The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Tue, 30 Jun 2026 11:32:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png U.S. Proxy Season: Say-on-Pay, One-Time Awards, and Equity Plan Trends – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 U.S. Proxy Season: Say-on-Pay, One-Time Awards, and Equity Plan Trends https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/06/29/u-s-proxy-season-say-on-pay-one-time-awards-and-equity-plan-trends/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=u-s-proxy-season-say-on-pay-one-time-awards-and-equity-plan-trends https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2026/06/29/u-s-proxy-season-say-on-pay-one-time-awards-and-equity-plan-trends/#respond Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:32:53 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=182083?d=20260626164301EDT Posted by Subodh Mishra, ISS STOXX, on Monday, June 29, 2026
Editor's Note:

Subodh Mishra is the Global Head of Communications at ISS STOXX. This post is based on an ISS-Corporate memorandum by Tim Sessing, Compensation & Governance Advisory Associate, and Chris Sayo, Senior Associate for Data Analytics at ISS-Corporate.

Strength in Say-on-pay outcomes suggests that investors view most compensation programs as reasonably aligned with performance, even as certain pay practices—such as one-time equity awards—persist.

The 2026 U.S. proxy season reflects continued strength in Say-on-Pay (SOP) outcomes relative to recent years. While headline voting results jump to a five-year high, shifts in both the prevalence and structure of one-time equity awards suggest that companies are once again relying on targeted compensation tools to address retention, leadership transitions, and ongoing market uncertainty. Meanwhile, activity related to equity plan proposals remains elevated, reinforcing the central role of equity in pay design. These dynamics point to broad but nuanced investor support for key executive compensation proposals.

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