The complexity of business is matched by the intricacies in today’s executive pay packages. During a recent Directors & Boards webinar, Farient CEO Robin A. Ferracone and IDEX Corporation Board Member Lakecia Gunter explored the future of best practices and how compensation committees are adapting.
“One of the biggest challenges compensation committees face is the collision course between governance standards and retaining great people,” Ferracone says. “You want to do what you promise shareholders, but then something unique comes along and you think you have to give a special award. Proxy advisors and investors don’t like those special awards, but sometimes they’re necessary.”
Retaining Mission-Critical Talent: Strengthening C-suite Succession
In advance of her participation as a featured panelist at the 2025 NACD Directors Summit next week, we recently talked to Farient Advisor Tracy Wittman about her career, her decision to join Farient, and what it takes to align compensation, talent management, and corporate governance in today’s ever-changing environment.
At Summit, Tracy will join Director Colleen B. Brown and KPMG’s Annalisa Barrett for a forward look at the challenges facing boards and the governance of compensation.
In the News
Say-on-Pay Support Stays Steady and Other Lessons from the 2025 Proxy Season—IR Impact
The 2025 proxy season confirmed several steady trends in executive compensation, while also revealing shifts boards will need to navigate in the years ahead. Say-on-Pay (SOP) support held strong across the Russell 3000, but concerns around special awards, mega-grants, and pay-for-performance alignment continued to drive the few failed votes.
(For up-to-date Say on Pay results, visit Farient’s U.S. SOP Tracker and Farient’s U.K. Remuneration Voting Tracker.)