Comparator Services

 

 A comparator report is one in which certain aspects of a client company are compared against those published by its peers, suitably matched in terms of business sector and size.

The King Report (King II, April, 2002) approves the use of comparator reports in relation to:

 

•    the remuneration of senior executives,
•    remuneration policy, and
•    corporate performance.

Our JSE database of disclosed information is extremely useful for this purpose, but can in our experience be abused if data is used indiscriminately or in an unbiased way.

To guard against this, our look-up tables are compiled based on a careful case by case study of the reports of each company - for example, if an incumbent has been appointed during the year or resigns during the year, his or her data is excluded from the study so as to avoid the distortions caused by partial payments or upfront premiums and severance packages which are inevitably involved in the process.

Should subscribers wish to present comparator tables to their remuneration committees, it is likely that the committee will want to know what principles have been followed in selecting the comparators; further, that these principles have been applied in an unbiased fashion.

To satisfy these  requirements, we offer to research and document studies on this basis, clearly explaining and confirming in our covering letter how the study has been undertaken and commenting on the conclusions and other salient findings.

A fee is charged for this service which can range between R1000 and R5000, depending on the scope and extent of the study. This fee is not included in the publication subscription fee, and quotations can be provided on request.