“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?”

“IPO grants [to CEOs] serve two purposes—alignment with shareholders and retention, because an executive disruption at that stage can be very problematic,” noted Aalap Shah

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

“While it’s currently uncommon for companies to provide an explanation of factors they consider when determining director pay, with increased scrutiny from ISS, that is likely to change,” said Jan Koors.