Financial Executives Research Foundation, the research affiliate of Financial Executives International, released the results of its first annual executive compensation study at FEI’s 2007 Summit in Boston.
The study examined the salaries, bonuses, long-term incentives and retirement benefits of over 1,800 financial executives, over half of whom are chief financial officers.
On average, the base salaries of public and private company CFOs were proportionate to the annual revenues of their employers. The median base salary of a public company CFO from a company with less than $25 million in annual revenues was between $176,000 and $200,000, while the median base salary of a public company CFO of a company with over $10 billion in annual revenues was over $401,000.
The median annual base salary of all public company CFOs responding to the survey was in the $251,000 to $275,000 range.
Similarly, the annual bonuses of public company CFOs were also proportionate to the annual revenues of employers. For example, the median target award of public company CFOs from companies with annual revenues of less than $25 million was between 31 percent and 40 percent of their base salaries, while the median target award of public company CFOs from companies with annual revenues of more than $10 billion was nearly double their base salaries.
The study also explored the value and structure of pay packages in their entirety. Among the report’s other findings:
- A minority of respondents (21 percent) are eligible for their company’s defined-benefit plan, and even less have supplemental defined benefits (8 percent), or supplemental defined-contribution plans (9 percent);
- As far as long-term incentives go, 23 percent of respondents receive cash-based awards (split between public and private companies), while 60 percent received stock-based awards; and,
- The most popular perk is the use of a company car, or a car allowance (34 percent).
Copies of the survey report, which will now be conducted annually, can be purchased for $129 at the FERF online bookstore, at
