Administration December 8, 2002

NY Fund Throws Support To Computer Associates Board

August 24, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The New York State Common Retirement Fund has thrown its support with the management of Computer Associates, bucking the recommendations of two proxy advisor firms.
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The fund’s sole trustee, State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, said the $112 billion asset fund would vote its 1.487 million shares for the current board of the world’s No. 4 software company.

McCall said the New York fund would support the current board because of the more than 70% year-to-date increase in the stock price and the importance of the company and its 18,000 employees to New York’s Long Island, where Computer Associates is headquartered.

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Board Battle

In June, Texas billionaire Sam Wyly and the group he formed, Ranger Governance, launched a bid to take over the board, putting up a full slate of 10 nominees. He later changed tactics when influential shareholder advisory firms, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Proxy Monitor, expressed their support for the current board ? but said they would have supported a less extreme attempt to influence the board.

Wyly took himself out of consideration and scaled back his proposed 10 candidates to four. The proxy advisory firms subsequently reversed course and lent their support to the dissident board members supported by Wyly.

Also joining the support of the Wyly board candidates was the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), which cast its support and 3.12 million shares last week.

Shareholders are scheduled to vote at the company’s annual meeting Aug. 29.

Administration December 7, 2002

Average Finance Pay Soars in 2001

July 24, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Total average compensation for treasury and financial management professionals increased by 8.1% in 2001 from the previous year, according to a new survey.
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The Association for Financial Professionals’ 13th Annual Compensation Survey also found that nearly 90% of the practitioner respondents received an increase in salary this year.

The survey found that financial officers’ average total compensation, comprising base salary, bonus and deferred compensation, was $122,170, compared with $112,986 in the 2000 survey.

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Why Ask Why?

Survey participants were asked to select factors that contributed to their salary increases,

  • 54%, of practitioners cited merit as the chief contributor,
  • 38% said individual performance,
  • 24% benefited from “general increases”
  • 13% cited cost-of-living adjustments

“Check” It Out

The highest total compensation packages are taken home by:

  • President?s or CFO?s who receive average compensation packages of $241,841
  • followed by CFOs who earn $190,933 on average,
  • Vice-presidents of Finance who get $178,724, and
  • Treasurers who receive $158,404

Location, Location

Across industries, the highest compensation gains were recorded in:

  • banking-related financial services, where compensation increased by15%,
  • followed by the software and hardware industries which rose by13.6%, and
  • the non-petroleum energy sector, where remuneration was up by13.5%.

At the other end of the scale, were:

  • the hospitality industry, where compensation rose by 6.9%
  • the non-profit sector which increased by 7%, and
  • compensation in the petroleum sector, which increased by 7.1%

Further, the survey found that practitioners in the Northeast received higher packages than their peers, with average total compensation of $137,112, an increase of 8.5% on 2000 numbers. In other regions,

  • those in the southeast received $108,923, up 7.2%
  • followed by practitioners in the Midwest who received $114,822, an increase of 7.2%,
  • while their counterparts in the West received $113,318, an increase of 8%

Other Benefits

Over two-thirds (68%) said their firms offered a flexible workday, while 21% have flexible workweeks. Nearly three-quarters (74%) have casual dress codes.

More than 60% of bankers and nearly half (45%) of corporate practitioners “experienced” a merger in the last two to three years. Of those, nearly three-fourths of the bankers and half the practitioners saw layoffs in their department as a result.

Most popular recruiting tools were moving expenses and temporary living allowances, followed by hiring bonuses and the purchase of a former residence.

The survey gauged the responses of to over 150 questions on the career development, compensation and benefits, of 2,980 financial professionals.

Go to http://www.AFPonline.org for a summary of the survey results.

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