In The News

Current | Previous

With years of distinguished leadership in the areas of compensation consulting and survey data, our consultants' expertise is highly sought after by national and local print and electronic media.

Bloomberg
August 31, 2007

SEC Asks Companies to Clarify Decisions on Pay Levels

Companies are resisting the SEC's request for details on performance targets because they view much of that information as confidential, said Jannice Koors, a managing director at New York-based compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners. ``It's the disclosure of the levels of performance that companies are balking at,'' she said.

Some companies might not immediately respond to questions that they think will reveal competitive information, Koors said. For example, companies that set a specific number for earnings per share as an incentive for executives usually do not want competitors to know that number, she said.

Compliance Week
August 28, 2007

Options Expensing Takes Bigger Bite Overseas

Matt Turner, of compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners, notes that equity compensation — particularly stock options — “can be an inefficient pay vehicle in some countries” due to tax rules. “Using equity in some places becomes so burdensome from a tax standpoint that it doesn’t make sense,” Turner says. “With cost pressures, companies are seeking more efficient vehicles.

Often times, a cash long-term plan or some other ‘equity-like’ vehicle makes more sense than true equity...Companies are developing long-term incentive plans matched to what drives value in an industry or country. For example, Turner says, many companies have increased their use of performance shares and performance-based equity.

Marketplace Money
August 3, 2007

Know Your Worth in the Job Market

Managing Director Ken Cardinal was interviewed about the use of salary data websites.

Compensation professionals have to rely on data that we can verify and understand. On the Internet, that's often very very hard to do….As with anything you find in the big bad cyberworld, use your common sense. Be suspicious if the Web tells you that half a million is the average salary for your job in your city, but you're only earning $50,000. Cross-reference different sites as much as possible, and try to find out how they collect their information.

Agenda
july 30, 2007

Unchecked Stock Buybacks Balloon Executives’ Bonuses

Matt Turner, a managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners in Chicago, encourages boards to consider the effect management decisions have on key metrics like EPS and return on equity. He believes directors are often better off focusing on metrics like operating earnings and return on invested capital, which are better shielded from front-office financial decisions. “One key thing for board members to keep in mind is that EPS growth is often an indication of value creation but is not a driver of value creation,” Turner says.

Washington Post
july 16, 2007

Salary Holds Less Power to Motivate When CEO Holds a Large Share of Firm

"I don't think that there's a single formula for motivating executives," said Joseph R. Rich, chairman of compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer & Partners. "Some are motivated by additional accumulated wealth. Some of them think about it more as scorekeeping. Some of them just want to be recognized for the contributions that they make to the firm.”

Bank Director
third quarter 2007

Considering All the Options

“Compensation committees need to understand all elements of compensation, [including] the total compensation and how it fits and supports the bank’s business strategy,” says Susan O’Donnell, managing director for Pearl Meyer & Partners. “The concept of tally sheets, which add up all the elements of compensation that might be paid under different scenarios – termination, change in control, or retirement – are becoming popular because of this need for education and to satisfy future disclosure requirements.”

Directorship
June / july, 2007

When Severance is No Longer Needed

The first purpose of a compensation program is to create a wealth of management talent, noted David Swinford, CEO of Pearl Meyer & Partners. “The problem with buying executive labor is you are not buying a commodity. It’s attached to a human being who is in the room discussing it with you, who has lots of emotions, and a value system that may not be the same as the members of the Compensation Committee.”

Agenda
June 11, 2007

How Boards Are Blunting Critics on Jet Use

Voluntary disclosure of CEOs’ use of the corporate jet to fly to outside board meetings may help reduce some of the vitriol surrounding the issue, adds Jan Koors, managing director with Pearl Meyer & Partners. “Additional voluntary disclosure may help alleviate some of the heat,” she says. “Does it make them entirely fireproof? Maybe not, but as opposed to saying nothing and allowing shareholders to think the executive flew off to the Bahamas, it’s certainly better than no disclosure.”

Associated Press
June 9, 2007

Companies Must Explain CEO Compensation

A survey of 128 mid- to mega-capitalization public companies by compensation consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners found that respondents on average rated the new proxy process as a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 - 5 being the hardest. Under the old rules, the average was 2.4.

The House of Representatives already passed a bill that would give shareholders a voice in setting pay packages. The momentum on this issue should push boards to consider "the communications aspect of disclosure," said Joseph Rich, chairman of compensation consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners. He notes that compensation committees should be thinking about "what we do, how we do it and was what happened appropriate.”

The Des Moines Register
June 3, 2007

New SEC Rules May Muck Up Disclosure

The SEC's objectives were simple: Tell investors how compensation is determined, and do it in plain English. The government got it half right, said Jim Sillery, managing partner of the Chicago office of Pearl Meyer & Partners. "Companies have done a good job in giving us the details," Sillery said. "But they have a long way to go on plain English.”

Corporate Secretary
June 2007

Failure to Communicate

“There’s normally not any analysis [in proxy disclosures of stock option values] of these options come from and how many years of options are being exercised,” says Mark Rosen of compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Smart Money.com
April 26, 2007

Shareholders are Seeking Say on Soaring CEO Pay

SmartMoney.com interviewed PM&P President David Swinford about a Congressional proposal to require an advisory shareholder vote on executive pay. Among his comments:

“I understand why people want to single out executive pay – it’s an emotional issue My concern about an advisory vote is that when shareholders vote if they like a pay package or not, what does that tell you? It’s like the patient saying, ‘I’m not happy with how I feel.’ The doctor can’t respond without a lot more information...I think it’s more useful for significant shareholders to call up the investor relations people and say, we’ve got a problem with the compensation program, and here are specific things we want to change."

The New York Times
april 9, 2007

More Nuggets on Pay from Proxy Filings

Piles of new data and proxy statements that are about as easy to parse as the federal tax code have even experts scratching their heads. “There is an awful lot of stuff you have to wade through to get to the stuff that matters,” said Jannice L. Koors, a compensation consultant at Pearl Meyer & Partners. “We are now in the business of data mining.”

Business Finance
April 2007

No Longer an Option

Documentation is particularly important for CFOs, who could find themselves needing to explain and perhaps defend compensation policies and plans even though they may not have been physically present at the discussions that led to their implementation, notes Pete Lupo, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners, executive compensation consultants in New York City.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
March 16, 2007

Shareholders Take More Active Role

"It is not so much that companies pay for performance, but they also pay for non-performance" with large severance packages, according to Jim Sillery, managing director at the Chicago office of Pearl Meyer & Partners. "Shareholders would like to see companies that live by the sword die by the sword as well."

Forbes
March 1, 2007

CEOs Beware: Congress At Work

"It's very hard for shareholders to have the same level of knowledge as the compensation committee," says David N. Swinford, senior managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Corporate Secretary
March 2007

Revealing Relationships

If the role of pay consultants is understood by [management and the compensation committee], it is easier to protect against conflicts of interests or the perception of such conflicts. “The better the communication, the less issues you have than if they are non-effective or broken,” says Peter Lupo, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners.

The message for corporate secretaries is that information about a company’s relationship with advisors will put shareholders at ease in most cases. “If investors mail out a letter to your compensation committee chair saying they want to know more, it is up to them to decide,” notes Pearl Meyer & Partners president Joe Rich.

Business Week
February 26, 2007

A Better Look at the Boss’s pay

Almost all CEOs have contracts guaranteeing their big payouts. And the fear of angering a CEO over a pay issue has made directors reluctant to push harder. "No one wants to be responsible for seeing the CEO walk," says Jannice L. Koors, a managing director of pay consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Chicago Daily Herald
February 19, 2007

U-46 Super's Pay Far Outpaces Peers Across the Nation

In education, more than in other industries, it's challenging to peg what a top executive is worth, said Mark Rosen, a North Carolina-based Managing Director with Pearl Meyer & Partners, who specializes in helping boards of public companies and academic institutions set executive compensation packages. "It's difficult if not impossible to establish meaningful performance measures," Rosen said. As a result, the best measure of whether a superintendent is underpaid or overpaid is a benchmark analysis of comparable districts."

Corporate Board Member
February 13, 2007

Inside the Boardroom

Joseph R. Rich was interviewed by TK Kerstetter, president & CEO, Corporate Board Member magazine.

A lot of our work with Boards – in particular our work with the Compensation Committee – focuses on competitive assessment. My last advice would be to understand the information, but don’t be a slave to the data. There are so many unique attributes of each company and how each executive fits into each situation that make competitive comparisons less precise than we might like to recognize. In the end, it’s the Board’s analysis of value – not the cost represented by market norms – that should drive executive pay.

Agenda Week
February 12, 2007

Comp Committees Logging Long Hours on New Disclosures

“Set the tone up front,” said Mark Rosen, a managing director in Pearl Meyer & Partners’ Charlotte office. “At the very beginning of your CD&A [Compensation Disclosure and Analysis], it’s your opportunity to explain how and why you’re unique.” Rosen used a hypothetical company in a cyclical industry as an example. Such a company might want to describe the nature of its business and how its compensation is tied to getting its executives through the business’s peaks and valleys, he explained.

Charlotte Observer
February 11, 2007

How Much Does the Boss Make? Check the Proxy

“Evaluate whether performance targets really challenge the executive suite or whether the threshold is too low. Look at whether companies change the targets within the year. Was there an event beyond the executives’ control that made the targets impossible to meet? It happens. Should they still be held accountable? Probably,” said Mark Rosen, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Bureau of National Affairs
February 7, 2007

Prequels, Sequels May Be Needed to Paint Full Picture in Proxy Disclosure

Many companies are answering the old compensation committee report question of “how much did you pay?” said Deborah Lifshey, vice president of Pearl Meyer & Partners. They are not presenting the “full cycle of what happened in 2006."

The New York Times
January 12, 2007

Hire by the Contract Now, Risk a Big Regret Later

"Rumors of the employment contract’s demise are greatly exaggerated,” said Jannice L. Koors, a managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners. “As long as you need to do things to lure top executives from positions they are already in, you are going to have to offer them some kind of protection to get them to say yes."

Compliance Week
January 1, 2007

Under Pressure, Golden Parachutes May Get Cut

Once companies quantify their post-employment obligations, they’ll be able to better assess which pieces of the package cost the most, whether those pieces make sense and which ones might be candidates for elimination, both for good corporate governance and good public relations, said Deborah Lifshey of compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners.

HR Magazine
January 2007

HR and the Board

Median annual compensation for directors of the 200 largest publicly traded U.S. companies surged 12 percent in 2006 to $204,000, marking the third year of double-digit growth in board pay, according to Pearl Meyer & Partners, a compensation consultancy in New York.

Business Week
december 28, 2006

Investor Outcry Over Exec Pay Retreat

"I think [revised SEC rules for disclosing option grant values] is a more realistic picture of what's happening on an annual basis," says Deborah Lifshey of compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners. "Putting in bloated numbers doesn't give an accurate view of the value of these options."

Business Week
december 22, 2006

The Golden Parachute Club of 2006

Jan Koors, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners, warns that "Anyone who thinks these new disclosure rules will decrease compensation across the board will be disappointed."

Dow Jones
december 20, 2006

IBM Joins Growing Ranks in Ending Options for Directors

"For directors, the idea of giving them equity isn't so much about performance as the ownership aspect," said Jannice L. Koors, a managing director with Pearl Meyer. Restricted stock and other forms of outright shares do this better than stock options, she said.

CFO Magazine
december 1, 2006

Pay Daze – Linking Pay to Performance is Harder Than It Looks

TSR is a common measure for performance plans, according to Peter Lupo of Pearl Meyer & Partners. "Many companies like TSR because it truly represents value delivered to shareholders," he says.

The board can understand it better, too. "The management team sets financial objectives, and the compensation committee doesn't have a strong sense of whether it's a stretch goal or a lay-up," says Lupo. "One way to balance that is to index TSR versus a peer group and have that be half the award."

Entrepreneur Magazine
december 2006

Taking Stock – Have Options Lost Their Sparkle?

Joseph Rich, president of Pearl Meyer & Partners, recommends granting options at the same time every month, preferably the day after earnings come out. “That’s when the public has as much knowledge as they’re ever going to have,” he says. That narrows the gap between when management knows and what investors know, so the watchdogs are less likely to cry foul.

Compliance Week
november 28, 2006

Under Fire, Golden Parachutes May Get Cut

Deborah Lifshey, of compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners, says, “There will be a lot of clean up of either poor—or crafty—drafting that has entitled some executives to windfalls on the way out the door.” For example, she says, many companies are likely to reconsider “double dips,” where an executive is entitled to one severance payment or acceleration of stock option vesting upon a change of control and a second payment if he or she is later terminated. Other items likely to be reconsidered are single-trigger equity acceleration, the continued costs of perquisites and health insurance on a post-employment basis, and tax gross-ups for individuals other than the chief executive officer, Lifshey says.

Management-Issues
november 16, 2006

U.S. Bonus Gray Train Shows No Signs of Slowing

In September, a study by compensation consultancy Pearl Meyer & Partners reported that directors of major American companies took home on average $204,000 last year, a hike of 12 per cent and the third year running that growth has been in double digits.

Wall Street Journal
november 1, 2006

Trustees Lose Pension Benefits

None of the Fortune 200 companies provided defined benefits for trustees at the end of last year, whereas in 1995 nearly 71% of them had such plans, according to executive compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Executive Counsel
november 1, 2006

Two Views on Compensation

Joseph R. Rich, President of Pearl Meyer & Partners, provided his point of view with Patrick McGurn of Institutional Shareholder Services. Among his comments:

“If we could be above reproach, then boards could allow executives the flexibility to take grants within guidelines set by the boards... What’s happened, however, is that it has become clear that we’re not above reproach and the bad actions of a few may have deprived everybody of those opportunities."

Workforce Management
october 23, 2006

Firms Tapping HR Experts for Pay Committees

“People are calling (the compensation committee) the new audit committee,” says David Swinford, managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners, a New York-based compensation consultancy… ”Just like with the audit committees, today if a compensation committee makes a mistake, there are tremendous repercussions,” Swinford says.

Agenda
october 6, 2006

Paying for Performance

Mark Rosen, a managing director of Pearl Meyer and Partners, said that theoretically, incentive pay “makes a lot of sense” [for college and university professionals]. But he said that incentive pay only works “if everyone agrees” on what the top performance measures should be. At most campuses, he predicted, “it’s going to be too complicated to get everyone to agree,” he said.

CFO Magazine
october 2006

Pay Dirt

Director pay rose 12% this year to a median of $204,000, the third double-digit increase in director compensation in three years. That’s compared to an average of $182,000 in 2005 and $166,000 in 2004. Pearl Meyer & Partners reported the increase in a survey report that focused on the 200 largest U.S. companies, excluding foreign-owned or foreign-domiciled firms.

Financial Times
august 29, 2006

Pay and Display

In the US, compensation for 200 top executives rose 8 per cent to a median $8.4m last year, according to consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Plastics News
august 28, 2006

Accounting shift shaking up stock options

"FASB 123R created a level playing field for all long-term, stock-based incentives," said Joe Mallin, managing director in the Atlanta office of Pearl Meyers & Partners. "When companies examine long-term incentives, the accounting issues now fade into the background" and they can use incentives they think are more geared toward performance.

Financial Times
August 26, 2006

Performance-related Pay

In the US, compensation for 200 top chief executives rose 8 percent to a median $8.4m last year, according to consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Boston Business Journal
August 25, 2006

Who’s Underpaid? Overpaid?

“We’re clearly seeing directors become much better at… thinking about what their compensation philosophy is,” said Matt Stinner, a Boston-based managing director for Pearl Meyer & Partners, an executive compensation consultancy.

Pension & Benefits Daily Report
August 25, 2006

Speakers Say SEC’s Disclosure Rules Require Action Now

David Swinford, managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners, noted that companies are accustomed to rules that tell them what they have to do. The SEC, in the disclosure rules, gets firms to go further and communicate with investors, he said.

Companies are asking whether there is a better way to compensate executives from a disclosure standpoint, vice president Deborah Lifshey said, adding that they are seeing movement away from the perks bucket to other buckets; for example, hot button perks like personal use of corporate aircraft may be replaced by other forms of compensation, Lifshey said.

CNBC
August 24, 2006

Managing Director Jan Koors was interviewed about General Electric Company Vice Chairman David Calhoun’s move to privately-held media firm VNU NV

“One of the things going on here is that the attraction of running a publicly traded company has waned in the last few years, with the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley and the additional scrutiny from shareholders on everything from the way deals are done to executive compensation.”

Des Moines Register
August 19, 2006

Merger is Boon for AmerUs Brass

Jim Sillery, managing director of the Chicago office of compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners , said sometimes retention bonuses are made in hopes of countering the effects of overnight wealth that can come with options paydays. “They might put in a bonus because people have an incentive to leave” once they’ve become rich from selling their options, he said.

Chicago Tribune
July 2, 2006

Experts Seek Link to Results over Time

The median compensation package for chief executives at major U.S. companies was $8.4 million in 2005, according to research by Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Corporate Secretary
June 2006

The Secret Life of…

Joseph Rich, president of Pearl Meyer & Partners, a Clark Consulting practice, says it’s a mistake to lump all non-independent consulting firms together. His firm, for instance, serves the board – not management – around 90 percent of the time. Rich is concerned the information [provided under expanded proxy disclosure rules] could prove misleading. Say your consultant makes a recommendation and management disregards it – if the name of that executive compensation consultant is disclosed, the firm might be blamed for a poor decision beyond its control. Therefore, Rich believes that the SEC should identify some measure of what’s a sufficient scope of engagement for a consulting firm to be named at the committee’s consultant. He’d also like to see some disclosure in the official record about whether or not management took the consultant’s recommendations.

Atlanta Business Chronicle
June 23, 2006

Others May Not Follow Coke’s Lead in Board Pay

Joe Mallin, managing director in the Atlanta office of Pearl Meyer & Partners, said the average number of Board meetings has increased from two a year to between six and eight, lasting from six to eight hours, instead of two hours. "That's driven a belief that they need to get paid more," he said, noting that Board pay has increased at a rate of 15 percent a year for the last two to three years, compared with 5 percent to 6 percent before 2002.

The Baltimore Sun
June 18, 2006

Perks Persist, but Maryland Firms Rethink Them

As companies take a hard look at perks, they are distinguishing between “status perks” that Jan Koors, managing director at compensation consultant Pearl Meyer & Partners , refers to as “holdovers from the old cigar and three-martini lunch days,” and other perks that might help a CEO do a better job.

U.S. News & World Report
June 12, 2006

Too Safe a Bet?

The disclosure of [option backdating] comes at a time when the average CEO of a large company is already doing quite well, having received a 38 percent pay raise in 2005, collecting $8.2 million in salary, bonus, incentives, and perks, according to consultants Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Atlanta Business Chronicle
June 12, 2006

Roundtable: Executive Compensation

Managing Director Joe Mallin participated in a roundtable discussion on executive pay and new proxy disclosure rules.

“The SEC has a couple of major objectives. One is this information issue, giving investors more decisions about buying and selling stock in the marketplace. That's driven by a perception that executive pay has become more and more hidden over the years, so it's designed to shine a spotlight on it and really show what everything is worth.

San Diego Union Tribune
June 11, 2006

A Look at Executive Pay

“Because of [anticipated stock option] expensing, what we saw was a dramatic increase in the use of time-vested restricted shares as opposed to options,” said Jim Hughes, a senior managing director with compensation consultant Pearl Meyer & Partners, a division of Clark Consulting.

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL-SENTINEL
June 3, 2006

Public outrage over scandals, shareholder vigilance cited

Average pay for CEOs at publicly traded companies with Wisconsin headquarters dropped 1% last year among 48 chiefs who held the same positions the year before.

The pay (which includes cash compensation, value of stock options granted, value of restricted stock awards and long-term incentive plan payouts) declined more than $26,000 last year to an average $2.6 million, according to data prepared for the Journal Sentinel by Pearl Meyer & Partners, a national compensation consulting firm.

"We're starting to see moderation," said James Sillery, managing director at Pearl Meyer's Chicago office, which found a comparable pay dip among Chicagoland companies.

Compliance Week
June 1, 2006

Coke's Performance Pay Plan for Directors Raises Eyebrows

“Directors are there partly to be advisors to management and not act like management," says David Swinford, senior managing director Pearl Meyer & Partners. Swinford worries that by paying directors for performance, the corporate system of checks and balances could deteriorate - directors, he says, should be paid for their time, rather than the overall success of the plan they endorse or criticize. "It's hard to be objective if you are continuously rewarded for blessing the recommendations of the management teams," he says. "Directors are then put in the same shoes as management."

The CPA Journal
May 2006

Revisiting the Ripple Effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

A survey of governance practices in 200 corporations by Pearl Meyer & Partners reported an average frequency of nine meetings for audit committees in 2005.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
May 22, 2006

Unjust Rewards

In a sampling of companies with revenues of at least $1 billion, compensation consultant Pearl Meyer & Partners found that the median CEO got a 10.3 percent raise last year and took home at least $8.4 million.

The SEC is expected to pass a rule this summer that will require companies to publish a tally sheet (quickly nicknamed a "holy cow sheet" because of the revelations expected) including all compensation and reporting a one-number total for each director and top executive. Brace yourself, warns Jan Koors, a managing director at Pearl Meyer: "The numbers next year are going to be a heck of a lot bigger." Koors fears that correction might not happen right away. She predicts that initially, at least, CEOs and boards will use the new numbers to demand even bigger raises.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
May 17, 2006

Thanks, But I Don't Want a Golden Parachute

A Pearl Meyer & Partners survey of large companies found the median CEO received a 10.3 percent raise last year to $8.4 million.

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
May 8, 2006

Local CEOs Getting More Than Ever

Restricted stock and cash-based long-term plans started gaining favor over stock options three years ago and have retained their popularity in 2005, according to the CEO salary analysis for the Sun-Times by Pearl Meyer & Partners, a New York-based executive compensation consulting firm.

The comparisons show that Illinois companies are continuing the shift from granting stock options in favor of granting restricted stock, but at a slower pace than national trends, said Jim Sillery, a vice president at Pearl Meyer & Partners' Chicago office.

The SEC is expected to pass a rule this summer that will require companies to publish a tally sheet (quickly nicknamed a "holy cow sheet" because of the revelations expected) including all compensation and reporting a one-number total for each director and top executive. Brace yourself, warns Jan Koors, a managing director at Pearl Meyer: "The numbers next year are going to be a heck of a lot bigger." Koors fears that correction might not happen right away. She predicts that initially, at least, CEOs and boards will use the new numbers to demand even bigger raises.

BusinessJournalism.org
May 8, 2006

Dig Deep to Get the Complete Executive Compensation Picture

A study by Pearl Meyer & Partners found that compensation for CEOs rose to $8.4 million in 2005 - an increase of 10 percent.

FORBES
May 8, 2006

It’s Good to Be King

What motivates [chief executives], in most cases, is not options but an ownership stake coupled with a commitment to long-term thinking. Twenty years of experience can give an executive an incredibly intuitive knowledge of an industry, says Joseph Rich, president of Pearl Meyer & Partners, a compensation consultancy. "There is something psychological, a feeling of 'This is my life,'" he says.

Pension & Benefits Daily
May 2, 2006

Director Pay, Duties Continue to Grow

Nonemployee director compensation continues to rise across all corporate revenue sectors, according to findings of the national Association of Corporate Directors’ seventh annual survey, produced with the assistance of the Center for Board leadership and Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Boardroom Insider
May, 2006

Board Incentive Pay – Hot Trend or Dead End?

Jan Koors, a managing director at comp firm Pearl Meyer, sees major board pay trends as “a significant increase in pay, more pay in full-value shares, different pay by committee and more for committee chairs” – but no renewed push to tie director pay to performance.

Washington Post
April 28, 2006

A Campaign to Tighten Executive Pay

[A] survey of 200 large firms by Pearl Meyer & Partners found that chief executive compensation rose more slowly in 2005 than in 2004, when the increase in total shareholder return was higher…"You don't see a lot of people in the bad-boy box, where pay went up and the company's stock went down," said Pearl Meyer managing partner Jan Koors. But, she noted, "The median continues to rise."

The Philadelphia Inquirer
April 26, 2006

Pay Change Effort Debuts

An executive-compensation study for The New York Times conducted by Pearl Meyer & Partners and released this month found that compensation for chief executive officers of major U.S. companies rose 10 percent to a median of $8.4 million last year, and an average of $11.3 million. The average weekly wage of a production worker rose 2.9 percent in that period, from $528.36 to $543.65, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Compliance Week
April 17, 2006

Coke’s Performance Pay Plan for Directors Raises Eyebrows

“Directors are there partly to be advisers to management, and not act like management,” said David Swinford, senior managing director for Pearl Meyer & Partners. Swinford also worries that by paying directors for performance, the corporate system of checks and balances could deteriorate. Directors, he says, should be paid for their time, rather than the overall success of the plan they endorse or criticize.

“It’s hard to be objective if you are continuously rewarded for blessing the recommendations of the management teams,” he said. “Director are then put in the same shoes as management.”

Global Finance
March, 2006

Going for Gold

A survey last year by Pearl Meyer & Partners found that institutional investors think CEOs of major U.S. companies are overpaid and that golden parachutes serve no useful corporate purpose.

BusinessWeek
February 22, 2006

Shifting an Employee’s Status

The challenges may be made more difficult because in some settings, the change from salaried to hourly is viewed negatively -- almost as a demotion, says Susan Stemper, managing director of Pearl Meyer & Partners compensation consultancy. "Being sensitive to the cultural perceptions will help smooth the transition," she says.

Washington Post
February 6, 2006

BearingPoint Struggles To Hang On to Its People

Stock awards and bonuses "are often an effective way to put glue in the seat . . . if the amounts are large enough," said Mark Rosen of Pearl Meyer & Partners, a consulting firm that specializes in compensation practices.

Miami Herald
February 4, 2006

SEC Wants More Info on Execs’ Perks

The new compensation rules will be felt most at companies “that have long had an internal pecking order,” said David Swinford, senior managing director at Pearl Meyer & Partners. ”That’s where status is associated with perquisites.”

Corporate Secretary
January, 2006

Crafting a Corporate Board

“There is a tendency to see options as an upside-only kind of device, yet we all know the first rule about money is to not lose what you already have. Full value shares give people a much stronger ownership interest and cause them to first protect value and then worry about growing it,” says David Swinford, senior managing director at executive compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer & Partners.

Commerce Times
January 25, 2006

Going for Gold

"Stock options help tie pay to performance, but the timing becomes tricky,” said Joseph Rich, president of Pearl Meyer & Partners. “When a stock goes way up, it can change what a pay plan looks like to investors and analysts."

Back to top