"If the board approaches the CEO and says, 'We would like to talk about CEO succession,' and the CEO feels threatened by that, or if they actively resist that, it's time to find a new CEO," said Peter Thies, managing director.

“When you pay a CEO salary, and a cash bonus, that is real cash coming out of the company’s bank account,” said Jan Koors, senior managing director. “When an executive gets a share of stock, it’s like payment in kind.”

“Longer-term incentive plans covering three to four years also are becoming more common across healthcare organizations of all sizes,” said Alexander Yaffe, managing director.

“Aligning executive compensation with a company's performance allows the company to have pay coincide with how well the company's doing," said Wes Hart, managing director.

Especially when it comes to succession-planning discussions, P&C carriers “are thinking about those individuals' compensation programs in a really thoughtful way to make sure those individuals aren't enticed to leave the organization,” said Tim Dupuis, principal.