Most CFAs back vote on executive pay

Most chartered financial analysts support proposals that call for public companies and their boards to submit their annual…

Most chartered financial analysts support proposals that call for public companies and their boards to submit their annual executive compensation plan to shareowners for an advisory vote.
According to a survey released Friday by the CFA Centre for Financial Market Integrity, 76% of respondents said they supported proposals that call for non-binding advisory shareholder votes on executive compensation plans as part of the annual proxy process.
Within that group, 58% said they thought that companies should attempt to adopt the shareholder input into this year’s or next year’s compensation plans.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they were opposed to mandating advisory votes through legislative action.
“Such votes are seen as creating and ensuring a transparent dialogue on executive compensation,” Kurt Schacht, managing director of the CFA Centre, part of the CFA Institute in Charlottesville, Va., said in a statement. He added that more than 60 U.S. companies are scheduled to consider the issue of an advisory vote in upcoming annual meetings of shareowners.
The survey had received responses from 2,239 of the institute’s members as of Friday. It will remain open through today.

Schwab adds ‘Pacesetter’ award
Schwab Institutional on Friday added a fourth category to its IMPACT awards to honor up-and-coming financial advisory firms.
The Pacesetter award will go to an advisory firm in business for less than 10 years that has shown extraordinary growth. It will be awarded at the San Francisco-based company’s annual IMPACT conference, which takes place Oct. 28-31 in Las Vegas.
“[The award] was added to place more emphasis on the growth of the industry and advisers transitioning to independence,” said Schwab spokesman Michael Cianfrocca.
Schwab already offers awards for best adviser technology,
best adviser overall and best management.