Upcoming Webinar - The Executive Compensation Controversy: What it Means for Equity Compensation in 2012

As we approach the 2012 proxy season--the months of March, April, and May when about 70% of public companies file their proxies for this year's shareholder meeting--we provide an update on a number of significant developments. Over the past few weeks, a series of changes in proxy advisor policy, regulatory timelines, media coverage, and the political landscape are converging to ensure another controversial year for equity compensation.

All of these will be broadcast under the topic of "executive compensation," but in fact each is driven by equity compensation and will have a direct impact on companies' equity compensation granting practices in 2012.

On February 2 at 10:00 AM PST, Fred Whittlesey, founder of Compensation Venture Group, will be hosting a webinar covering various issues related to executive compensation. Topics will include:

--Why the second year of "say on pay" may pose more problems for companies than the first year, and how the #1 issue in investors' minds is not executive pay - it's equity compensation

--How a new focus on pay-for-performance "alignment" for the CEO - a calculation driven by, and distorted by, equity compensation valuation - will force some companies to redesign their plans

--Why the headlines about "CEO pay cuts" and "record CEO pay" are rooted in misunderstanding of equity compensation values and provisions and will require proactive communication to investors...and employees

--Why the carefully constructed peer group you use for compensation comparisons may have just become irrelevant for equity compensation purposes

--How the SEC's delay in implementing the Dodd-Frank "CEO Pay Ratio" and "CEO Pay for Performance" rules has led the private sector to forge ahead with the concepts

--Why companies will need to develop more sophisticated grant allocation methods and systems to balance increasing pressure on dilution and the growing complexity of plan design

Register today to participate in this informative one-hour session!

Fred Whittlesey is the Principal Consultant of Compensation Venture Group, a consulting firm specializing in compensation strategy, director and executive compensation, equity-based compensation, and incentive design with a primary focus on entrepreneurial growth companies. Fred is a co-founder and current member of the Board of Directors of Global Equity Organization (GEO), past Chair of the Advisory Board for the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) Institute, Founding Member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), past President of NASPP's Orange County Chapter, and current member of the Executive Compensation Task Force of CompensationStandards.com.

Fred was a top-rated faculty member and certification course developer for 13 years for WorldatWork's "Accounting and Finance for HR Professionals" as well as the basic and advanced executive compensation courses, delivering instruction both in the classroom and online. His presentation at the 2006 WorldatWork annual conference "ROI for HR" was recognized with a "Best of Conference" designation.

He has authored dozens of articles in major compensation periodicals and has presented his ideas at compensation conferences around the world. His most recent published works include "Understanding Executive Pay Equity and Fairness: Ratios and Rationality" in WorldatWork Journal; "The Governance Ups and Downs of Performance Plans" in GEOnomics 2011; "Behavioral Economics and Equity Compensation" in GEOnomics 2009; and "Measuring the ROI of Compensation Expenditures" in The Compensation Handbook. He is the host of "Keeping Up with Fred Whittlesey," an audiocast series sponsored by GEO, and is a regular contributor to The Advisors' Blog on CompensationStandards.com.

Fred received his MBA from UCLA and a bachelor of arts in industrial/organizational psychology from San Diego State University. He earned the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation from Santa Clara University, and the Certified Equity Compensation Professional (CECP) and Certified Compensation Professional (CCP) designations from WorldatWork.

Equity Administration Solutions, Inc. www.easiadmin.com is the largest independent stock plan software technology company in the world. Unlike other technology providers, EASi works with any brokerage firm and does not derive any revenue from wealth management fees or trading commissions. A SaaS company, EASi set the standard in stock plan solutions with its comprehensive industrial strength platform that handles all the accounting, tax, administration, participant services and compliance needs of companies that grant equity awards. Headquartered in Pleasanton, CA, EASi serves more than 700 companies on five continents in 18 countries with participants based in 70 countries and continues to lead the industry with second-to-none solutions in areas including FAS123R, IFRS2, Performance Awards, material modifications and WorkStream process automation. In 2012 Inc. Magazine ranked EASi 35th in the Financial Services industry segment and in the top 12% on its annual list of fastest growing private companies in America. In 2011, EASi was ranked 174th on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and clean technology companies in North America.