CFOs' salary rises outpace CEOs'

Salaries increased at a slightly higher rate for CFOs than CEOs last year, but both members of the C-suite basically ran a dead heat in terms of incentive compensation, according to a report by New York-based consulting firm Compensation Advisory Partners.

Looking at proxy filings from 55 US public companies with revenues ranging from $1 billion to $150 billion, CAP partner Kelly Malafis says, the survey finds that 78.2 percent of the CFOs received salary increases in 2010, versus 54.5 percent of CEOs. To put it another way, nearly half (45.5 percent) of CEOs got no salary increase last year, while only 21.8 percent of CFOs found themselves in the same position.

This indicator also improved slightly relative to 2009, when 69.1 percent of the CFOs received raises and 30.9 percent did not. CEOs, on the other hand, saw their salary progress slow down during the period. More CEOs (60 percent) got raises in 2009 than 2010.

What we're seeing overall, says Malafis, is "a return to the higher salary increases for key positions," with the economy in recovery mode.

Meanwhile, compensation research firm Equilar recently prepared its 2011 report on CFO pay strategies in the S&P 600, studying 386 companies that have had the same finance chief in place for at least two years. That study found that the median compensation for the CFOs grew by 20.2 percent between 2009 and 2010, with median total comp being about $924,848 for the group, up from about $769,389.

The median total bonus payout it recorded grew 46.7 percent, to $200,158 from $136,454. CFOs in the basic materials sector received the highest compensation, according to the report: a median total pay of $1.09 million in 2010.

Change in CFO Status Helps

That CFOs continue to make the salary progress they have over the last several years is in large part indicative of changing status, she adds.

"Five or six years ago the CFO was something of a transactional partner," she says. "Today, the CFO is a key strategic business partner," representing the company more prominently at the board level, and among analysts and investors.

Another indicator of higher CFO status comes from looking at the overall compensation mix.

The pay mix for CFOs has shifted somewhat recently, with incentive-based compensation hitting 80 percent of CFO remuneration, up from 2008's 77 percent, "showing that the pay mix for CFOs is moving closer to that of CEOs," according to the report.

"The increase in the incentive pay for CEOs and CFOs is a sign of the improving economy," says Malafis.

Overall, 83 percent of CFOs and 85 percent of CEOs, received some form of incentive compensation as part of their long-term incentive program in 2010, the report says.

Stock Options Fade a Bit

In the study's look at which long-term incentive vehicles are most prevalent, the majority continue to be stock options and performance-based incentive programs, although stock options as a type have fallen over the past three years.

Some 31 percent of CFO incentive pay came in the form of stock options in 2010, down from 2008's 41 percent. For CEOs, 34 percent of incentive compensation was received for stock options, down from 44 percent.

CFOs received 20 percent of their long-term compensation via time-vested restricted stock in 2010, versus 16 percent in 2008. CEOs saw this incentive vehicle constituting 17 percent of their incentive mix, up from 16 percent.

Similarly, 48 percent of the CFO incentive compensation mix reflected other performance-based long-term incentives in 2010, up from 37 percent. For CEOs, that balance was 49 percent, up from 40 percent.

The incentive compensation package consisted of three different vehicles for 31 percent of the CFOs studied, a bit more than the 26 percent of CEOs receiving that number of incentives in 2010, the report shows.