Earlier this year, Glass-Lewis & Co., Inc., the major proxy advisory firm, announced that, for purposes of its new “pay-for-performance” analysis, it would employ Equilar’s “market-based” approach (“Market Peers™”) to develop the peer group used in its analytical model. As you may recall, Equilar’s approach uses a company’s self-constructed compensation peer group and the peer companies of those peers to come up with a representation of the “competitive market” for that company.
Recently, Equilar announced that, until January 18, 2013, it is accepting updated peer group submissions to include in its 2013 Market Peers™ calculations. Companies in the Russell 3000 that intend to disclose in their 2013 Compensation Discussion and Analysis the use of a compensation peer group that differs from the peer group disclosed in their 2012 CD&A should consider providing Equilar with the identities of the companies in the updated peer group to ensure that the most current information is considered as part of Equilar’s (and, consequently, Glass-Lewis’) peer group selection process.
This information can be submitted to Equilar using a form that is available at http://insight.equilar.com/app/peer_update/index.jsp. As noted previously, Equilar is requesting that this information be submitted by January 18, 2013. Updates may be submitted by companies only. If you have not made any changes to your previously-disclosed compensation peer group, or do not wish to respond to this invitation, no action is necessary.
This action is similar to the alert that was issued in December 2012 by the other major proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, concerning its request for updated compensation peer group information in advance of its analyses of corporate executive compensation programs for the 2013 proxy season. Note that this opportunity is only relevant for companies that have updated their compensation peer group since their last proxy statement filing and is intended to ensure that Glass-Lewis is considering the most relevant peer companies in terms of industry, size (that is, revenue and market capitalization), and other key factors when developing the peer group that will be used in its analysis.
Please contact your Compensia engagement manager with any questions on the suitability of this submission for your company and for further assistance.