The Advisors' Blog

– Broc Romanek

This piece from ISS Analytics has a bunch of stats, charts, etc. about director pay. Here’s an excerpt:

Director compensation correlates with company size, as larger companies generally pay higher director fees. At approximately $285,000, the median total annual director compensation of S&P 500 companies is 63 percent higher than the median total director pay for the rest of the Russell 3000.

Based on 2019 meeting data, median director compensation for all Russell 3000 companies increased by 2.7 percent compared to last year from approximately $193,000 to $198,000. Smaller companies (Russell 3000 constituents outside the S&P 1500) saw the highest rate of increase in median pay at 5.2 percent compared to last year, while the change in median non-executive director pay in the S&P 500 stood at 2.9 percent. The compound annual growth rate of director compensation during the past seven years ranges from 3.2 percent for the S&P 500 to 4.5 percent for Russell 3000 non-S&P 1500 companies. This rate of increase appears reasonable to most investors, especially given the increased demands placed on boards and directors in recent years.