Bank CEOs' total compensation increased 1% this year, compared with a 4.7% increase last year, according to a survey released Thursday.
Crowe Horwath LLP's 2009 Comprehensive Financial Institution Compensation Survey, which compiled data from more than 320 U.S. financial firms, is conducted annually by the Oak Brook, Ill., public accounting and consulting firm. The survey said base salaries for all positions at financial companies have increased an average of 2.2% this year.
According to Timothy Reimink, a senior consultant in Crowe's performance group, the small increase in total compensation for CEOs masks a trend: in recent years, base salaries for CEOs have increased at rates faster than most other employees, while bonuses as a percentage of salary have declined. This year, bank CEOs received an average of $260,047 in total compensation.
Several other jobs at financial institutions had either no growth or decreases in compensation for the same one-year period. Chief credit managers had compensation decrease 6.4%, branch managers showed a decrease of 5.8% and commercial loan officers had no increase in compensation.
