As risk management becomes a topic of increasing importance, more companies are turning to their CFOs for sound financial judgment. How is that affecting their pay? We studied 315 CFOs in the S&P 500, all of whom had been in place for at least two years, to find out.

The answers are mixed. Much like their CEO counterparts, CFOs in the S&P 500 saw both a drop in their total compensation and a rise in their bonus pay. Compared to the CEOs, however, CFOs have it a little easier: their pay slide was much smaller (3.1% versus the CEOs’ 7.9%) and their bonuses were significantly bigger (a 20.9% increase compared to the CEOs’ 8.5% jump).

A few other interesting tidbits from the report:

• Bonuses were found to be responsive to performance: CFOs in the top-performing quartile of companies had a median bonus increase of 56.5 percent from 2008 to 2009, while those in the bottom quartile saw a median bonus decrease of 15.5 percent.
• The more recent the filing, the higher the bonus: Companies with fiscal years ending from June to November 2009 paid a lower median annual bonus than those with fiscal years ending in December 2009 through February 2010, demonstrating the impact of the market rebound.
• Conglomerate CFOs make the most: Conglomerate CFOs had the highest median total pay, at $4.6 million in 2009. The Consumer Goods industry saw the greatest pay growth, increasing 9.0 percent from 2008 to 2009.
• Equity continues to constitute most of the pay package, but cash is gaining ground: Overall pay-package design remained fairly stable in 2009. Equity awards continued to constitute the largest portion of total pay, but declined slightly while cash compensation (the total amount of salary, bonuses, and “other” comp) rose slightly (from 37.6 to 44.4 percent of total pay).

There’s much more in our full 20-page report, including analyses of equity awards and grant-date values, and predictions for 2010 trends. To request the complete report, click here.

P.S. If you’ll be attending our 2010 Executive Compensation Summit next week, I hope you’ll find me at some point and say hello. I greatly value my relationship with each and every one of you, and look forward to hearing your feedback on the conference.

For the past three weeks, we’ve been looking at CEO pay by market cap size. Having done the S&P 500 (large-caps) and S&P 400 (mid-caps), we’re concluding with the S&P 600 (small-caps), whose CEOs seem to have taken the biggest hit of the three cap sizes. Not only is their total compensation down, but S&P 600 CEOs are the only one of the three groups to see a decrease in bonuses– more than a quarter of them received no bonus at all in 2009. They’re also more likely to receive restricted stock, and their options for 2008 and 2009 are the most likely to remain underwater. But there is a glimmer of hope for those whose companies do well: bonuses surged over 70% for CEOs in the top-performing quartile of companies.

The study looked at 403 companies who filed proxy statements between June 30, 2009 and January 31, 2010. All companies had CEOs in place for at least two years, to avoid distortion from new hire awards. Some of our findings:

• Total compensation declines: Median S&P 600 CEO compensation fell 5.4 percent from 2008 to 2009. The median CEO’s pay was $1.86 million in 2009, compared to $1.97 million in 2008.
• Bonuses increase in size but decrease in prevalence, for a net loss: Bonus payouts rose slightly, from a median of $323,250 in 2008 to a median of $334,000 in 2009, a 3.3 percent increase. But fewer CEOs received any bonus at all: 26.7 percent of CEOs got no bonus this year, compared to 21.5 percent last year. The net effect was that bonuses declined.
• Bonuses were found to be responsive to performance: CEOs in the top-performing quartile of companies had a median bonus increase of 71.1 percent from 2008 to 2009, while those in the bottom quartile saw a median bonus decrease of 32.6 percent.
• The more recent the filing, the higher the bonus: Companies with fiscal years ending from June to November 2009 paid a lower median annual bonus than those with fiscal years ending in December 2009 and January 2010, demonstrating the impact of the market rebound.
• Healthcare CEOs make the most; Basic Materials & Energy sees big pay drop: Healthcare CEOs had the highest median total pay, at $2.3 million in 2009. This industry also saw the greatest pay growth, with salaries rising 12.1 percent from 2008 to 2009. Basic Materials & Energy CEOs saw the biggest declines, with total pay values falling 26.6 percent.
• Cash compensation on the rise: The pay package shifted in 2009 to more cash compensation; it made up 53 percent of pay in 2009, compared to only 45 percent of pay in 2008.
• Equity awards slide in value: The decline in median total pay was primarily attributable to equity awards, whose value declined 100 percent for options and 5.7 percent for stock. Restricted stock remained the most common equity vehicle, with 58.3 percent of CEOs receiving it as part of the pay package.
• Early ‘09 awards bounce back big, thanks to market timing: Options granted in early 2009, when markets were at record lows, were frequently increased in size to compensate for decreased value. These options are seeing major gains in intrinsic value as the market has recovered. 83.7 percent of options granted in 2008, however, remain underwater.

You can request the full 20-page report here.

We’re looking at CEO compensation across all three market-cap sizes in May. Last week, you saw the results from the S&P 500 companies, and this week, we’re presenting similar data on the S&P 400. The biggest difference in the S&P 400 has been that total pay rose slightly (it fell for the S&P 500 CEOs), and that Consumer Goods was one of the industries that saw the largest bonus increases. Our quartile division of CEOs by company performance also showed a smaller upside for the top-performing quartile (66.7% median bonus increase, versus 86.8% for the S&P 500) and a larger downside for the bottom quartile (32.6% median bonus decrease, compared to 10.4% for the S&P 500).

The report examines 304 companies in the S&P 400 whose fiscal years ended between June 30, 2009, and January 31, 2010. All the companies in the analysis have had CEOs in place for at least two years, to avoid influence from new-hire awards. Here are a few of our findings:

• Total compensation rises slightly: Median S&P 400 CEO compensation rose slightly from 2008 to 2009, increasing 1.7 percent. The median CEO’s pay was $3.76 million in 2009, compared to $3.7 million in 2008.
• Bonuses increase in size and prevalence: Bonus payouts surged from a median of $656,531 in 2008 to a median of $732,331 in 2009, an 11.6 percent increase. 25.4 percent of CEOs received no bonus this year, compared to 27.8 percent last year.
• Bonuses were found to be responsive to performance: CEOs in the top-performing quartile of companies had a median bonus increase of 66.7 percent from 2008 to 2009, while those in the bottom quartile saw a median bonus decrease of 32.6 percent.
• The more recent the filing, the higher the bonus: Companies with fiscal years ending from June to November 2009 paid a lower median annual bonus than they did in 2008, and they also paid less in bonuses than those with fiscal years ending in December 2009 and January 2010, demonstrating the impact of the market rebound.
• Healthcare CEOs make the most: Healthcare CEOs had the highest median total pay, at $5.5 million in 2009. The Consumer Goods and Utilities industries saw the greatest pay growth, with increases of 12.5 and 13.9 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2009.
• Equity continues to constitute most of the pay package: Overall pay-package design remained stable in 2009. Equity awards continued to constitute the largest portion of total pay.
• Equity awards slide in value: The decline in median total pay was primarily attributable to equity awards, whose value declined 23.3 percent for options and 3.1 percent for stock. Options remained the most common equity vehicle, with 58.2 percent of CEOs receiving them as part of the pay package, but more companies are granting only restricted stock, and fewer companies awarded options in 2009 compared to 2008.
• Early ‘09 awards bounce back big, thanks to market timing: Options granted in early 2009, when markets were at record lows, were frequently increased in size to compensate for decreased value. These options are seeing major gains in intrinsic value as the market has recovered. 70.8 percent of options granted in 2008, however, remain underwater.

Request the report here, and stay tuned for next week, when we’ll bring you the S&P 600 findings.

We’ll be discussing all three reports, and the trends we’re seeing for 2010, during our CEO Pay Strategies webinar next Wednesday, May 19th, at 1 pm EST (10 am PST). Both of our Research Managers will be on the webinar, making this an ideal time to ask questions about our data and how Equilar works. To sign up, click here.

Now that the market is beginning to recover, we were curious to see the impact of the new financial landscape on how CEOs are paid. Our 2010 CEO Pay Strategies report, released today, shows an interesting mix for S&P 500 CEOs in FY 2009: median total pay is down, mostly due to decreased option values, but bonuses are soaring, particularly for those whose companies performed well amidst the recession.

The report examines 342 companies in the S&P 500 whose fiscal years ended between June 30, 2009, and January 31, 2010. All the companies in the analysis have had CEOs in place for at least two years, to avoid influence from new-hire awards. Here are a few of our findings:

• Median total compensation declines: Median S&P 500 CEO compensation fell for the second year, decreasing 7.9 percent from 2008 to 2009. The median CEO’s pay was $7.5 million in 2009, compared to $8.2 million in 2008.
• Bonuses increased in size and prevalence: Bonus payouts surged from a median of $1.38 million in 2008 to a median of $1.5 million in 2009, an 8.5 percent increase. Only 14.6 percent of CEOs received no bonus this year, compared to 18.4 percent last year.
• Bonuses were found to be responsive to performance: CEOs in the top-performing quartile of companies had a median bonus increase of 86.8 percent from 2008 to 2009, while those in the bottom quartile saw a median bonus decrease of 10.4 percent.
• The most recent filers gave out bigger bonuses: Companies with fiscal years ending from June to November 2009 paid a lower median annual bonus than those with fiscal years ending in December 2009 and January 2010, demonstrating the impact of the market rebound.
• Healthcare CEOs made the most: Healthcare CEOs had the highest median total pay, at $10.5 million in 2009. The Services and Utilities industries saw the greatest pay growth, with increases of 9.8 and 5.6 percent, respectively, from 2008 to 2009.
• Equity continues to constitute a majority of the pay package: Overall pay-package design remained stable in 2009. Equity awards continued to constitute the largest portion of total pay, at over 60 percent.
• Equity awards slide in value: The decline in median total pay was primarily attributable to equity awards, whose value declined 17.7 percent for options and 0.6 percent for stock. Options remained the most common equity vehicle, with 71.9 percent of CEOs receiving them as part of the pay package, but more companies are granting only restricted stock, and fewer companies awarded options in 2009 compared to 2008.
• Early ‘09 awards bounce back big, thanks to market timing: Options granted in early 2009, when markets were at record lows, were frequently increased in size to compensate for decreased value. These options are seeing major gains in intrinsic value as the market has recovered. 68.4 percent of options granted in 2008, however, remain underwater.

The full 20-page report is loaded with interesting information, charts, and our predictions for the big trends you’ll see in pay as 2010 progresses. To request it, click here.

We’ll also be doing a webinar on CEO Pay Strategies on May 19th. Mark your calendars, and stay tuned for more information on how to sign up.

In the continual balancing act between pay and performance, we’ve found that more companies are moving away from granting multiple types of equity, choosing to award more options instead. Our 2010 Equity Trends article, released today, compared the December 2008-February 2009 (referred to here as “2008″) and December 2009-February 2010 (“2009″) Form 4 filings of S&P 500 CEOs to see how the current market is affecting equity grants. Some of our findings:

• Fewer CEOs received equity compared to last year. 60.8 percent of CEOs in the analysis did not receive any equity in the 2009 year-end period, an increase of 7.8 percent from 2008, when 53 percent of CEOs received no equity.
• Companies are shifting towards options and away from stock or stock/options blends. The prevalence of CEOs receiving only options rose slightly, from 16.6 percent in 2008 to 17.2 percent in 2009. The prevalence of CEOs receiving only stock fell 1.6 percent in 2009, while the prevalence of those receiving a mix of stock and options fell 6.8 percent.
• For those who got options in both years, grant sizes were down, but values were up. For CEOs who received stock options in both the 2008 and 2009 periods, the median number of options granted decreased 31 percent, but median option grant value* rose 42.7 percent, to approximately $3.2 million.

*Value is measured by Equilar’s standardized Black-Scholes methodology.

These early reports indicate that we should be facing an interesting 2010 in terms of equity allotments. If you’re not an Equilar customer, you can request the article from us here.