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Research Report

November 4, 2020

2020 Use of Environmental, Social, and Governance Measures in Incentive Plans

Research Report | By Erin Bass-GoldbergTahmid Ali

Driven by multiple stakeholders embracing the premise that a strong ESG proposition is an essential element to sustainable long-term company performance, attention on company ESG behavior and transparency is rapidly increasing.

A consequence of ESG proliferation is a growing trend of companies incorporating ESG measures into incentive programs. By tying a portion of executive compensation to ESG outcomes, companies are holding executive teams accountable for such initiatives and communicating to external stakeholders that such measures are critical to long-term company success and sustainable value creation.

Against this backdrop, FW Cook studied current practices among the largest U.S. public companies with respect to use of ESG measures within incentive programs.

erin-bass-goldbergErin Bass-Goldberg
Managing Director

Erin Bass-Goldberg serves as the independent advisor to the Compensation Committees of both public and privately-held companies in various industries. Her consulting engagements focus on development of executive compensation strategy, design of annual and long-term incentive programs, and transaction-related executive compensation issues. She is an author and frequent contributor to the firm’s technical papers and studies, and is a speaker on executive compensation issues.

tahmid-aliTahmid Ali
Consultant

Tahmid Ali supports clients in all areas of executive and director compensation, including compensation reviews, peer group development, short-and long-term incentive design analyses, corporate governance, and navigating Say-on-Pay.  He has experience with companies across industries of all sizes and stages of development, including private, pre-IPO, and mature public companies.

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