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Compensation Committee

I. Purpose

The Compensation Committee (the "Committee") shall:

  1. Discharge the responsibilities of the Board of Directors to the stockholders, potential stockholders and investment community with respect to the corporation's compensation programs and compensation of the corporation's executives; and
  2. Produce an annual report on executive compensation for inclusion in the corporation's annual proxy statement, in accordance with applicable rules and regulations of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (the "NYSE"), Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and other regulatory bodies.

II. Structure and Operations

Composition and Qualifications

The Committee shall be comprised of three or more members of the Board of Directors. Within the time period required by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (the "NYSE") for companies listing in conjunction with their initial public offering, each member of the Committee shall be a director who is determined by the Board of Directors to be "independent" under the rules of the NYSE and shall meet any other standards of independence as prescribed for purposes of any federal securities laws or other laws relating to the duties and responsibilities of the Committee. Additionally, no director may serve unless he or she (i) is a "Non-employee Director" for purposes of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and (ii) satisfies the requirements of an "outside director" for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Appointment and Removal

The members of the Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors and shall serve until such member's successor is duly elected and qualified or until such member's earlier resignation or removal. The members of the Committee may be removed, with or without cause, by a majority vote of the Board of Directors.

Chair

Unless a Chair is elected by the full Board of Directors, the members of the Committee shall designate a Chair by majority vote of the full Committee membership. The Chair shall be entitled to cast a vote to resolve any ties. The Chair will preside over all regular sessions of the Committee and set the agendas for Committee meetings.

Delegation of Responsibilities

In fulfilling its responsibilities, the Committee shall be entitled to delegate any or all of its responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Committee. Under a standing resolution, the Board of Directors (including Compensation Committee members) has authorized the Company's Chief Executive Officer, as a subcommittee of the Board, to grant equity awards based on Company common stock to non-executive officers and employees, and such authority has been narrowly defined to cover a certain incentive or equity-based plan of the Company, and the authority granted is with regard to a specified number or amount of awards. The Committee periodically reviews the awards granted by the Chief Executive Officer pursuant to such authority.

III. Meetings

The Committee shall meet at least two times annually, or more frequently as circumstances dictate. The Chair of the Board or any member of the Committee may call meetings of the Committee. At any meeting of the Committee, the presence of a majority of its members then in office shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; and the act of a majority of its members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of the Committee. The Committee may also, as necessary or appropriate to address unusual issues that cannot be deferred to a Committee meeting, take action by unanimous written consent of its members. Minutes of all meetings of the Committee shall be kept.

As part of its review and establishment of the performance criteria and compensation of designated key executives, the Committee should meet separately at least on an annual basis with the CEO, the corporation's principal human resources executive, and any other corporate officers, as it deems appropriate. However, the Committee should meet regularly without such officers present, and in all cases such officers shall not be present at meetings at which their performance and compensation are being discussed and determined. All meetings of the Committee may be held telephonically.

All non-management directors that are not members of the Committee may attend meetings of the Committee but may not vote. Additionally, the Committee may invite to its meetings any director, management of the corporation and such other persons as it deems appropriate in order to carry out its responsibilities. The Committee may also exclude from its meetings any persons it deems appropriate in order to carry out its responsibilities.

IV. Responsibilities and Duties

The following functions shall be the common recurring activities of the Committee in carrying out its responsibilities outlined in Section I of this Charter. These functions should serve as a guide with the understanding that the Committee may carry out additional functions and adopt additional policies and procedures as may be appropriate in light of changing business, legislative, regulatory, legal or other conditions. The Committee shall also carry out any other responsibilities and duties delegated to it by the Board of Directors from time to time related to the purposes of the Committee outlined in Section I of this Charter.

The Committee, in discharging its oversight role, is empowered to study or investigate any matter of interest or concern that the Committee deems appropriate and shall have the sole authority to retain outside counsel or other experts for this purpose, including the authority to approve the fees payable to such counsel or experts and any other terms of retention.

The Committee's duties shall include the following:

  1. Establish and review the overall compensation philosophy of the corporation.

  2. Review and approve corporate goals and objectives relevant to CEO compensation, including annual performance objectives.

  3. Evaluate the performance of the CEO in light of such goals and objectives and, based on such evaluation, either as a committee or together with other independent directors (as directed by the Board of Directors), review and approve the annual salary, bonus, stock options and other benefits, direct and indirect, of the CEO.

  4. Annually review and approve non-CEO executive officer compensation (including annual performance objectives) after having received and considered the recommendations of the CEO.

  5. In connection with executive compensation programs:

    1. Review and recommend to the full Board of Directors, or approve, executive compensation programs;

    2. Review on a periodic basis the operations of the corporation's executive compensation programs to determine whether they are properly coordinated and achieving their intended purpose(s);

    3. Establish and periodically review policies for the administration of executive compensation programs; and

    4. Take steps to modify any executive compensation program that yields payments and benefits that are not reasonably related to executive and corporate performance.

  6. Establish and periodically review policies in the area of senior management perquisites.

  7. Review and make recommendations to the full Board of Directors, or approve, any contracts or other transactions with current or former executive officers of the corporation, including consulting arrangements, employment contracts, severance or termination arrangements.

  8. Review and make recommendations to the Board of Directors with respect to the corporation's incentive-compensation plans and equity-based plans that are subject to Board approval.

  9. Review and approve, all awards granted under the corporation's equity-based incentive plans, to the extent not otherwise delegated.

  10. Review stock ownership guidelines for the Board of Directors and certain officers.

  11. Review the effects of employee pension, profit sharing and benefit plan strategies.

  12. Select, retain and/or replace, as needed, compensation and benefits consultants and other outside consultants to provide independent advice to the Committee. In that connection, in the event the Committee retains a compensation consultant, the Committee shall have the sole authority to approve such consultant's fees and other retention terms.

  13. Prepare a compensation committee report on executive compensation as required by the SEC to be included in the corporation's annual proxy statement.

  14. Report regularly to the Board of Directors (i) following meetings of the Committee, (ii) with respect to such other matters as are relevant to the Committee's discharge of its responsibilities and (iii) with respect to such recommendations as the Committee may deem appropriate. The report to the Board of Directors may take the form of an oral report by the Chair or any other member of the Committee designated by the Committee to make such report.

  15. Maintain minutes or other records of meetings and activities of the Committee.

V. Annual Performance Evaluation

The Committee shall perform a review and evaluation, at least annually, of the performance of the Committee and its members, including by reviewing the compliance of the Committee with this Charter. In addition, the Committee shall review and reassess, at least annually, the adequacy of this Charter and recommend to the Board of Directors any improvements to this Charter that the Committee considers necessary or valuable. The Committee shall conduct such evaluations and reviews in such manner as it deems appropriate.


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Committee Members

Chair Beth L. Bronner
Committee Member Lawrence V. Jackson
Committee Member Charles John Koch
Committee Member Juan N. Cento


 

 
Related information:

The Importance of Corporate Governance

Corporate Governance Guidelines

Code of Ethics

Director Independence Standards

Board of Directors

Board Committees and Charters

Section 16 Filings

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