Pearl Meyer Achieves SOC 2 Type 2 Compliance
Looking Ahead to Executive Pay Practices in 2026
Nom-Gov Chairs Get a Raise as Workload Increases
Do Metrics Based on ESG Objectives Belong in Incentive Plans?
These Co-CEOs Swear by Splitting the Job: ‘The Demands on a Modern CEO are Close to Unsustainable’
The Compensation Committee's Role in Driving a Successful People Strategy
Evaluating the CEO: Aligning Leadership and Strategy
Biopharma Peer Groups: Data-Driven Insights for Compensation Committees
Executive Succession and CEO Turnover
Executive Succession and CEO Turnover sophia.defreit…Susan Sandlund, PhD
Biography
Dr. Susan Sandlund is a managing director at Pearl Meyer. For more than 30 years, Susan has worked with boards, CEOs, and multiple levels of management on planned organizational changes at public and private companies and not-for-profit entities across numerous industries. As an organization psychologist, her work includes initiating and leading large-scale change to drive new business strategies, culture change, clarifying governance and decision-making, board and executive team effectiveness and coaching, organization design, executive assessment and development, and CEO succession planning processes.
Prior to joining Pearl Meyer, Susan was co-founder and partner of Veritas Partners, a leadership development and organization change consulting firm. Prior to launching Veritas, Susan was a partner with Oliver Wyman, formerly known as Mercer Delta Consulting (MDC) Group, working with CEOs and c-suite leaders on business transformation. She also served on the MDC board of directors. Prior to Mercer-Delta, Susan was a senior consultant with the Hay Group where she led leadership development initiatives for a wide array of clients. She served five years as an adjunct full professor at Columbia University and served on the board of trustees of Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (BSHSI) for 10 years, chairing the compensation and human resources committees. She is currently a director and the compensation committee chair for Peckham Industries.
Susan is a frequent speaker at board and industry conferences on the topics of CEO succession, board development, and organization change.
Susan is a member of the American Psychological Association and is certified in Hogan Assessments. She received her BA from Marquette University and her PhD from George Washington University.
The best CEOs are curious about the world and are learners. I help leaders and their teams increase their overall effectiveness and performance, and build the capabilities required to achieve the current and future strategic goals of the organization. I live by the motto "with truth comes change" and believe no leader will remain successful for long unless they can adapt to the constantly changing environment. I am committed to helping leaders become more flexible, manage constant change, and lead their teams and organizations successfully through major transformation.
Aalap Shah
Biography
Aalap Shah is a managing director at Pearl Meyer. With more than 20 years of experience, Aalap advises public and privately held companies on executive compensation issues, with focus on pay governance, pay-for-performance alignment, and incentive plan design. Of particular interest is the intersection between business strategy, people strategy, and compensation strategy, believing alignment of all three is required to design effective programs.
Aalap advises clients in a variety of industries, including high-tech, healthcare, financial services, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, real estate, and media. He also consults on special compensation programs for IPO and merger and acquisition transactions.
Prior to joining Pearl Meyer in 2006, Aalap was with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, where he specialized in executive remuneration advisory services.
Aalap holds a BS degree in industrial and labor relations with a concentration in international human resource management from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
Organizations create and sustain their competitive advantage by offering a distinctive value proposition to both their customers and investors. That value proposition manifests itself in various ways—products and services, the brand, operational efficiencies, and so on. My responsibility is to craft unique compensation structures, within the context of effective corporate governance, that guarantee your organization’s people strategy will be a competitive advantage. I do this by partnering with you to dive deep and think creatively.
Mark Rosen
Biography
Mark Rosen is a managing director and consulting team leader at Pearl Meyer. In his management role, he oversees a team of senior compensation consultants in the execution of the firm’s growth strategy and in the development of consultants at various stages in their careers. Mark has consulted on executive and board compensation issues for more than 20 years for a broad range of public companies, as well as tax-exempt organizations and academic institutions. He has extensive experience with benchmarking, retirement plan design, governance issues, and tax and accounting considerations.
Prior to joining the firm, Mark was a partner in the human capital practice of Arthur Andersen, where he led the southeast compensation practice as well as the Carolinas’ human capital practice.
He holds a BBA and an MS in accounting with a specialty in taxation from Texas A&M University. Mark is also a certified public accountant.
The best advisory relationships are grounded in trust, responsiveness, and sound judgment. My focus is on helping clients navigate complex compensation decisions with practical guidance that reflects long-term business goals, stakeholder expectations, and market realities.
Preparing for Potential SPAC Mergers in Biotech
Performance-Based Equity Awards and Other LTI Trends
Performance-Based Equity Awards and Other LTI Trends sophia.defreit…Steven Van Putten
Biography
Steve Van Putten is a senior managing director with Pearl Meyer and leads the firm’s efforts with respect to thought leadership and intellectual capital development. Steve’s primary focus and expertise is on advising compensation committees and senior management on executive and director compensation matters. He has over 30 years of board-level experience consulting to Fortune 500 companies on executive pay.
Steve is a frequent presenter at national executive compensation forums and conferences, including the National Association of Corporate Directors’ annual conference featuring the “Leading Minds in Executive Compensation.” He has written extensively on executive and incentive compensation and is the co-author of the book Myths and Realities of Executive Compensation (Cambridge University Press).
Steve specializes in the design of annual and long-term incentive programs that support long-term value creation. He has developed innovative methodologies for analyzing relationships between pay and performance, as well as assisting companies in determining appropriate performance metrics and associated goals, and calibrating performance award slopes.
Prior to joining Pearl Meyer in 2010, he was the North America East Region practice leader of Watson Wyatt’s executive compensation consulting practice and North American practice director of Watson Wyatt’s performance metrics and measurement group.
Steve holds an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a BA from Trinity College.
I offer a balanced perspective in advising clients, reflecting on both external practices as well as internal goals and objectives. I strive to provide advice on key topics in executive and incentive compensation that is thoughtful, candid, and with a strong point of view.
Aalap Shah
Biography
Aalap Shah is a managing director at Pearl Meyer. With more than 20 years of experience, Aalap advises public and privately held companies on executive compensation issues, with focus on pay governance, pay-for-performance alignment, and incentive plan design. Of particular interest is the intersection between business strategy, people strategy, and compensation strategy, believing alignment of all three is required to design effective programs.
Aalap advises clients in a variety of industries, including high-tech, healthcare, financial services, consumer products, retail, manufacturing, real estate, and media. He also consults on special compensation programs for IPO and merger and acquisition transactions.
Prior to joining Pearl Meyer in 2006, Aalap was with Mercer Human Resource Consulting, where he specialized in executive remuneration advisory services.
Aalap holds a BS degree in industrial and labor relations with a concentration in international human resource management from the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University.
Organizations create and sustain their competitive advantage by offering a distinctive value proposition to both their customers and investors. That value proposition manifests itself in various ways—products and services, the brand, operational efficiencies, and so on. My responsibility is to craft unique compensation structures, within the context of effective corporate governance, that guarantee your organization’s people strategy will be a competitive advantage. I do this by partnering with you to dive deep and think creatively.
Mark Rosen
Biography
Mark Rosen is a managing director and consulting team leader at Pearl Meyer. In his management role, he oversees a team of senior compensation consultants in the execution of the firm’s growth strategy and in the development of consultants at various stages in their careers. Mark has consulted on executive and board compensation issues for more than 20 years for a broad range of public companies, as well as tax-exempt organizations and academic institutions. He has extensive experience with benchmarking, retirement plan design, governance issues, and tax and accounting considerations.
Prior to joining the firm, Mark was a partner in the human capital practice of Arthur Andersen, where he led the southeast compensation practice as well as the Carolinas’ human capital practice.
He holds a BBA and an MS in accounting with a specialty in taxation from Texas A&M University. Mark is also a certified public accountant.
The best advisory relationships are grounded in trust, responsiveness, and sound judgment. My focus is on helping clients navigate complex compensation decisions with practical guidance that reflects long-term business goals, stakeholder expectations, and market realities.