Some 27% of the largest U.S. companies included an executive pay-for-performance discussion in their 2014 proxy statements, down from 28% the previous year, a Towers Watson analysis released Thursday found.
Of the companies making such an effort in 2014, the typical disclosure compares a CEO pay to total shareholder return over a three-year period.
In the study, 80% of the companies making such disclosure compare only the CEO pay, while 20% compare the pay of all top executives.
A Towers Watson report about the analysis said many companies have held off making such disclosure until the Securities and Exchange Commission adopts a rule to implement a provision in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That provision requires companies disclose “the relationship between executive compensation actually paid and the financial performance of the (company), taking into account any change in the value of the shares of stock and dividends of the (company),” the law states.
The SEC has deferred action on the pay-for-performance rulemaking until this year at the earliest, the report said.
