Management compensation refers to the total amount of salaries, bonuses, shares, stock options, and other benefits earned by a company’s management team within a specific period, often a fiscal year. As long as the compensation is reasonable, shareholders are unlikely to complain about the amount paid.
Since I primarily invest in American and Canadian listed stocks, I will only provide data sources for these countries in this article.
American Management Compensation Data
Executive compensation data for American companies can be found on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website under the “DEF 14A” filing. To access this statement, follow these steps:
- Go to http://sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/companysearch.html and enter the company name or stock symbol you want to analyze, then press “enter.”
- Scroll down to find the most recent “DEF 14A” filing, which contains all the information about management compensation.
- If the “DEF 14A” is not available, you should check the annual report on Form “10-K”. Within the annual proxy statement, you should look for the Summary Compensation Table, which provides information about the amount and type of compensation paid to a company’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and the three other most highly compensated executive officers. It’s worth noting that companies are (u>required to disclose this information. If you’re looking for compensation data for foreign private issuers, you should check Form “20-F”.
Canadian Management Compensation Data
Executive compensation data for Canadian companies can be found on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) website under the “Proxy Circular” document. To access this document, follow these steps:
- Go to http://www.sedar.com/search/search_form_pc_en.htm and enter the company name you want to analyze.
- Select “Proxy Circular” as the “Document Type”, and make sure that the “Date of Filing” range is wide enough to display the most recent proxy circular.
- Click the “Search” button and open the file to learn about management’s compensation.
