Peter Lupo, senior managing director and Atlantic region head said, “Discussions [about 2020 executive pay goals] will take place when comp committees convene for their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss goals around mid-year, but depending on the severity of issues, they could choose to have a special meeting.”

Preliminary results from a Pearl Meyer survey found more than half of companies among its 300-plus respondents have adjusted executive salaries in 2020.

“Boards are laser-focused on the impact of COVID-19 on annual and long-term incentive plans,” said Peter Lupo, senior managing director and Atlantic region head at Pearl Meyer.

A survey of board directors by compensation consulting firm Pearl Meyer conducted between March 10 and March 16 found that 36% of the 233 respondents had already discussed the financial impact of the pandemic with their board, while another 59% said it would be on the agenda at their next meeting.

“So many variables affect companies' CEO pay ratios that it's not useful to compare them within industries, company by company, or even year over year,” said Deborah Lifshey, managing director, Pearl Meyer.

“If Glass Lewis’s peer group is different than the one your company uses, that doesn’t automatically put you in a worse position,” said Managing Director Deb Lifshey.

“Boards looking outside for a CEO will want a proven commodity and that will cost them more because an experienced CEO will want to be paid above the average,” said David Swinford, CEO of Pearl Meyer.

“This [SEC] guidance puts proxy firms on notice that they have to get it right and be more transparent,” said Deborah Lifshey, managing director, Pearl Meyer.

“In order to be competitive in the market and attract and retain the talent needed to achieve [the non-profit’s] mission, you need to have some kind of performance pay,” said Tim Dupuis.

“We are seeing increasing compensation packages for aging executives [of social services non-profits] because the board wants them to stick around for another year or two,” said Tim Dupuis.

“A lot of this is very subjective,” said Deborah Lifshey, a managing director at executive compensation consultant Pearl Meyer. “Do you leave it open to morals? Or get specific into MeToo and harassment?”

“[The CEO Pay Ratio] is almost an arbitrary number…It’s not driving decisions about executive pay,” said Deb Lifshey.