Compensation mix
Also called pay mix, pay composition.
The split of reported pay among salary, equity (stock and option awards), cash incentives, and other compensation, calculated from SCT amounts.
What it is
Compensation mix is the percentage split of a reported SCT package among salary, equity (stock awards plus option awards), cash incentives (bonus plus non-equity incentive plan compensation), and all other compensation. It answers how the total was built, not whether the total is “high.”
Percentages on CompensationBase are calculated from those reported amounts. They are not realized-pay mix and they can look odd in a year when one column dominates because of a grant or a carry distribution.
Why companies use it
Committees publish a target mix in the CD&A—for example 10% salary, 20% annual incentive, 70% long-term equity—to argue that most pay is at risk.
Different industries use different mixes: banks may show more cash incentives; software companies more RSUs; alternative-asset managers more “other.”
Pros
- Mix shows whether a large total is a cash burden or an accounting grant.
- It is a fast way to compare two officers with similar totals.
- Unusual mix (almost all other compensation, almost all equity) is a signal to read footnotes.
Cons
- Grant-date equity inflates the “at risk” share even when awards are time-based RSUs.
- A pension spike shrinks every other percentage without anyone changing salary.
- Grouping bonus with non-equity incentives hides whether the cash was discretionary or formulaic.
Examples
Equity-heavy technology CEO
Salary 4%, incentives 12%, equity 82%, other 2%. The story is the stock-awards column, which may be a regular annual grant or a multi-year block.
Carry-heavy named partner
Salary 3%, equity 10%, incentives 5%, other 82%. All Other Compensation—not the RSU program—is the package.
On CompensationBase
Mix bars split reported SCT amounts into salary, equity, incentives, and other. Percentages are calculated from those reported amounts, not from realized pay.
Related terms
- Salary
The cash base pay reported in the SCT Salary column. For some alternative-asset managers this amount is modest and similar across named executives, with most value in other compensation or equity.
- Equity compensation
Pay delivered as stock, options, or similar awards. On CompensationBase, equity is stock awards plus option awards, and it drives the mix bar’s Stock segment and unusual-grant-year flag.
- Non-equity incentive plan compensation
Cash paid under a pre-established bonus or incentive plan, reported in the SCT Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation column. Distinct from a discretionary Bonus.
- All other compensation
The SCT catch-all column for perquisites, certain pension amounts, and items not put in salary, bonus, or equity. Alternative-asset managers often report carried interest and partnership distributions here.