Meridian Compensation Partners - Executive compensation consulting and corporate governance services

Meridian Compensation Partners LLC provides executive compensation consulting and corporate governance services to over 600 major publicly traded and privately held corporations. Our core services include board level advisory services, compensation programme design, research and competitive market intelligence on executive pay and corporate governance matters.

With over seventy associates in 11 offices in the US and Canada, Meridian is unique in our ability to provide a full array of services and capabilities to our clients, calling upon our deep bench strength and talent. Our consultants collaborate regularly to provide the relevant expertise and experience needed for virtually any client situation.

Our client relationship

Meridian develops long-tenured, board-level consulting relationships that support sound governance, engage leadership talent, and align pay with performance. We guide clients through challenging issues. We bring to each relationship an independent perspective, expertise, knowledge, and deep resources. We serve companies across all industries, and have particular expertise in industry sectors with unique labour markets, business metrics, and compensation practices.

Our services

Our scope of services covers the landscape of strategy, incentive design, performance measurement, data analytics and compliance and disclosure requirements related to executive compensation and governance.

Programme design

  • Salary structures
  • Short-term incentive programmes
  • Equity and cash based long-term incentives
  • Performance measure selection and stress testing
  • Change-in-control and general severance
  • Employment contracts
  • Non-qualified deferred compensation arrangements, SERPs and restoration plans
  • Executive benefits and perquisites
  • Mix of compensation elements.

Analytics

  • Pay-for-performance reviews
  • Realised and/or realisable pay analysis
  • Total compensation programme assessment
  • Compensation peer group analysis and selection
  • External benchmark studies of executive and director compensation levels
  • Analysis of programme design elements
  • CIC severance provisions/calculations
  • Equity grant run rate and dilution analysis
  • Equity grant valuation modelling
  • Monte Carlo grant value calculations and analysis for TSR plans
  • Tally sheets and wealth accumulation analysis.

Corporate governance

  • Executive compensation philosophy
  • Committee charter, meeting process and calendar
  • External market pay practices
  • Proposed and adopted legislation and emerging trends
  • Risk assessment of compensation programs
  • Proxy disclosures on executive and director pay
  • Institutional shareholders' and proxy advisory firms' (e.g., ISS and Glass Lewis) proxy voting guidelines
  • CEO and Board evaluations
  • Board and committee meetings, including executive sessions

Implementation

  • Detailed plan specifications
  • Award agreements
  • Share pool evaluations
  • Shareholder approval guidance
  • CD&A drafting and review
  • Accounting cost modeling

Corporate transactions

  • Initial public offerings
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Private equity
  • Restructuring and bankruptcy

Our unique value

Today, more than ever, companies require experienced, objective and candid compensation advisory services in combination with responsiveness, attention to detail and strong technical support. Companies need to make sound and often tough business judgments that reflect a wide range of relevant considerations. We believe executive compensation services are best delivered with an emphasis on facilitating a constructive and open working relationship between management and board members for the benefit of all stakeholders.

We believe our approach and resources can bring a uniquely effective advisory solution to our clients, specifically:

  • Our consulting process starts with the research required to gain a firm understanding of our client's unique objectives, business strategy, culture and challenges. We tailor our approach to meet each client's relevant priorities and desired outcomes.
  • Our culture is to be collaborative but strongly independent. This is a delicate but essential balance that permits both understanding and objectivity in the counsel we provide to our clients. We pride ourselves on open and early communication and we work hard to avoid surprises during Committee meetings. Our collaborative approach is also reflected internally, as our consultants regularly exchange ideas and experiences to help us bring the benefit of our entire firm to each of our clients.
  • In addition to providing executive compensation advice, we believe that it is our responsibility to promote excellent committee and board governance procedures and provide a clear, concise perspective on issues. Sound governance is critical for companies today, particularly those squarely in the public spotlight, and we regularly offer suggestions for improvement as appropriate. As a matter of process, we ensure the Committee is aware of all points of view, and provide our own as well.
  • Executive compensation and governance consulting is all we do, so Meridian has the independence necessary to effectively serve our clients. At the same time, we have the depth of resources in terms of analytics, research, technical expertise and support that is consistent with the services of larger scale firms.

Contact Details


Meridian Compensation Partners, LLC
100 N. Field Drive
Suite 300
Lake Forest
60045
Illinois
United States of America
+1 847 235 3611
kkentra@meridiancp.com
www.meridiancp.com

Available White Papers

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2017 Meridian Corporate Governance and Incentive Design Survey 19 July 2018 Meridian conducted an extensive survey based on the public filings of 200 large cap companies. This survey seeks to capture trends on a variety of executive compensation and corporate governance topics facing major companies today.

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Stock Option Values: a new rule of thumb for large caps 19 July 2018 While the use of stock options as a primary vehicle for executive equity awards has diminished over the past decade, the common belief that stock options are worth about one-third of face value has remained. Although this rule of thumb held true for many years, for reasons described below, that may no longer be the case, especially for large caps.

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2018 Trends and Developments in Executive Compensation 19 July 2018 Meridian provides an overview of the current executive compensation and corporate governance landscape. In the past year, several factors have driven change in the executive compensation landscape in the US. Each year, Meridian identifies key developments regarding how companies respond to these ever changing conditions.

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