BHJ Partners New Service Supports Board Due Diligence on Non-Employee Director Compensation

Portland, ME, September 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - BHJ Partners LLC, a leading independent corporate governance and compensation research firm announced the release of a new non-employee director compensation red-flag assessment to support US corporate boards in meeting their compensation oversight due diligence.  As recent court decisions have put a spotlight on non-employee director compensation structures and policies, there is increasing potential for related litigation.  In response to this risk, BHJ Partners LLC has applied their expertise to develop an independent, objective risk assessment of non-employee director compensation structures to support corporations in their compensation management efforts. 

Four factors drove our firm to develop this risk screen:

"After being out of the spotlight for so long, it seems to be the turn for non-executives' pay to get center stage attention. If I were a board director, in the curious position of making decisions about how much I was going to pay myself, I'd want the best insurance there is. It's time for belt and suspenders."

Paul Hodgson, Founding Principal

1.     Non-employee director pay litigation is now in the risk spotlight of plaintiff firms and the courts.

2.     Boards of companies of all sizes often assume that their current independent compensation committee advisory is sufficient.

3.     Recent court cases show that even the largest US firms with their current expert benches of advisors, can be faced with this type of litigation.

4.     Litigation or threat of litigation is extremely costly and creates distractions for corporations that are not in the best interest of shareholders. 

Given these factors, having an independent third party provide an expert sounding-board for compensation policies and processes is a sound strategy to help manage these new risks.  The old adage ‘measure twice cut once’ is a standard that might have saved targeted firms millions in expenses for a very minimal cost.  The base service includes:

·       Primary research into each element of peer company total compensation from multiple perspectives – avoiding the pitfalls of data provider error.

·       A confidential, unbiased expert resource for you or your outside counsel.

·       Key findings of strengths and/or potential red flags to use to support your compensation due diligence - which you can choose to cite in your upcoming proxy.

·       And as many key stakeholders value our analysis, citing our research may help ward off speculative litigation.

The service can be completed in as little as two weeks ensuring that firms have the option to cite the findings in their upcoming proxies.  Complimentary consultations to review the service are being offered to US public corporation General Counsels, Corporate Secretaries, Board members or Outside Counsel.

About BHJ Partners LLC

Founded in 2013, BHJ Partners LLC provides single-source corporate governance research services to the corporate, investment, legal, and ESG services markets.  Our firm delivers tailored solutions in the form of expert advisory, custom research and third party service identification/evaluation.

The firm brings to the market a unique value-adding expert resource with our senior team possessing over 25 years each of experience in governance, compensation and risk analysis.  Their individual attributes are aligned through their shared experience in the areas of global corporate governance and sustainability research and practices.    

For Additional Information:

Drew R. Buckley

Principal, BHJ Partners LLC

+1 (207) 776-2711