As competition intensifies for attracting and retaining diverse and skilled directors, private companies are reviewing board member pay levels and plan design in order to be competitive with their publicly traded peers. This article discusses trends in director pay levels from CAP’s recent survey and offers insights into board compensation plan design. In addition to compensation levels and design, this article discusses other trending topics that private company boards should consider (e.g., diversity, equity and inclusion [DEI] and board effectiveness). Using this external market data from CAP’s survey in conjunction with an understanding of the company’s and board’s unique situation, private companies are able to design effective and competitive board compensation plans.

As competition intensifies for attracting and retaining diverse and skilled directors, private companies are reviewing board member pay levels and plan design in order to be competitive with their publicly traded peers. This article discusses trends in director pay levels from CAP’s recent survey and offers insights into board compensation plan design. Using this external market data from CAP’s survey in conjunction with an understanding of the company’s and board’s unique situation, private companies are able to design effective and competitive board compensation plans.

An article by CAP Partners, Bertha Masuda and Susan Schroeder, and Principal, Bonnie Schindler, was featured as the cover story for the October 2021 issue of Private Company Director magazine. This article reviews the results of the 2021 CAP-MLR Media survey of private-and family-company board compensation. It is timely information as the market is hot for attracting diverse and talented directors and private companies need to remain competitive.

Principal Bonnie Schindler summarizes the groundbreaking results of the second-annual CAP-MLR Media survey of private- and family-company board compensation.

Principal Bonnie Schindler breaks down the responses from the latest Private Company Board Compensation and Governance Survey into trends regarding annual retainers, long-term incentives, governance and the impact of COVID-19.

Based on CAP’s recent survey, Partners Bertha Masuda and Sue Schroeder conclude that private companies have taken swift actions to manage the effects of COVID-19 with responses ranging from reducing executive compensation to laying off employees.

CAP Principal Bonnie Schindler provides an overview of the 2019 Private Company Board Compensation and Governance Survey, and discusses how to use the survey data to design a competitive and effective board pay program.