Supplemental executive retirement plans, one of the flashpoints in the arguments over executive compensation, might face even more fire if the Securities and Exchange Commission proceeds with its plans for greater disclosure of executive pay.
According to compensation research firm Equilar, about one-third of public companies are already embracing greater disclosure policies even ahead of whatever new regulations the SEC might promulgate for the 2007 proxy season. A cornerstone of that greater disclosure is a simple, straightforward statement of the value of all executive compensation, including so-called SERPs—and that, Equilar research director Tim Ranzetta says, is sure to rile investors and employees who have seen so many of their own pension benefits frozen or eliminated.
