Advisory Services to Boards and Management Teams

Exequity's advisory services fall into three broad categories:

Compensation Benchmarking, Program Design

Compensation—Aligned with Performance and Corporate Strategy 
Exequity's consultants routinely assist clients with developing competitive compensation programs that support strategic priorities, seeking alignment between individual performance and long-term shareholder returns. From peer group development to benchmarking, incentive metric selection to performance thresholds, Exequity's consultants assist our clients with each step in the process of defining market-competitive compensation levels, mix, and incentive design. We also provide unparalleled technical experience and knowledge necessary to address critical areas intertwined with effective compensation programs, such as compliance with applicable regulations and tax laws, and stewardship over shareholder-approved equity incentive plans. 

Exequity recognizes both the importance and limitations of benchmarking as it pertains to thoughtful and effective plan design, as well as determining market-competitive compensation levels. While understanding that peer group norms and broader “best practices” are relevant reference points for any holistic evaluation of compensation and design, effective pay-related decisions require a nuanced approach incorporating inputs ranging from corporate objectives to shareholder expectations, internal equity and individual performance to market rates. Furthermore, the ever-increasing focus on pay-for-performance requires that decisions on compensation levels and design withstand intense scrutiny from shareholders and their advisors. Exequity consultants have a keen understanding of how various external constituencies view executive compensation and balance that knowledge against benchmarking data and internal business conditions to help clients find practical solutions to the challenges surrounding compensation levels and plan design. 
What Makes Exequity Different
Exequity is uniquely positioned to provide effective and independent counsel on all aspects of compensation and design. We strive to find practical solutions to client challenges. Our unique consulting approach offers our clients creative solutions that appropriately support their strategic objectives, and that tightly align with shareholder value creation.

Technical, Governance, and Compliance
Technical Excellence, Effective Design
Ensuring technical compliance in a compensation program’s design is critical to effective implementation. Exequity regularly assists its clients with technical, regulatory, and compliance implications of compensation decisions. Our practical-solutions approach centers on company objectives first, with an eye towards how plan design fits within regulatory regime and how the program will be viewed by shareholders and proxy advisors. 

Exequity maintains a staff of several attorneys, complementing our traditional compensation program design capabilities with the ability to implement the programs through drafting of incentive plans and employment agreements.

Experience with ISS
Exequity routinely helps companies understand the viewpoints and/or requirements institutional shareholders, shareholder advocacy groups, shareholder activists, and proxy advisors have with regards to executive compensation challenges. We often assist with the shareholder engagement process, and can proactively run models on behalf of our clients. 

Exequity also has extensive experience consulting with public companies on measures that can be taken to help ensure shareholder approval of share replenishments, new equity plans, and say-on-pay votes. For example, our services in helping companies successfully deal with ISS include:
  • Running ISS equity plan modeling, including how to improve scores and/or decide between alternative plans
  • Helping companies understand how institutional shareholders will react to their proposals
  • Guiding companies through the ISS review process prior to the filing of proxies​
  • Mapping out strategies to help with solicitation of clients’ top institutional shareholders to support plan proposals
  • Preparing and/or reviewing proxy disclosure language in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis and specifically related to requests for additional shares or a new equity compensation plan
  • Evaluating whether ISS guidelines will present any hurdles for a positive ISS vote recommendations
What Makes Exequity Different
Exequity maintains one of the deepest rosters of technical and analytical talent existing within the industry and, therefore, is able to provide technical guidance and expertise on all aspects of executive compensation. All of our senior consultants have rich experience and deep knowledge with the technical rules pertaining to executive compensation. Furthermore, we have dedicated technical resources within the firm that specialize in the more complex issues, and who routinely publish Client Alerts on the latest regulatory and technical updates in the industry.

Transactions and Transitions
In addition to serving as compensation committee advisors to hundreds of companies, Exequity's consultants have gained valuable insight on corporate restructuring dynamics through our history of having served as merger and acquisition strategic partners on executive compensation issues across thousands of transactions. 

Our M&A services include due diligence, assistance with incentive and equity plan transitions, and full 280G golden parachute modeling.  Exequity's experience in the IPO and spin-off arena is unsurpassed in the executive compensation consulting field. Our consultants have helped hundreds of companies navigate the IPO and spin-off process. We routinely assist with equity conversions, plan document construction, equity allocation, transaction-related incentives, retention incentives, and incentive plan design. We frequently work with newly listed companies to transition compensation and governance practices from the private company setting to the regulated public environment.

​Outside of classic corporate transactions, Exequity's consultants are often at the center of high-profile transitions that impact executive compensation and governance. Examples of these situations include CEO and high-level transitions (role changes, retirement, recruitment, etc.) and program design in response to external events such as activist investors, competitive threats, stock price downturns, and changing business models.
What Makes Exequity Different
With over 20 years’ average experience and involvement in thousands of transactions, Exequity’s senior consultants have the perspective and wisdom to assist during challenging and changing times.