevalence decreased from 50 percent in 2009 to 25.3 percent in 2010.
– Eliminating some perquisites is on the rise: In 2010, 14.7 percent of F100 companies indicated that they would eliminate some executive perquisites in late 2010 or early 2011. The most frequently eliminated perk was tax reimbursements, with 7.4 percent of companies eliminating them.
The other is a survey on equity trends in the S&P 1500, which found:
– Stock options declining: The median number of options granted by S&P 1500 firms fell 3.8 percent annually from 2006 to 2010.
– Restricted stock is becoming more common: 74.9 percent of companies disclosed restricted-stock grants in 2006, while 89.9 percent disclosed them in 2010.
– CEOs are getting bigger slices of the equity pie: The amount of options granted to CEOs as a percentage of total options granted rose from 6.2 percent in 2006 to 7.4 percent in 2010.