How Are Trends in Executive Compensation and Governance Playing Out in the 2017 Proxy Season?

Investors now see corporate governance as a hallmark of the board’s effectiveness and one of the best sources of insight into the way companies operate. In response to this trend, Farient Advisors LLC, in partnership with the Global Governance and Executive Compensation Group, produced the report 2017—Global Trends in Corporate Governance, an analysis of corporate governance practices in the areas of executive compensation, board structure and composition, and shareholder rights covering 17 countries across six continents.

NACD, Farient Advisors LLC, and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP cohosted a meeting of the NACD Compensation Committee Chair Advisory Council on April 4, 2017, during which Fortune 500 compensation committee chairs discussed the report’s findings in the context of the current proxy season. The discussion was held using a modified version of the Chatham House Rule, under which participants’ quotes (italicized below) are not attributed to those individuals or their organizations, with the exception of cohosts. A list of attendees’ names are available here.

Global Governance Trends

2017—Global Trends in Corporate Governance finds that governance standards around the world have strengthened in response to financial crises and breakdowns in corporate ethics and compliance. Those crises and breakdowns have led to greater pressure from governments and investors, who are demanding economic stability and safe capital markets. In regard to executive compensation, the report notes a number of global governance trends:

• Most of the 17 countries surveyed (94%) require executive compensation disclosure, although the disclosures made and the quality of these disclosures varies from country to country. Surveyed countries that had the least developed disclosures are South Africa, China, Brazil, and Mexico.
• Say-on-pay voting is mandatory in most developed countries, although there is variance on whether the votes are binding or not. For developed countries where the vote is voluntary (e.g., Canada, Belgium, Germany, and Ireland), it still remains a leading practice.
• Common leading practices are to use competitive benchmarks, such as peer groups to establish rationales for pay, and to provide investors with information on components of pay packages and performance goals.

2017 Proxy Season Developments

Meeting participants shared a number of observations and practices from the current proxy season:

• Continuous improvement on disclosures Council participants indicated they are sharing more information with shareholders, in a more consumable way. “We want to be in the front ranks as far as providing information to shareholders,” said one director. “Instead of asking ‘why should we share that?’ we’re starting to ask ‘why not?’” Another director added, “Over the last few years we’ve moved from a very dense legalistic document to something that’s much more readable. Our board set up a process to do a deep-dive review every two years; this fall is our next review. It’s a way to ensure our disclosures keep pace with current practices and also reflect where we are as a company and board.”

Council members also discussed the status of Dodd-Frank rulemaking, given the new presidential administration and SEC commission. S. Ward Atterbury, partner at Katten Muchin Rosenmann LLP, said, “While it’s unclear exactly what the SEC will do with Dodd-Frank requirements in the future, investors have spoken on some of the issues, especially on things like say on pay and pay for performance. There may be less formal regulation, but the expectations on companies and boards are still there [to provide pay-for-performance disclosure].”

• Growing interest in board processes According to one director, “We’re hearing more interest about CEO succession as it relates to strategy. Investors are asking us to describe our process—they understand we can’t discuss specifics.”
• Director Pay Dayna Harris, partner at Farient Advisors LLC, discussed the increased focus on director pay: “Given the recent law suits regarding excessive director compensation and an increase in director pay proposals in 2016, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) created a new framework for shareholder ratification of director pay programs and equity plans.” ISS’ framework evaluates director pay programs based on stock ownership guidelines and holding requirements, equity vesting, mix of cash and equity, meaningful limits on director pay, and quality of director pay disclosure. ISS’ updated factors for evaluating director equity plans include relative pay magnitude and meaningful pay limits.
• Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues Meeting participants agreed that social issues, such as ESG and gender pay equity, are increasing in popularity among investors. In particular, nonbinding shareholder proposals on climate change received majority support this year at Exxon Mobil Corp., Occidental Petroleum Corp., and PPL Corp.
• Refining approaches to outreach and engagement with investors Meeting participants discussed leading practices for engaging shareholders. Some directors indicated that investors have turned down their offers to speak on a regular basis because of time constraints. One delegate emphasized that just making the offer to meet with shareholders is appreciated, even if that offer is turned down. One director said, “We invited one of our major long-term shareholders to speak at one of our off-site [meetings] as part of a board-education session. It was a different type of engagement and very valuable.”

For Further Reading

• NACD, Compensation Committee Resource Center.
• NACD, Incentives and Risk-Taking (March 2017).
• Farient Advisors, 2017—Global Trends in Corporate Governance.
• Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, “2017 Proxy Season Update: Key Considerations for Public Companies” (webinar), December 2016.
• Vipal Monga, “As Dodd-Frank Repeal Looms, Shareholders Gird for Annual Meetings,” Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2017.