The Harvard Law School Program on Corporate Governance and the Harvard Law School Program on Institutional Investors convened its Roundtable on Executive Compensation last Thursday, June 27. This event brought together for a roundtable discussion prominent representatives of the investor, issuer, advisor, and academic communities. Participants in the event, and the topics of discussion, are set out below.
The Roundtable, which was co-organized by Lucian Bebchuk, Stephen Davis, and Scott Hirst, was sponsored by the CFA Institute and Pearl Meyer & Partners. In addition to the CFA Institute and Pearl Meyer & Partners, other sponsors were EMC Corporation, Equilar, Frederic W. Cook & Co., JPMorgan Chase, PepsiCo, Prudential Financial, Quest Diagnostics and the Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals.
The first session of the Roundtable on Executive Compensation focused on issues relating to engagement between issuers and shareholders regarding pay arrangements. Among the issues discussed were issuer disclosure of pay arrangements, review by proxy advisors, and communications between issuers and investors.
The second session of the Roundtable on Executive Compensation focused on the terms of pay arrangements. Among the issues discussed were pay levels, the use of peer group data in determining pay levels, how pay should be measured and assessed, and the link between pay and long-term performance.
The participants in the Roundtable on Executive Compensation included:
Cambria Allen, Corporate Governance Director, UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust
Barry J. Alperin, Compensation Committee Chair, Henry Schein
Joseph Bachelder, Special Counsel, McCarter & English
Lucian Bebchuk, William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law, Economics, and Finance, Harvard Law School
Ken Bertsch, CEO and President, Society of Corporate Secretaries and Governance Professionals
Glenn Booraem, Principal, Vanguard Group
Carol Bowie, Head of Research – Americas, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS)
John J. Cannon, III, Practice Group Leader, Executive Compensation & Employee Benefits Group, Shearman & Sterling
David Chun, CEO and Founder, Equilar
Donna Dabney, Executive Director, Governance Center, The Conference Board
Stephen Davis, Associate Director and Senior Fellow, Programs on Corporate Governance and Institutional Investors, Harvard Law School
David Eaton, Vice President of Proxy Research, Glass Lewis
Charles Elson, Corporate Governance Chair and Director, John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance, University of Delaware
Fabrizio Ferri, Assistant Professor, Columbia Business School
Matthew Filosa, Assistant Vice President – Corporate Governance and Proxy Voting Manager, MFS Investment Management
Bill Flynn, President and CEO, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings; Management Development and Compensation Committee Chair, Republic Services
Peggy Foran, Chief Governance Officer, Vice President and Corporate Secretary, Prudential Financial
Matthew Furman, Senior Vice President, Group General Counsel (Corporate & Governance) and Corporate Secretary, Travelers
Krystal Gaboury, Assistant Vice President and Corporate Governance Analyst, Wellington Management Company
Charles A. Grace, Senior Counsel, EMC Corporation
Gavin Grant, Head of Active Ownership, Norges Bank Investment Management
Gabrielle Greene, General Partner, Fontis Partners; Compensation Committee Member, Whole Foods Market; Corporate Governance & Nominating Committee Member, Stage Stores
Joe Gromek, CEO, Warnaco (Retired); Compensation Committee Chair, The Childrens’ Place; Compensation Committee Member, Wolverine Worldwide and Tumi Holdings
Farha-Joyce Haboucha, Managing Director and Portfolio Manager – Sustainability and Impact Investing, Rockefeller & Co.
Scott Hirst, Associate Director, Program on Institutional Investors, Harvard Law School
Suzanne Hopgood, Corporate Governance Consultant to the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds
Anthony J. Horan, Corporate Secretary, JPMorgan Chase
Roger Kimmel, Vice Chairman, Rothschild Inc.; Chairman, Endo Health Solutions
Arthur Kohn, Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Andrew Letts, Managing Director, State Street Global Advisors; Head of SSgA Corporate Governance
Colin Melvin, CEO, Hermes Equity Ownership Services
Laurie Moore, Compensation Committee Chair, Stewart Information Services
Cynthia Nastanski, Senior Vice President, Corporate Law and Governance, PepsiCo
Zach Oleksiuk, Vice President, Corporate Governance & Responsible Investment, BlackRock
Regina Olshan, Global Head of Executive Compensation and Benefits Group, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
William J. O’Shaughnessy, Jr., Assistant General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Quest Diagnostics
William Patterson, Executive Director Emeritus, CtW Investment Group
George Paulin, Chairman and CEO, Frederic W. Cook & Co.
Mark Preisinger, Director of Corporate Governance, Coca Cola
Brandon Rees, Acting Director, AFL-CIO Office of Investment
Brian D. Robbins, Head of Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Practice Group, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Bill Roskin, Compensation Committee Chair, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Compensation Committee Member, Sony Corporation of America
Kurt Schacht, Managing Director, CFA Institute
Paul Schneider, Manager, Corporate Governance, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Sunil Suri, Head of Corporate Governance, Dimensional Fund Advisors
Dave Swinford, President and CEO, Pearl Meyer & Partners
Tracie Vicki, Managing Director, Morrow & Co.