2007 Board Survey

Just flipping through the 2007 Spencer Stuart Canadian Board Index - Board Trends and Practices at Leading Canadian Companies. The index analyzes the trends at the 100 largest public companies in Canada.

No real surprises in terms of trends - more women, higher fees, fewer stock options - but the numbers themselves are interesting.

> 51% of Boards have at least 2 women directors. That's up from 40% in 2000. Almost 1/4 of female Directors is a Board Chair.

> Top 100 firms held a median of 9 Board meetings in 2007 - unchanged from 2006 and 25% higher than comparable US firms.

> Median total compensation for non-executive directors is $91,612 - up 7% from a year ago - including meeting fees, committee fees and cash value of equity. Almost 20% of top firms give a flat, all inclusive fee to directors.

> It pays to be in mining where median total comp was $160,338. Consumer products and retail were at the other end - $63,00 and $73,000 respectively.

> Since 2002, 40 of the top 100 companies stopped granting stock options to Directors - an 85% decline. Almost every company in the survey provides equity or allows/requires that Directors choose it in lieu of cash.

> Finally, the number of companies that evaluates the Board Chair is at 87% vs 73% last year.

Interesting info. How does your Board compare?