The Advisors' Blog

This alert from CAP (Compensation Advisory Partners) examines how executive pay levels change at IPO. Here are some interesting findings from their survey of pay practices in recent IPOs:

– Median base salary for CEOs increased 5% and median CFO salary rose 7% (but median base salaries were flat among constant incumbents in the technology sector)

– Median bonus opportunity for CEOs nearly doubled, but CFOs saw a more modest increase

– Pay mix shifted toward equity/LTI, increasing from 35% to 50% on average, with median long-term incentive values increasing 262% for CEOs and 230% for CFOs

– About 70% of companies in the sample were founder-led at IPO, and founder-led companies were more likely to have unconventional pay mixes, like very low annual equity compensation or high concentrations in one pay element

They studied companies across industries, but about 80% of the sample was in technology or life sciences.

– Meredith Ervine