Declining Pay Seen Majority of New Senior Executives

November 22, 2009 – Korn/Ferry International’s Executive Compensation Index shows declining pay in 2009 for the majority of new senior executives around the world after reaching a peak in 2008. The study shows that pay for first-year CEOs also declined in the North American and Asian markets in 2009, but increased in Europe, raising the global average CEO compensation to a five-year high. “The data in our Executive Compensation Index illustrates the downward pressure impacting senior executive pay in 2009. This trend reflects a movement towards more performance-based compensation models for senior executives that weights deferred compensation such as stock options more heavily,” said Gary Burnison, CEO of Korn/Ferry. “While top companies will always attract top talent, it is clear that the ailing economy and heightened scrutiny over executive compensation had a noticeable effect on the corporate landscape.”