Candid Business Advice Comes from An Objective Partner
At FW Cook we objectively apply our market leading experience to provide the best solutions. This approach enables us to be viewed as a strategic partner by both compensation committees and executive managers. We do not provide any ancillary services and do not serve our clients in any capacity other than as an executive compensation advisor. Whether we are retained by the compensation committee of the board or executive management, we view our role as an objective partner to our clients. This applies to companies that are privately held, publicly traded, venture-backed, not-for-profit, family-owned, and private-equity owned.
Committed to serving the compensation committee
As the market leader in serving compensation committees, we understand the need for independence, objectivity, and expertise. In our typical compensation committee relationship, we take our charge from and report directly to the committee. We do not undertake any projects outside the scope of our engagement without specific authorization from the committee chair. In addition, our Firm does not provide any other services to client companies that could impair our independence. Firm policy provides that we will maintain our independence in practice and in accordance with SEC and stock exchange standards.
In delivering our ongoing advice, we develop strong relationships with members of the board, as well as executive management. Our relationships with compensation committee members are forged over time by being responsive to the business situations that our clients face at any point in time.
Our practice is to work cooperatively with management on behalf of the committee in fulfilling our responsibilities to the company and its board of directors. We are always careful to maintain our independence both in fact and appearance, and we conduct our work with the viewpoint that we represent the board and shareholders of the company first and foremost. However, it is critical that we maintain a good working relationship with and obtain input from key members of management. They provide us with insight to the company’s strategy, culture, and challenges from the perspective of the participants and administrators of the executive compensation program.
One of our best kept secrets is that we also serve as advisor to executive management of many premier companies.
Bringing our market-leading expertise to management assignments
In addition to full service board advisory work, we also provide best in class compensation advisory services to executive management. In these cases, we are retained by management to provide objective expert advice. We take the same approach to advising executive management as we do when advising the board – we partner with our clients to provide objective advice on a full range of compensation related issues.
Management may prefer its own voice in program design and supplemental outside expertise. In these cases, our firm can bring breadth of experience on strategic compensation issues, and serve as a vital resource to a company’s human resources department.
When working with management, our advice on compensation is consistently objective, creative, and in the best interest of the Company and stakeholders. In our role assisting management, we understand that it is still important that our advice result in programs that are defensible, reasonable and appropriate.