UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A

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PARKER-HANNIFIN CORPORATION

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PARKER-HANNIFIN CORPORATION

Notice of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

 

 

 

To Our Shareholders:

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Parker-Hannifin Corporation. The meeting will be held virtually via live webcast at www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/PH2020, on Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, for the following purposes:

 

✔	To elect the eleven individuals named in the Proxy Statement as Directors for a term expiring at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 2021;

 

✔	To ratify the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021;

 

✔	To approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, the compensation of our Named Executive Officers; and

 

✔	To transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting.

 

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Based on the information currently available regarding the public health impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak, or COVID-19, we have made the decision that this year’s Annual Meeting will be virtual only. The Meeting will be conducted via live webcast, and during the Meeting you will be able to submit questions and vote your shares electronically.

Shareholders of record at the close of business on September 4, 2020 are entitled to vote at the meeting. Your vote is important, so if you do not expect to attend the meeting, or if you do plan to attend but wish to vote by proxy, please mark, date, sign and return the enclosed proxy card promptly in the envelope provided or vote electronically via the internet or by telephone in accordance with the instructions on the enclosed proxy card. Please refer to the section “How to Attend the Annual Meeting of Shareholders” for more information.

Thank you for your support of Parker-Hannifin Corporation.

By Order of the Board of Directors

 

Joseph R. Leonti

September 28, 2020		Secretary

Important Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders

to be held on October 28, 2020.

This Proxy Statement, along with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, is available free of charge on our investor relations website (www.phstock.com).

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  (i)

PARKER-HANNIFIN CORPORATION

6035 Parkland Boulevard—Cleveland, Ohio 44124-4141

PROXY STATEMENT

This Proxy Statement is furnished in connection with the solicitation by our Board of Directors of proxies to be voted at the Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on October 28, 2020, and at all adjournments thereof. Only shareholders of record at the close of business on September 4, 2020, will be entitled to vote at the meeting. On September 4, 2020, 128,798,068 common shares were outstanding and entitled to vote at the meeting. Each share is entitled to one vote. This Proxy Statement and the form of proxy are being mailed to shareholders on or about September 28, 2020.

GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS

Our Global Code of Business Conduct, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, and our Independence Standards for Directors are posted and available on the Corporate Governance page of our investor relations website at www.phstock.com. Shareholders may request copies of these documents, free of charge, by writing to Parker-Hannifin Corporation, 6035 Parkland Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44124-4141, Attention: Secretary, or by calling (216) 896-3000. The information contained on or accessible through our website is not a part of this Proxy Statement.

PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY

This summary highlights certain information relating to our 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and our corporate governance and executive compensation. Additional details are found throughout this Proxy Statement.

Voting Matters and Board Recommendations

 

Voting Matters		Board Recommendations
Election of Directors		FOR ALL NOMINEES
Ratification of Deloitte & Touche LLP as Independent Auditor		FOR
Advisory Vote to Approve Named Executive Officer Compensation		FOR

Business Highlights and Performance

Fiscal 2020 was a transformational year for Parker:

 

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In a year marked by a global pandemic and economic downturn, we took prompt actions and strengthened our position to achieve remarkable levels of performance during a period of declining demand. These actions delivered strong financial performance and value for our shareholders, including:

 

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Sales of $13.7 billion;

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Record cash flow from operations of $2.1 billion;

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Increased annual dividend per share for the 64th year in a row; and

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Significantly reduced our debt.

 

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We implemented The Win Strategy 3.0™, our foundational business framework, which we expect to drive sustained profitable growth and top quartile financial performance among our diversified industrial proxy peers. The actions taken under The Win Strategy to strengthen our portfolio and improve our performance have built a business that we believe is better equipped than ever before to be resilient across macro-economic cycles.

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  1

PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY

 

 

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We introduced our Purpose Statement: Enabling Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow. Our Purpose defines why we are in business, provides inspiration and direction for our team members, and represents how we can strengthen our communities and have a positive impact on the world.

 

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We strengthened our portfolio by completing two transformational acquisitions of LORD Corporation and Exotic Metals Forming Company.

Response to COVID-19

Throughout our 103-year history, Parker has been called upon in times of global hardship and adversity. Our leadership and perseverance in these defining moments demonstrates how we live our Purpose: Enabling Engineering Breakthroughs that Lead to a Better Tomorrow.

In this moment of great need during the COVID-19 pandemic, the actions of our team members embody the Parker culture and values that unite us. We have maintained manufacturing capacity across the enterprise, demonstrating the essential nature of Parker’s technologies across the world. With a spirit of caring and compassion, our team members are stepping up to deliver technologies that are being used in, among other applications, ventilators to treat those who are sick; engine filters and transmission components for heavy-duty trucks to transport food, water and supplies; aerospace rotorcraft products to support emergency transport of patients; refrigeration technologies to help keep food fresh and medicine viable; and many other technologies essential to people’s daily lives. Across countless critical applications, Parker products and systems are assisting with the front-line effort to combat the spread of COVID-19 and support its treatment around the world.

We recognize we have unique responsibilities in the face of this pandemic. At Parker there is a shared understanding of the importance of protecting the health and safety of our team members, our families and the communities we call home. We have taken early and aggressive action to help prevent the spread of the virus in our workplaces. At the same time, we are appropriately addressing the ongoing needs of our business so that we may continue to provide the technologies that are so vital to our world. Strong, trusting relationships are the foundation of how we do business. Our dedicated sales and customer experience teams are leveraging digital collaboration platforms to ensure we are providing our valued customers, distributors and other partners with the same level of accessibility and exceptional support they have come to expect.

We acted quickly at the onset of the pandemic and took multiple measures to promote safety in our facilities and protect our team members, including the implementation of:

 

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enhanced hygiene, cleaning and sanitizing protocols;

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physical distancing and work from home protocols;

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early travel restrictions and cancellation of in-person meetings;

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standard investigation, disinfection and return-to-work protocols;

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contact tracing and quarantines; and

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frequent communication to team members.

In addition to the investments in the safety of our team members, we made contributions through the Parker-Hannifin Foundation to organizations on the front-line of the COVID-19 response efforts. We also took certain actions to manage our costs and weather the negative impact of the pandemic and economic downturn on our business. In the fourth quarter we implemented several discretionary cost reduction actions including:

 

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base wage reductions for our team members;

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reduced work schedules;

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foregoing annual merit compensation increases;

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travel, variable and discretionary spending reductions;

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reduced capital spending; and

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actions to optimize our working capital.

While significant challenges lie ahead, we believe we are positioned to weather these conditions and emerge stronger than ever before, guided by our Purpose.

 

2  ◆  2020 Proxy Statement		Parker-Hannifin Corporation

Proxy Statement Summary

 

 

Board and Corporate Governance Highlights

Our Board of Directors is committed to sound corporate governance and sustainability practices, promoting the long-term interests of our shareholders and holding itself and management accountable for our performance. The graphics below provide a summary of the composition and qualifications of our Board and our Director nominees. Each Director nominee brings his or her own unique background and range of expertise, knowledge and experience which provides an appropriate and diverse mix of skills and qualifications necessary for our Board to effectively fulfill its oversight responsibilities.

 

We are pleased to provide the following key governance highlights. We believe these measures position us to continue to drive team member engagement, customer experience, profitable growth and financial performance. In considering our governance and compensation programs for fiscal year 2020, we utilized insights drawn from engagement with our shareholders and the results of our shareholder votes.

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  3

PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY

 

 

Corporate Governance Highlights
•   Annual election of all Directors				•   Separate Chairman of the Board and independent Lead Director roles
•   Published Corporate Governance Guidelines				•   Published Global Code of Business Conduct applicable to our Board of Directors
•   Majority voting and resignation policy for uncontested Director elections				•   Board Committees are 100% comprised of independent Directors
•   Average age of our director nominees is 62				•   Our Amended and Restated Regulations permit proxy access for eligible shareholders
•   Director retirement is mandatory after reaching age 72				•   Robust stock ownership guidelines for our Directors and executive officers (all of whom are compliant with such guidelines)
•   Each Committee of our Board of Directors has a published charter that is reviewed and evaluated at least annually				•   The Board of Directors includes three women
•   Each of our Director nominees attended at least 86% of his or her meetings of our Board of Directors and his or her Committee meetings during fiscal year 2020				•   Annual Board, Committee and individual Director evaluations
•   None of our Director nominees are “overboarded”– two do not sit on any other public company boards, seven sit on just one other public company board and two sit on just two other public company boards				•   Annual reviews of our Chief Executive Officer by all independent Directors
•   Our Chairman of the Board and Lead Director ensure the entire Board of Directors maintains regular oversight of key risk areas, such as corporate strategy, management succession planning, cyber security, enterprise risk management, and environmental, social and governance matters				•   64% of our Director nominees have a tenure of under 10 years. Tenure of this year’s Director nominees:   0-5 years: 36.4% 6-10 years: 27.3% >10 years: 36.4%
•   Require each search for qualified director candidates to include individuals with diverse backgrounds, including diversity of gender, ethnicity and race				•   Independent Directors meet regularly and frequently (at least four times per year) without management present

Our Shareholder Engagement Efforts

We actively seek and highly value feedback from our shareholders. During fiscal year 2020, in addition to our traditional investor relations outreach efforts, we proactively reached out to shareholders representing approximately 41% of our outstanding common stock, and we engaged with shareholders representing approximately 25% of our outstanding common stock with respect to environmental, social and governance, or ESG, matters. We discussed a diverse range of topics with our shareholders during these meetings, including:

 

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Executive compensation and our commitment to aligning pay with performance;

 

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Board composition;

 

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Board leadership structure;

 

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Oversight of risks;

 

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Our corporate governance practices;

 

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Business strategy; and

 

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Other ESG topics, including human capital management.

 

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Proxy Statement Summary

 

 

We also shared the feedback received during these meetings with our Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, our Human Resources and Compensation Committee and our full Board of Directors. As a result of our shareholder engagement efforts and the feedback we received, we strengthened our disclosures in this Proxy Statement to provide more insight into our business performance and accomplishments, the structure and composition of our Board, our shareholder engagement efforts, and our ESG program.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability

Our ESG program takes into account the interests of our key stakeholders, including our team members, customers, our communities and our shareholders. ESG issues that we focus on include, among others, workplace health and safety, energy efficiency, waste management, climate risk, human capital management, diversity and inclusion, supply chain management and business ethics and compliance. Our Board maintains oversight over ESG matters at the full Board level and through our relevant committees, while senior management manages and monitors our ESG matters on a day-to-day basis throughout the year.

We publish our Sustainability Report annually, addressing the many ways in which we apply our core technologies to make a positive impact on the world, including through our team members, social responsibility, our environmental initiatives, product stewardship, and governance, ethics and compliance. The Report is available on our website at www.phstock.com. Selected aspects of our most recent Report are highlighted below:

 

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Safety. Safety is a core value that all team members share, and our goal is to achieve a zero-incident workplace. We have reduced our Recordable Incident Rate by 61% over the past five years, including a 24% reduction in 2019.

 

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Parker Foundation. In addition to the COVID-19 relief contributions mentioned above, the Parker Foundation donated nearly $6 million in total to hundreds of qualified charitable organizations in 2019, with a focus on communities in need, education, disaster relief and energy and water conservation.

 

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Environmental Stewardship. We are committed to driving sustainable, long-term growth and doing so in a way that makes the world a better place.

 

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We reduced our energy index (MWh/USD) by 33% and greenhouse gas index (MT/USD) by 27% since 2008.

 

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Since 2008, we have reported our energy and emission data to the Carbon Disclosure Project, and our 2019 Climate Change Score ranked in the top quartile among our diversified industrial peer companies that reported.

 

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We recycle more than 85% of the waste generated from our manufacturing operations, and we are working to further reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills.

 

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Since 2013, we have been a member of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay® Transport Partnership aimed at identifying technologies and strategies to reduce carbon emissions and set goals and track progress towards reducing fuel consumption and improve the efficiency of freight transport.

We are proud of our accomplishments in the ESG arena, but recognize that best practices in ESG integration and reporting frameworks continue to evolve. Accordingly, we are establishing a new high performance team beginning in fiscal year 2021 to evaluate data and reporting best practices and to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.

Executive Compensation Highlights

The following table highlights some of the key aspects of our executive compensation program for fiscal year 2020. This table is not a substitute for, nor does it purport to include, all of the information provided in our Compensation Discussion and Analysis section and the Compensation Tables presented later in this Proxy Statement.

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  5

PROXY STATEMENT SUMMARY

 

 

Executive Compensation Highlights
•   Executive compensation program with pay-for-performance structure aligned with The Win Strategy™		•   The target compensation package for our Chief Executive Officer is a mix of 9% fixed and 91% at-risk, and for our other Named Executive Officers is an average mix of 19% fixed and 81% at-risk
•   Annual advisory vote on executive compensation with consistent high degree of approval		•   One-year minimum vesting or performance period requirements for restricted stock awards, restricted stock unit awards, unrestricted stock awards, grants of stock options, and stock appreciation rights under our Amended and Restated 2016 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan
•   Claw back policy to recover or withhold incentive-based compensation to executive officers in certain circumstances		•   Anti-hedging and anti-pledging policy for Directors and executive officers
•   As part of our company-wide cost control measures related to COVID-19 and the economic downturn, the base salaries of our Named Executive Officers were reduced for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 in amounts ranging from 20% to 50% of base salary. This reduction remained applicable to base salaries in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, and is being evaluated on a quarterly basis as conditions warrant.

 

6  ◆  2020 Proxy Statement		Parker-Hannifin Corporation

ITEM 1 – ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Shareholder approval is sought to elect Lee C. Banks, Robert G. Bohn, Linda A. Harty, Kevin A. Lobo, Candy M. Obourn, Joseph Scaminace, Ake Svensson, Laura K. Thompson, James R. Verrier, James L. Wainscott and Thomas L. Williams as Directors for a term that will expire at our Annual Meeting of Shareholders in 2021.

Our Board of Directors has concluded that the nominees presented in this “Item 1—Election of Directors” collectively represent a highly-qualified and diverse group of individuals who will effectively serve the long-term interests of our business, our team members and our shareholders. Our Board of Directors believes that each nominee should serve on our Board for the coming year based on his or her record of effective past service on our Board and the specific experiences, qualifications, attributes and skills described in his or her biographical information presented in this “Item 1—Election of Directors” section.

Should any nominee become unable to accept nomination or election, the proxies will be voted for the election of another person as our Board of Directors may recommend. However, our Board of Directors has no reason to believe that this circumstance will occur.

NOMINEES FOR ELECTION AS DIRECTORS FOR TERMS EXPIRING IN 2021

 

 

Director Since: 2015 Age: 57 Committees: None		LEE C. BANKS   Mr. Banks has been our President and Chief Operating Officer since February 2015. He was our Executive Vice President from August 2008 to February 2015 and our Operating Officer from November 2006 to February 2015.   Our Board believes that Mr. Banks will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •     extensive service as President and Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President and Operating Officer and in various operational leadership positions during his 29-year career with us;   •     intimate working knowledge of our day-to-day business, plans, strategies and initiatives;   •     present service on another public company board;   •     proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •     high level of commitment to our Board, our business, our team members, and our shareholders and a high level of integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •   Nordson Corporation

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  7

ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

Director Since: 2010 Age: 67 Committees: •  Audit •  Human Resources and Compensation		ROBERT G. BOHN   Now retired, Mr. Bohn was Chairman of the Board of Oshkosh Corporation (specialty vehicles and vehicle bodies manufacturing) from January 2000 to February 2011.   Our Board believes that Mr. Bohn will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •     extensive service as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Oshkosh Corporation, a successful global industrial company of significant size;   •     past and present service on other public company boards;   •     qualification as an audit committee financial expert as defined in the federal securities laws;   •     independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •     proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •     high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    Carlisle Companies, Inc. •    The Manitowoc Company, Inc.
Director Since: 2007 Age: 60 Committees: •  Audit (Chair) •  Corporate Governance and Nominating		LINDA A. HARTY   Now retired, Ms. Harty was Treasurer of Medtronic plc (medical technology) from February 2010 to April 2017.   Our Board believes that Ms. Harty will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on her significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •     extensive service in senior finance and accounting leadership positions at Medtronic plc and other successful global companies of significant size;   •     present service on other public company boards;   •     qualification as an audit committee financial expert as defined in the federal securities laws;   •     independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •     proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •     high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    Wabtec Corporation •    Syneos Health, Inc.

 

8  ◆  2020 Proxy Statement		Parker-Hannifin Corporation

ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

Director Since: 2013 Age: 55 Committees: •  Audit •  Human Resources and Compensation		KEVIN A. LOBO   Mr. Lobo has been Chairman of the Board of Stryker Corporation (medical technology) since July 2014 and has been Chief Executive Officer, President and a Director since October 2012.   Our Board believes that Mr. Lobo will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •     extensive service in senior leadership positions at Stryker Corporation and other successful global companies of significant size;   •     present service on another public company board;   •     qualification as an audit committee financial expert as defined in the federal securities laws;   •     independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •     proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •     high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •  Stryker Corporation
Director Since: 2002 Age: 70 Committees: •  Human Resources and Compensation •  Corporate Governance and Nominating		CANDY M. OBOURN   Ms. Obourn has been Chairman of Isoflux Incorporated (coating technologies) since April 2012.   Our Board believes that Ms. Obourn will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on her significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •     service as Chief Executive Officer and President of a coating technologies company, Chief Executive Officer and President of a health care products company and in senior leadership positions at other global companies of significant size;   •     independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •     proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •     high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  9

ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

Director Since: 2004 Age: 67 Committees: •   Human Resources and Compensation (Chair) •   Corporate Governance and Nominating		JOSEPH SCAMINACE   Mr. Scaminace was a Director and Chief Executive Officer of OM Group, Inc. (metal-based specialty chemicals) from June 2005 to October 2015 and Chairman of the Board of OM Group from August 2005 to October 2015.   Our Board believes that Mr. Scaminace will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    extensive service as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of OM Group, Inc., and prior leadership positions at other global industrial companies of significant size;   •    past and present service on other public company boards;   •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •    proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    Cintas Corporation (Lead Director)
Director Since: 2010 Age: 68 Committees: •    Audit •    Corporate Governance and Nominating		AKE SVENSSON   Mr. Svensson is a Director of Swedavia AB. He was Chairman of the Association of Swedish Engineering Industries, and Board Member of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise from May 2018 until May 2020. He was previously Director General of Swedish Engineering Industries from September 2010 to August 2016. Mr. Svensson is a former Director of Saab AB.   Our Board believes that Mr. Svensson will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    extensive service as Chief Executive Officer and President of Saab AB, a successful European aerospace, defense and security company of significant size;   •    extensive knowledge of European aerospace, defense and security businesses and related issues and trends;   •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •    proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.

 

10  ◆  2020 Proxy Statement		Parker-Hannifin Corporation

ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

Director Since 2019 Age: 56 Committees: •    Audit •    Corporate Governance and Nominating		LAURA K. THOMPSON   Now retired, Ms. Thompson served as Executive Vice President of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (tire manufacturing) from December 2013 until her retirement in March 2019, and Chief Financial Officer of Goodyear from December 2013 until October 2018.   Our Board believes that Ms. Thompson will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on her significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    extensive service as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and in other key leadership positions at The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, a manufacturing company of significant size;   •    present service on another public company board;   •    qualification as an audit committee financial expert as defined in the federal securities laws;   •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •    proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    Wesco International
Director Since: 2016 Age: 57 Committees: •    Audit •    Human Resources and Compensation		JAMES R. VERRIER   Now retired, Mr. Verrier served as a Board Advisor to BorgWarner, Inc. (powertrain solutions) from August 1, 2018 until his retirement on February 28, 2019. He previously served as Chief Executive Officer and Director of BorgWarner, Inc. from January 2013 until July 31, 2018, and President of BorgWarner from March 2012 until July 31, 2018.   Our Board believes that Mr. Verrier will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    service as a director, Chief Executive Officer and President of BorgWarner, Inc., a successful publicly-traded global automotive industry components and parts supplier of significant size;   •    prior service on another public company board;   •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •    proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.

 

Parker-Hannifin Corporation		2020 Proxy Statement  ◆  11

ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

Director Since: 2009 Age: 63 Committees: •    Corporate Governance and Nominating (Chair and Lead Director) •    Human Resources and Compensation		JAMES L. WAINSCOTT   Now retired, Mr. Wainscott was Chairman of the Board of AK Steel Holding Corporation (steel producer) from January 2006 to May 2016; and President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of AK Steel Holding Corporation from October 2003 to January 2016.   Our Board believes that Mr. Wainscott will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    extensive service as President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of AK Steel Holding Corporation, a successful global industrial company of significant size;   •    past and present service on other public company boards;   •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors;   •    proven ability to effectively serve as our Lead Director and to otherwise work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors and integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    CSX Corporation
Director Since: 2015 Age: 61 Committees: None		THOMAS L. WILLIAMS   Mr. Williams has been our Chairman of the Board since January 2016; and our Chief Executive Officer since February 2015. He was our Executive Vice President from August 2008 to February 2015 and our Operating Officer from November 2006 to February 2015.   Our Board believes that Mr. Williams will effectively serve our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders based on his significant and diverse experiences, skills, qualifications and viewpoints from, among other things:   •    extensive service as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President and Operating Officer and in various operational leadership positions during his 16-year career with us;   •    intimate, working knowledge of our day-to-day business, plans, strategies and initiatives;   •    present service on another public company board;   •    proven ability to work efficiently and effectively with our other Directors to oversee and address issues and risks facing our business; and   •    high level of commitment to our Board of Directors, our business, our team members, and our shareholders, and a high level of integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism.   Other Public Company Directorships (current): •    The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

 

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ITEM 1 - ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

ANNUAL ELECTIONS; MAJORITY VOTING; NO CUMULATIVE VOTING

Our Amended and Restated Regulations provide for the annual election of our entire Board of Directors. Accordingly, each Director elected at this Annual Meeting of Shareholders will hold office until the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders and until his or her successor is elected.

Our Amended Articles of Incorporation provide for a majority voting standard in the annual election of our Directors. Accordingly, at each Annual Meeting of Shareholders, each candidate for Director is elected only if the votes “for” the candidate exceed the votes “against” the candidate, unless the number of candidates exceeds the number of Directors to be elected. If the number of candidates exceeds the number of Directors to be elected, then in that election the candidates receiving the greatest number of votes shall be elected. Abstentions and broker non-votes shall not be counted as votes “for” or “against” a candidate, and shareholders are not able to cumulate votes in the election of Directors.

 

 

 

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

MEETINGS AND ATTENDANCE; EXECUTIVE SESSIONS

During fiscal year 2020, there were nine meetings of our Board of Directors. Each Director attended at least 75% of the meetings held by our Board of Directors and the Committees of our Board of Directors on which he or she served.

We hold a regularly scheduled meeting of our Board of Directors in conjunction with our Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Directors are expected to attend the Annual Meeting of Shareholders absent an appropriate reason. All of the members of our Board of Directors attended our 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

In accordance with the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange, our non-management Directors are scheduled to meet regularly in executive sessions without management and, if required, our independent Directors will meet at least once annually. Additional meetings of our non-management Directors may be scheduled from time to time when our non-management Directors determine that such meetings are desirable. Our non-management Directors met four times during fiscal year 2020.

NUMBER; CURRENT TERM; RELATIONSHIPS

Our Board of Directors presently consists of eleven members. The current term of each member of our Board of Directors expires at our 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Assuming the election of all of the Director nominees, we expect our Board of Directors to consist of eleven members after the 2020 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. None of our Directors are related to each other and no arrangements or understandings exist pursuant to which any Director was selected as a Director or Director nominee.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines require at least a majority of our Directors to be “independent” as defined in the listing standards established by the New York Stock Exchange. Our Board of Directors has also adopted standards for Director independence, which are set forth in our Independence Standards for Directors.

We strongly favor a governance structure that includes an independent Board of Directors. Of the eleven current members of our Board of Directors, nine are independent based on our Board of Directors’ consideration of the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors. In addition, each of the Audit Committee, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors is composed entirely of independent Directors. As a result, our independent Directors directly oversee critical matters such as our executive compensation program for executive officers, our Corporate Governance Guidelines, policies and practices, the integrity of our financial statements and our internal controls over financial reporting.

Our Board of Directors has affirmatively determined that the following nine individuals who currently serve as Directors are independent: Robert G. Bohn, Linda A. Harty, Kevin A. Lobo, Candy M. Obourn, Joseph Scaminace, Ake Svensson, Laura K. Thompson, James R. Verrier and James L. Wainscott.

Among other things, our Board of Directors does not consider a Director to be independent unless it affirmatively determines that the Director has no material relationship with us either directly or as a partner, shareholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with us. Our Board of Directors annually reviews and determines which of its members are independent based on the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors. During such review, our Board of Directors broadly considers all facts and circumstances which it deems relevant, including any commercial, industrial, banking, consulting, legal, accounting, charitable and familial relationships between us and any of our Directors.

 

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

 

In fiscal year 2020, after considering the facts and circumstances applicable to each Director, our Board of Directors determined that Mr. Lobo served as an executive officer of a company that has an existing customer relationship with us, and that such relationship required further analysis to confirm his independence. Our Board of Directors further analyzed this relationship and found that Mr. Lobo does not receive any direct or indirect personal benefits as a result of this relationship, and that the amount paid to or by us under such relationship fell significantly below the threshold for independence provided in the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors. Based on such further analysis, our Board of Directors affirmatively concluded that Mr. Lobo is independent.

CURRENT LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE

Our Board of Directors currently employs a “dual leadership” structure. We have a Lead Director who is also the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and a Chairman of the Board, who is our Chief Executive Officer. Our Lead Director is elected solely by the independent members of our Board of Directors and holds a position separate and independent from our Chairman of the Board. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide that the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will serve as our Lead Director and that the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is elected every five years.

The specific authorities, duties and responsibilities of our Lead Director are described in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Among other things, our Lead Director presides over and supervises the conduct of all meetings of our independent Directors, calls meetings of our independent Directors, and prepares and approves all agendas and schedules for meetings of our Board.

Our Board believes that having a Lead Director who is elected by our independent Directors ensures that our Board will at all times have an independent Director in a leadership position. At the same time, our Board of Directors believes that it is important to maintain flexibility in its leadership structure to allow for a member of management to serve in a leadership position alongside the Lead Director if our Board of Directors determines that such a leadership structure best meets the needs of our Board, our business, our team members and our shareholders.

Our Board has determined that this leadership structure is currently more efficient and effective than a structure which employs a single, independent Chairman of the Board. Our Board of Directors views this structure as one that ensures both independence in leadership and a balance of knowledge, power and authority. For example, our leadership structure employs both a Chairman of the Board who is also our Chief Executive Officer and who possesses an intimate, working knowledge of our day-to-day business, plans, strategies and initiatives, and a Lead Director who has a strong working relationship with our non-management, independent Directors. These two individuals combine their unique knowledge and perspectives to ensure that management and our independent Directors work together as effectively as possible. Among other things, our Chairman of the Board ensures that our Board addresses strategic issues that management considers critical, while our Lead Director ensures that our Board addresses strategic issues that our independent Directors consider critical.

Our Board recognizes, however, that no single leadership model may always be appropriate. Accordingly, our Board of Directors regularly reviews its leadership structure to ensure that it continues to represent the most efficient and effective structure for our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders.

DIRECTOR SELECTION AND NOMINATION, QUALIFICATIONS AND DIVERSITY

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee of our Board is responsible for identifying, evaluating and recommending potential Director candidates. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee ensures that Director recruiting, succession and refreshment are persistent areas of focus and regularly reviews the size, composition and independence of our Board, and any expected vacancies, in determining whether and to what extent to actively recruit new Directors or to replace departing Directors.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee utilizes a variety of methods and processes to identify potential Director candidates, including through reputable third-party search firms, unsolicited recommendations from other third-party search firms, and referrals from current or past members of our Board. In addition, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will give appropriate consideration to qualified persons recommended by shareholders for nomination as Directors (provided that such recommendations comply with the procedures set forth under the caption “Shareholder Recommendations for Director Nominees”) and will consider

 

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

 

such candidates on the same basis as candidates recommended by other sources. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee generally will not, however, consider recommendations for Director nominees submitted by individuals who are not affiliated with us.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee has developed and implemented a robust process to ensure that its formal Director searches are appropriately scoped and designed to produce a slate of potential candidates representing a broad range of backgrounds, educations, experiences, skills and viewpoints that will enable them, individually and collectively, to address the issues affecting our Board, our business, our team members and our shareholders, and optimize the functioning and decision-making and oversight roles of our Board and its Committees. The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee currently focuses on the following key search and evaluation criteria, but considers the entirety of each proposed candidate’s credentials and all available information that may be relevant to each candidate’s nomination.

 

Key Criteria		Overall Philosophy and Approach
Culture and Values		The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee places high value on cultural fit. Our Directors must be able to work together to oversee efficiently and effectively the issues and risks facing our business, and have the commitment, integrity, honesty, judgment and professionalism required under our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Global Code of Business Conduct, and to otherwise serve the long-term interests of our Board of Directors, our business, our team members and our shareholders.
Diversity		The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee firmly believes diversity is critical to a well-functioning Board of Directors, and is committed to enhancing diversity on our Board. As a result, our Corporate Governance Guidelines require each search for qualified director candidates to include individuals with diverse backgrounds, including gender, ethnicity and race. In our most recently completed Director search, for example, a majority of the candidates presented for consideration were diverse candidates and the search ultimately resulted in the election of a female Director.
Skills and Qualifications		The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee also believes it is essential to have a Board with the range of skills and experience needed to effectively evaluate, monitor and oversee the wide range of considerations presented by the size and scope of our Company, operations, products and markets. As a result, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee seeks to identify nominees who are well equipped with a broad set of key skills, including the following:    •    current or recent service as a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Chief Financial Officer, or other senior leadership positions at publicly-traded companies;    •    significant experience in corporate strategy, manufacturing, sales and marketing, industrial business, aerospace business, international business, finance and accounting, technology and digital applications, and other key areas;    •    ability to effectively evaluate, monitor and oversee the most critical risks facing our business; and    •    independence under the applicable independence standards of the New York Stock Exchange and our Independence Standards for Directors.

Following its initial screening and evaluations, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee may seek additional information regarding, and may request interviews with any candidate it wishes to further pursue.

Based on all information reviewed and interviews conducted, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee collectively determines whether to recommend the candidate to our entire Board of Directors.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, utilizing its robust and thoughtful approach to Director recruiting, succession and refreshment, has built an experienced, diverse and independent Board that provides significant oversight over our plans and strategies for growth, financial performance and shareholder value creation.

 

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

 

RISK MANAGEMENT

Management and our Board of Directors and its Committees are collectively engaged in identifying, overseeing, evaluating and managing the material risks facing our business to ensure that our strategies and objectives work to minimize such risks. Our Board of Directors has the ultimate responsibility to monitor the risks facing our business. Among other things, our Board of Directors reviews and discusses in detail, at least annually, our corporate strategy and annual operating plan, which covers significant strategic topics such as our key markets, operational priorities under The Win Strategy^™, strategic positioning, financial and operational outlooks, capital allocation, balance sheet strength, debt portfolio and positions, share repurchase activity, and dividend history and strategies. Our Board also maintains regular oversight of other key risk areas such as management succession planning, cyber security, enterprise risk management, and environmental, social and governance matters.

Various members of our management are responsible for our day-to-day risk management activities, including members of our Human Resources, Internal Audit and Compliance, Legal, Tax, Risk Management, Treasury, Finance, and Information Technology departments, and our internal Cyber Security Committee. Those individuals are charged with identifying, overseeing, evaluating and managing risks in their areas of responsibility and for ensuring that any significant risks are addressed with our Board or the appropriate Board Committees. The Committees of our Board of Directors are each responsible for the various areas of risk oversight as described in the “Committees of our Board of Directors” section of this Proxy Statement. Management and the Chair of the applicable Committee ensure that any significant risks are reported to and addressed with the entire Board of Directors. Our Lead Director and the other Committee Chairs ensure that risk management is a recurring agenda item for meetings of our Board and its Committees.

Management and our Board of Directors and its Committees also engage outside advisors where appropriate to assist in the identification, oversight, evaluation and management of the risks facing our business. These outside advisors include our independent registered public accounting firm, external legal counsel and insurance providers, and the independent executive and non-employee Director compensation consultant retained by the Human Resources and Compensation Committee.

Our Board believes that its current level of independence, leadership structure and qualifications and diversity of its members facilitate the effective identification, oversight, evaluation and management of risk. Our Lead Director meets regularly with our other independent Directors without management to discuss current and potential risks and the means of mitigating those risks, and has the authority to direct and evaluate our risk management efforts.

Management and our Board of Directors and its Committees view the risk management role of our Board of Directors and its Committees, and their relationship with management in the identification, oversight, evaluation and management of risk, as paramount to the short-term viability and long-term sustainability of our business.

 

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COMMITTEES OF OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

BOARD COMMITTEES; COMMITTEE CHARTERS

Our Board has established and delegated certain authorities and responsibilities to three committees: the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, and the Audit Committee. Each Committee of our Board is governed by a written charter which is posted and available on the Corporate Governance page of our investor relations website at www.phstock.com. Shareholders may request copies of these charters, free of charge, by writing to Parker-Hannifin Corporation, 6035 Parkland Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44124-4141, Attention: Secretary, or by calling (216) 896-3000.

All members of each Committee are independent under the listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange as well as our Independence Standards for Directors. Each Committee regularly reports its activities to the full Board of Directors.

Information about the respective Committee memberships and number of meetings is reflected in the following table:

 

Directors		Human Resources     and Compensation		Corporate       Governance and       Nominating		Audit
Robert G. Bohn (ACFE)		◆				◆
Linda A. Harty (ACFE)				◆		CHAIR
Kevin A. Lobo (ACFE)		◆				◆
Candy M. Obourn		◆		◆
Joseph Scaminace		CHAIR		◆
Ake Svensson				◆		◆
Laura K. Thompson (ACFE)				◆		◆
James R. Verrier		◆				◆
James L. Wainscott		◆		CHAIR
Fiscal Year 2020 Meetings		6		2		6

Our Board of Directors has determined that each of Linda A. Harty, the Chair of the Audit Committee, and Robert G. Bohn, Kevin A. Lobo and Laura K. Thompson are audit committee financial experts (designated in the above table as (ACFE)) as defined in the federal securities laws.

Each of our Committees works with the applicable members of our Human Resources, Internal Audit and Compliance, Legal, Tax, Risk Management, Treasury, Finance, and Information Technology departments and other management personnel to oversee and evaluate risks relevant to each Committee.

THE HUMAN RESOURCES AND COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

The Human Resources and Compensation Committee oversees the administration, structure and determination of our executive compensation program. In addition, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee works with its independent executive compensation consultant and our human resources, legal and other management personnel to oversee and evaluate risks arising from and relating to our compensation policies and practices for all team members, our succession planning and talent development strategies and initiatives, and other human resources issues facing our business.

In particular, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee monitors any significant existing or potential risks arising from our compensation policies and practices for all team members through its oversight of an annual compensation risk review conducted by management and the Human Resources and Compensation Committee’s independent executive compensation consultant. The results of this review are evaluated and discussed among management, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee and its independent executive compensation consultant and, if any significant risks are identified, the full Board of Directors. Based on the review conducted during fiscal year 2020, we believe that our current compensation policies and practices are designed to mitigate risks

 

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COMMITTEES OF OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

 

related to compensation, and such policies and practices are not reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our business.

The annual compensation risk review begins with a global assessment of any plans or programs that could potentially encourage excessive risk-taking or otherwise present significant risks to our business. The review also takes into account our individual business units to determine whether any of them carries a significant portion of our risk profile, structures compensation significantly different than others or is significantly more profitable than others.

The review then evaluates whether the applicable plans and programs are likely to encourage excessive risk-taking or detrimental behavior, vary significantly from our risk-reward structure, or otherwise present significant risks to our business.

During our fiscal year 2020 compensation risk review, we also identified and evaluated various mechanisms that we currently have in place that may serve to mitigate any existing or potential risks arising from our compensation policies and practices, including the following:

 

•

our executive officers and other management-level team members are compensated with a mix of annual and long-term incentives, fixed and at-risk compensation, cash and multiple forms of equity compensation;

 

•

compensation packages gradually become more focused on long-term, at-risk and equity compensation as our team members ascend to and through management-level positions;

 

•

our global compensation plans and programs generally utilize the same or substantially similar performance measures;

 

•

we use multiple performance measures to determine payout levels under certain elements of incentive compensation and different performance measures for our annual incentives as compared to our long-term incentives;

 

•

the performance of our team members is not evaluated or measured based solely on changes in our stock price;

 

•

our incentive compensation programs generally limit payouts to a specified maximum, while those that do not are mitigated by other factors (e.g., stock appreciation rights are mitigated by long-term vesting periods and stock ownership guidelines);

 

•

we do not offer “guaranteed” bonuses and all of our incentive compensation elements carry downside risk for participants;

 

•

our executive officers are subject to specific stock ownership guidelines, a “claw back” policy and provisions requiring forfeiture of certain elements of incentive compensation under certain circumstances;

 

•

our compensation packages, including severance packages and supplemental pensions, are within market ranges;

 

•

the Human Resources and Compensation Committee has the discretion to assess the quality of our results in relation to our various performance measures and the risks taken to attain those results in approving final incentive payouts;

 

•

our decentralized organizational structure lessens the impact of any excessive risks taken by individual business units or operating groups; and

 

•

our team members are evaluated, measured and assessed based on their compliance with our Global Code of Business Conduct and other internal policies and controls, and the extent to which they act in the best interests of our business and our shareholders.

 

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COMMITTEES OF OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

 

During the annual compensation risk review, we also consider whether any changes to our compensation plans and programs may be necessary to further mitigate risk. The Human Resources and Compensation Committee did not make any changes to our compensation plans and programs based on the results of our fiscal year 2020 review.

THE CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Among other things, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is responsible for evaluating and recommending to our Board of Directors qualified nominees for election as Directors and qualified Directors for Committee membership, establishing evaluation procedures for the performance of our Board of Directors and its Committees, developing corporate governance guidelines and independence standards, and considering other matters regarding our corporate governance structure. In addition, the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee works with our legal and other management personnel to oversee and evaluate:

 

•

Director independence, qualifications and diversity issues;

•

Board of Directors and Committee leadership, composition, function and effectiveness;

•

alignment of the interests of our shareholders with the performance of our Board of Directors;

•

compliance with applicable corporate governance rules and standards; and

•

other corporate governance issues and trends.

THE AUDIT COMMITTEE

The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors is our standing audit committee established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Each member of our Audit Committee is independent, as defined in our Independence Standards for Directors and in compliance with the independence standards applicable to audit committee members under the New York Stock Exchange listing standards and under the federal securities laws.

Among other things, the Audit Committee is responsible for appointing, compensating, retaining, and overseeing our independent registered public accounting firm and evaluating its independence, approving all audit and non-audit engagements with our independent registered public accounting firm, and reviewing our annual and quarterly financial statements, internal and independent audit plans, the results of such audits and the adequacy of our internal control structure.

In addition, the Audit Committee works with our internal audit and compliance, legal, tax, treasury and finance departments and other management personnel to oversee and evaluate risks, including major financial, tax, strategic, and operational risk exposures and risks related to compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, and significant litigation and claims.

The Audit Committee also meets privately at each of its meetings with representatives from our independent registered public accounting firm and our Vice President—Audit, Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management.

 

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OTHER GOVERNANCE MATTERS

REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF TRANSACTIONS WITH RELATED PERSONS

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee is responsible for considering questions of possible conflicts of interest of Directors and executive officers and for making recommendations to prevent, minimize or eliminate such conflicts of interest. Our Global Code of Business Conduct provides that our Directors, officers, and other team members and their spouses and other close family members must avoid interests or activities that create any actual or potential conflict of interest. These restrictions cover, among other things, interests or activities that result in receipt of improper personal benefits by any person as a result of his or her position as our Director, officer, or other team member or as a spouse or other close family member of any of our Directors, officers or other team members. Our Global Code of Business Conduct also requires our Directors, officers and other team members to promptly disclose any potential conflicts of interest to our Corporate Compliance Office. We also require that each of our executive officers and Directors complete a detailed annual questionnaire that requires, among other things, disclosure of any transactions with a related person meeting the minimum threshold for disclosure under the relevant U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, rules. All responses to the annual questionnaires are reviewed and analyzed by our legal counsel and, as necessary or appropriate, presented to the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee for analysis, consideration and, if appropriate, approval.

The Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee will consider the following in determining if any transaction with a related person or party should be approved, ratified or rejected:

 

•

the nature of the related person’s interest in the transaction;

•

the material terms of the transaction;

•

the importance of the transaction to the related person and to us;

•

whether the transaction would impair the judgment or the exercise of the fiduciary obligations of any Director or executive officer;

•

the possible alternatives to entering into the transaction;

•

whether the transaction is on terms comparable to those available to third parties; and

•

the potential for an actual or apparent conflict of interest.

During fiscal year 2020, we reviewed the annual questionnaires and determined that no related-party transactions exist. This review included a detailed evaluation of the transactions reviewed and analyzed by our Board of Directors in determining Director independence as described in the “Director Independence” section of this Proxy Statement. Based on management’s review and analysis, no actual or potential related-party transactions were presented to the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee for analysis, consideration or approval.

DELINQUENT SECTION 16(a) REPORTS

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our executive officers, Directors and beneficial owners of more than 10% of our Common Shares to file initial stock ownership reports and reports of changes in ownership with the SEC. Based solely on a review of these reports, as filed electronically with the SEC during fiscal year 2020, and upon written representations from our executive officers and Directors, we believe that all Directors, Officers and 10% or greater beneficial owners complied with all such filing requirements for fiscal year 2020, except that due to administrative error (i) a late Form 4 was filed for Ms. Suever with respect to an acquisition and sale of shares upon the exercise of stock appreciation rights, (ii) two late Forms 4 were filed for Ms. Suever with respect to the withholding of shares for payment of taxes in connection with two separate restricted stock unit vestings in 2020, and (iii) a late Form 4 was filed for Mr. Svensson with respect to the withholding of shares for payment of taxes in connection with restricted stock units vesting in fiscal year 2020.

PROXY ACCESS

In 2018, our Shareholders approved an amendment to our Code of Regulations (subsequently restated and named Amended and Restated Regulations) to permit a shareholder, or a group of up to twenty shareholders, owning three percent or more of the Company’s outstanding shares of Common Stock continuously for at least three years to nominate and include the Company’s annual meeting proxy materials a number of director nominees up to a greater of (x) two, or (y) twenty percent of the Board, provided that the shareholder(s) and nominee(s) satisfy the requirements specified in the Amended and Restated Regulations.

 

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OTHER GOVERNANCE MATTERS

 

 

“CLAW BACK” POLICY

Our Board of Directors maintains a “claw back” policy which allows us to recover or withhold any Target Incentive Bonuses, General RONA Bonuses, Converted RONA Bonuses or LTIP Awards which are paid or payable to an executive officer if:

 

•

payment, grant or vesting was based on the achievement of financial results that were subsequently the subject of a restatement of any of our financial statements filed with the SEC;

•

our Board of Directors determines in its sole discretion that the fraud or misconduct of the executive officer caused or contributed to the need for the restatement;

•

the amount that would have been paid or payable to the executive officer would have been less if the financial results had been properly reported; and

•

our Board of Directors determines in its sole discretion that it is in our best interests and in the best interests of our shareholders to require the executive officer to repay or forfeit all or any portion of the amount paid or payable.

STOCK OWNERSHIP GUIDELINES

In 2019, our Board of Directors approved amended stock ownership guidelines to further align the financial interests of our executive officers and Directors with those of our shareholders by encouraging the accumulation and retention of our common stock by our Directors and executive officers. The current guidelines for our Directors and executive officers are as follows:

 

Participants				Guidelines
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer President and Chief Operating Officer Executive or Senior Vice Presidents Other executive officers Non-Management Directors				Six times annual base salary Four times annual base salary Three times annual base salary Two times annual base salary Five times annual retainer

The recommended time period for achieving compliance with the guidelines is five years from election or appointment to the position that is subject to the guidelines. The Human Resources and Compensation Committee reviews share ownership information with the Chief Executive Officer in August of each year to ensure compliance with the guidelines. As of June 30, 2020, all executive officers and Directors in their positions for at least five years were in compliance with the guidelines.

STOCK OWNERSHIP RESTRICTIONS - SPECULATIVE TRANSACTIONS / HEDGING

We maintain an insider trading policy that applies to all of our Directors, officers, other team members and consultants. The insider trading policy prohibits those covered by the policy from engaging in speculative transactions with respect to Company securities that could lead to inadvertent violations of securities laws, such as short sales and acquiring exchange-traded options (including puts, calls and other derivatives). Furthermore, the insider trading policy prohibits certain arrangements that could result in sales or transfers of Company securities without the covered person’s consent at times at which he or she is not permitted to trade in Company securities, including holding Company securities in margin accounts or pledging them as collateral.

The insider trading policy also prohibits those covered by the policy from entering into hedging or monetization transactions (such as zero-cost collars and forward sale contracts) with respect to Company securities, because such transactions may provide ownership of Company securities without the full risks and rewards of such ownership.

 

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY—FISCAL YEAR 2020

Objectives and Philosophies of the Executive Compensation Program

The Win Strategy^™ has been the foundation of our business and has represented the unified strategic vision of our team members worldwide since it was first introduced in 2001. The Win Strategy defines the key goals, operational priorities and metrics used to profitably grow our business. We are confident that our continuing focus on The Win Strategy maximizes long-term shareholder value by helping us realize our goal of top-quartile performance among our competitors and peers and steady appreciation of our stock price.

The Win Strategy also provides the means by which we measure and reward success. In fact, the objective of our executive compensation program is to encourage and reward performance that implements the strategies and advances the goals of The Win Strategy. The program is designed to:

 

•

align the financial interests of our executive officers and our shareholders by encouraging and rewarding our executive officers for performance that achieves or exceeds significant financial and operational performance goals and by holding them accountable for results;

 

•

encourage and reward our executive officers for experience, expertise, level of responsibility, continuity of leadership, leadership qualities, advancement, individual accomplishment and other significant contributions to the enhancement of shareholder value and to the success of our business;

 

•

provide market competitive compensation to attract, retain and motivate highly-talented and ethical individuals at all levels who are focused on the long-term success of our business and who are equipped, motivated and poised to lead and manage our business presently and in the future;

 

•

promote accountability by providing executive officers a mix of cash and equity compensation, allocating a greater proportion of the compensation for executive officers, as compared to other team members, to elements that are dependent on the performance of our business; and

 

•

maintain a level of flexibility sufficient to adjust for trends and changes in the continuously evolving global business and regulatory environment.

Categories and Elements of Executive Compensation

Our executive compensation program covers all compensation paid to our executive officers. Our executive officers include, among others, our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Financial Officer and our three other most highly compensated executive officers identified in the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020, which we refer to as the Named Executive Officers.

Our executive compensation program offers the categories and elements of compensation identified in the following table. Each element of compensation is more specifically defined and described in the “Elements of Executive Compensation” section beginning on the page indicated in the table.

 

Category of Compensation		Element(s) of Compensation		Defined/Described          Beginning on:
Base Salaries		Base Salaries		Page 32
Annual Cash Incentive Compensation		Target Incentive Bonuses General RONA Bonuses Converted RONA Bonuses PGI Plan		Page 33 Page 35 Page 35 Page 37
Long-Term Incentive Compensation		LTIP Awards Stock Incentives		Page 38 Page 40
Employee Benefits		Various		Page 41
Executive Perquisites		Various		Page 46

 

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

 

 

“Pay-for-Performance” —Structure, Key Financial Metrics and Impact on Compensation

Our executive compensation program is structured to ensure that a significant portion of the compensation for executive officers is dependent upon the performance of our business. This “pay-for-performance” structure drives the program to achieve its objective to encourage and reward performance that implements the strategies and advances the goals of The Win Strategy. Our program is also structured to ensure that the compensation for our executive officers is not overly weighted toward annual cash incentive compensation and does not otherwise have the potential to threaten long-term shareholder value by promoting unnecessary or excessive risk-taking by our executive officers. The “Allocation of Executive Compensation” section describes our policies and practices for allocating executive compensation among the various categories and elements.

To illustrate, the following chart shows the mix of fixed and at-risk annual and long-term cash and equity compensation represented by base salaries and the elements of annual cash incentive compensation and long-term incentive compensation for the Named Executive Officers for fiscal year 2020. The percentages of total target compensation reflected in this chart were calculated using each Named Executive Officer’s fiscal year 2020 base salary (as set in August 2019 without accounting for base salary reductions that were applicable in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 in response to the economic downturn and COVID-19), target annual cash incentive compensation and target long-term incentive compensation.

 

 

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The “Elements of Executive Compensation” section provides detailed discussion and analysis regarding how each element of compensation encourages and rewards performance that implements the strategies and advances the goals of The Win Strategy. Our compensation structure includes both fixed and at-risk compensation comprised of various cash and equity elements, which is structured generally as follows:

 

 

    

* General RONA and Converted RONA, which are based on our return on net assets.

We provide base salaries, employee benefits and executive perquisites primarily to ensure that our executive compensation program remains competitive to attract, retain and motivate the individuals needed to implement and advance our strategies and goals. In addition, as illustrated in the following table, we provide each element of annual cash incentive compensation and each element of long-term incentive compensation primarily to encourage and reward performance that implements and advances The Win Strategy, in particular, our strategies and goals relating to financial performance and profitable growth, aligning such elements with our performance in certain key financial metrics that we use to measure the overall performance of our business.

 

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The following table shows the behaviors, key financial metrics and fiscal year 2020 results driven by each element of at-risk compensation provided to the Named Executive Officers.

 

    

* Free cash flow margin is calculated as disclosed on page 33.

** Officer participation on our Profitable Growth Incentive Plan is limited to our operating group presidents; as such, Mr. Weeks (Vice President and President—Engineered Materials Group) is the only Named Executive Officer who was eligible for the Profitable Growth Incentive Plan in fiscal year 2020.

 

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

 

 

ADMINISTRATION, OVERSIGHT AND DETERMINATION OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The Human Resources and Compensation Committee

The Human Resources and Compensation Committee, which we refer to in this Compensation Discussion and Analysis as the Committee, consists solely of independent Directors and has various duties and responsibilities with respect to the administration, oversight and determination of executive compensation. As described in the Committee’s Charter, which is posted and available on the Corporate Governance page of our investor relations website at www.phstock.com, these duties and responsibilities include:

 

•

establishing our executive compensation program and philosophies and overseeing their development and implementation;

•

reviewing and approving the performance and compensation of our Chief Executive Officer and other executive officers; and

•

performing other duties and responsibilities assigned by our Board of Directors.

The Committee also retains the discretion to authorize periodic compensation adjustments due to promotions or increases in the responsibilities of our executive officers.

In fulfilling its duties and responsibilities, the Committee seeks periodic input, advice and recommendations from various sources, including our Board of Directors, our executive officers and the Committee’s independent executive compensation consultant. The Committee is not bound by that input or advice or those recommendations. The Committee at all times exercises independent discretion in its executive compensation decisions.

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors approves all incentive compensation plans and equity-based plans reviewed and recommended by the Committee and all other plans and programs which, by their terms, require approval of our Board. Our Board does not authorize or approve any other specific executive compensation matters. Our Board of Directors oversees the Committee’s activities and performance, including the identification, evaluation and monitoring of risks arising from our compensation policies and practices, and reviews all material information relating to executive compensation matters approved by the Committee. This oversight ensures that the Committee fulfills its duties and responsibilities and that the executive compensation program is reasonable and appropriate, meets its objectives and effectively serves the interests of our business and our shareholders.

Executive Officers

Our executive officers also play a role in the administration, oversight and determination of executive compensation. At the beginning of each fiscal year, each executive officer sets annual performance goals for his or her direct reports, which may include other executive officers. The performance goals are designed to promote individual performance consistent with the strategies and goals of The Win Strategy. Throughout the fiscal year, each executive officer’s performance is reviewed and evaluated against his or her performance goals. At the end of the fiscal year, each executive officer conducts a final performance review for each of his or her direct reports. Based on those reviews, our executive officers, other than our Chief Executive Officer, recommend any annual compensation adjustments and awards for their executive officer direct reports to our Chief Executive Officer.

Our Chief Executive Officer similarly reviews and evaluates his direct reports, which include each of the other Named Executive Officers except for Mr. Weeks who is reviewed and evaluated by Mr. Banks. Our Chief Executive Officer also reviews and evaluates the recommendations made with respect to all of our other executive officers and makes any modifications that he deems appropriate. Our Chief Executive Officer then recommends to the Committee annual compensation adjustments and awards for all of our executive officers other than himself.

Our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Operating Officer, our Executive Vice President—Human Resources & External Affairs and our Secretary attend all meetings of the Committee other than executive sessions, and neither our Chief Executive Officer nor our Chief Operating Officer attends any meetings relating to his performance or compensation. Our executive officers prepare and provide to the Committee performance summaries for certain executive officers, which are used by the Committee to understand and measure the performance and effectiveness of our annual cash incentive compensation and long-term incentive compensation. Our executive

 

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officers also periodically consult with and assist the Committee in calculating incentive compensation payouts, establishing and monitoring performance goals and addressing other appropriate executive compensation matters.

COMPENSATION CONSULTANTS AND BENCHMARKING

The Committee regularly monitors, reviews and evaluates our executive compensation program to ensure that it provides reasonable compensation ranges at competitive, appropriate and effective levels. The Committee engages Mercer Human Resource Consulting, an independent human resources and compensation consulting firm, which we refer to as Mercer, to assist the Committee in its monitoring, review and evaluation responsibilities, and to otherwise provide assistance and guidance to the Committee on executive officer and Director compensation matters. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. The Committee first engaged Mercer in fiscal year 2009 following a robust procurement process involving multiple consulting firms. The Committee selected Mercer based on its level of expertise and financial and strategic fit. Mercer reports directly to the Committee and attends all meetings of the Committee. The Committee has sole authority for the appointment, removal, replacement, compensation and oversight of Mercer and its affiliates for executive officer and Director compensation matters.

Mercer provides a wide range of executive officer and Director compensation consulting services for the Committee. Mercer prepares and provides to the Committee a comprehensive annual review of base salaries, target annual cash incentive compensation, target long-term incentive compensation and target total cash and direct compensation for all of our executive officers. Mercer uses this annual review to advise the Committee with respect to the effectiveness and competitiveness of our executive compensation program. The Committee considers this annual review when establishing compensation levels and otherwise to ensure that our executive compensation program remains competitive and effective.

Mercer uses proxy statement data and surveys published by leading human resources and compensation consultants to conduct market analyses of base salaries, target annual bonuses, target long-term incentive compensation and target total cash and direct compensation offered to executives of other diversified industrial companies with revenues and market values comparable to ours, which we refer to as the Peer Group or Peer Group companies. Mercer also uses broader market data on companies outside of the Peer Group to the extent that it is available and appropriate.

The Committee regularly reviews and, when necessary or advisable, updates the Peer Group to make sure it consists of companies that directly compete with us for talented team members and shareholder investment, and it otherwise represents a meaningful group of peers. In evaluating the Peer Group companies, the Committee looks for companies in the Diversified Industrials sector with characteristics and business strategies similar to ours. Except for Ingersoll Rand plc, which is now Trane Technologies plc after completing its Reverse Morris Trust transaction in March 2020, the Peer Group companies for fiscal year 2020 remained the same as fiscal year 2019 and consisted of the following companies:

 

Peer Group Companies
• Caterpillar Inc.		• Eaton Corporation plc		• ITT Inc.
• Colfax Corporation		• Emerson Electric Co.		• Johnson Controls International plc
• Cummins Inc.		• Flowserve Corporation		• Rockwell Automation, Inc.
• Danaher Corporation		• Fortive Corporation		• SPX FLOW, Inc.
• Deere & Company		• Honeywell International Inc.		• Textron Inc.
• Dover Corporation		• Illinois Tool Works Inc.		• Trane Technologies plc

Mercer also provided other compensation consulting services to the Committee during fiscal year 2020, including:

 

•

preparing for and participating in the Committee’s meetings and conference calls, including advance and subsequent meetings with the chair of the Committee and senior management;

 

•

conducting a pay-for-performance review to evaluate the level of alignment between our executive compensation program and performance levels relative to our Peer Group companies;

 

•

preparing and providing to the Committee a comprehensive review of compensation provided to our non-management Directors;

 

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•

assessing our free-cash flow performance versus peers over a one, three and five-year period;

 

•

working with management to conduct the annual compensation risk review; and

 

•

periodically assisting management on other select executive compensation topics.

In fiscal year 2020, we paid $189,459 in fees, administrative charges, out-of-pocket expenses and other costs to Mercer for executive officer and Director compensation consulting services provided to the Committee.

We also directly engage Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. and its affiliates (including Mercer) in the ordinary course of business, without the approval of our Board of Directors or the Committee, to provide services in areas other than executive officer and Director compensation. These additional services included:

 

•

consulting services regarding life insurance, prescription drug and other benefits programs for our team members generally;

 

•

consulting services regarding investment options available under our benefit plans for our team members generally;

 

•

providing benchmarking surveys for information on compensation and benefits for our team members generally; and

 

•

providing services as an insurance broker.

In fiscal year 2020, we paid $874,776 in fees, administrative charges, commissions, out-of-pocket expenses and other costs to Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. and its affiliates (including Mercer) for these additional services. The majority of these fees were not paid pursuant to engagements of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. by management, but were rather either paid by our third-party administrators to Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. relating to risk insurance and for insurance and prescription drug services provided under our team member health and welfare plans, or were direct engagements with Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. made by various divisions worldwide for market surveys related to those particular divisions. The consolidated revenues of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. were $16.652 billion as reported in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019.

The Committee has considered and assessed all relevant factors, including but not limited to those set forth in Rule 10C-1 (b)(4)(i) through (vi) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that could give rise to a potential conflict of interest with respect to Mercer. Based on this review, we are not aware of any conflict of interest that has been raised by the work performed by Mercer. The Committee also periodically reviews the relationship with Mercer to determine whether sufficient internal safeguards are in place to ensure that Mercer provides services to the Committee independent of any influence from management. The Committee identified the following safeguards:

 

•

Mercer reports directly to the Committee and not to management on executive officer and Director compensation matters;

 

•

at each Committee meeting, Mercer and the Committee meet in executive session without members of management present;

 

•

all non-executive compensation services are provided by Mercer consultants who are not involved in providing executive officer and Director compensation consulting services to the Committee;

 

•

the Committee has exclusive authority to retain and set the compensation for Mercer’s executive officer and Director compensation consulting services;

 

•

the individual Mercer consultants to the Committee do not provide any services to us other than those provided for the Committee;

 

•

the individual Mercer consultants to the Committee do not participate in any client development activities that are not directly related to executive officer or Director compensation services for the Committee; and

 

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•

the amounts paid to Mercer by the Committee are not directly impacted by any growth in the fees we pay to Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. and its affiliates (including Mercer).

GENERAL POLICIES AND PRACTICES RELATING TO EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Allocation of Executive Compensation

The Committee seeks to provide compensation, employee benefits and executive perquisites which are competitive with the market and help us attract, retain and motivate present and future executive officers. Annually, base salaries, target annual cash incentive compensation and long-term incentive compensation for each executive officer is compared to the median of companies included in Mercer’s annual review with the objective that, in the aggregate, our target compensation generally remains at the median of the Peer Group companies.

When deciding whether to increase or decrease the amount of any element of compensation, the Committee considers Mercer’s annual review, the annual performance reviews of the executive officers and the performance of our business as a whole. The Committee does not consider amounts realized from prior compensation in determining the levels of compensation paid to executive officers.

To ensure that our executive compensation program meets its objectives to drive and support The Win Strategy, the Committee allocates the majority of compensation for executive officers to annual cash incentive compensation and long-term incentive compensation. Each of the at-risk elements of compensation within those categories is directly tied to appreciation of our stock price and/or to significant financial and operational performance goals. More than one-half of the targeted total compensation for the executive officers is, therefore, “at-risk” and may significantly fluctuate from year to year based on our financial, operational and stock performance. In addition, the Committee makes sure that executive officers have a greater proportion of their total compensation allocated to these at-risk elements than other team members. The Committee structures the program in this manner to better align the financial interests of our executive officers with the financial interests of our shareholders, to better ensure a “pay-for-performance” result and to promote internal equity by recognizing that our executive officers, as compared to other team members, have greater responsibility and influence over the performance of our business.

Our executive compensation program is also structured to offer a reasonable balance of annual and long-term, as well as cash and equity, elements of compensation. The program provides a mix of those elements specifically designed to encourage and reward performance that contributes to the advancement of The Win Strategy. The Committee does not have any formal policies or guidelines with respect to the allocation of executive compensation between annual and long-term elements, cash and equity elements or different forms of equity elements. In practice, however, the Committee has taken the following approaches.

 

•

Allocation between annual and long-term elements. The Committee considers Mercer’s annual review as it sets each executive officer’s base salary and annual cash incentive compensation to ensure that it is reasonable in the context of the midpoint value of his or her comparable position within the Peer Group. The Committee also considers Mercer’s annual review as it sets the total target value of each executive officer’s long-term incentive compensation as a multiple of the midpoint of the base salary range of his or her comparable position within the Peer Group companies.

 

•

Allocation between cash and equity elements. Base salaries and annual cash incentive compensation are paid in cash. Long-term incentive compensation is generally paid in equity because of the long-term nature of equity awards and our desire to encourage performance that drives long-term shareholder value.

 

•

Allocation between different forms of equity elements. The Committee generally allocates 50% of the total target value of each executive officer’s long-term incentive compensation to LTIP Awards and 50% to Stock Incentives. The Committee takes this approach to balance the allocation between elements based on long-term financial, operational and strategic metrics and those based on long-term performance of our common stock.

The Committee generally makes all elements of executive compensation available to all executive officers and makes executive compensation decisions on a consistent and equitable basis. The Committee generally does not offer any element to an executive officer that is not available to other executive officers. As described beginning on page 37, however, the PG RONA Multiplier is applied only to our operating group presidents, and, therefore,

 

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

 

 

Mr. Weeks is our only Named Executive Officer to whom the PG RONA Multiplier was applied in fiscal year 2020. The Committee also occasionally grants retention and/or recognition awards to executive officers who make extraordinary contributions to the Company’s success, or for whom a retention incentive is appropriate, but made no such grants in fiscal year 2020.

Accounting and Tax Considerations

Our executive compensation program is structured to achieve flexibility, maximize benefits and minimize detriments to our business and our executive officers from a tax and accounting perspective. As a result, we continuously review and evaluate the impact of changes in tax laws and accounting practices and interpretations and similar factors affecting our executive compensation program.

In addition, our executive compensation program has historically been designed to allow us to deduct compensation payments for tax purposes. With the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017, the “performance-based” compensation exemption to the one million dollar annual cap on the deductibility of compensation paid to “covered employees” was repealed and the definition of “covered employees” was expanded (for example, by including the chief financial officer as a covered employee). As a result of these changes, compensation to each Named Executive Officer in excess of $1,000,000 generally will no longer be tax deductible. In addition, each Named Executive Officer will be subject to the limit under Section 162(m) for all future tax years. The Committee may determine that certain good governance practices historically associated with compliance with Section 162(m) should remain in place, such as establishing performance goals within the first ninety days of a performance period, selecting performance goals that are set forth in our incentive compensation plans and requiring the Committee to certify results prior to the payout of any award. The Committee, however, reserves the right to modify any compensation program if it determines that such modification is consistent with our business needs.

Committee Discretion

The Committee does not change the pre-determined performance goals or increase the amount of any at-risk compensation following the grant date except as permitted by applicable laws and regulations. The Committee may increase the amount of any award of annual cash incentive compensation made outside of the Performance Bonus Plan if appropriate to account for corporate policy changes, executive compensation program changes and major corporate programs, and to account for the negative impact of acquisitions on goodwill and amortization expense, losses on dispositions of real property during plant moves or shutdowns and other unexpected occurrences that negatively impact awards.

The Committee may reduce the amount of any award of annual cash incentive compensation or long-term incentive compensation made outside of the Performance Bonus Plan other than Stock Incentives. The Committee also has the discretion to reduce the amount of any award made under the Performance Bonus Plan as long as the award, if eligible for such treatment, continues to qualify as “performance-based” compensation under Section 162 (m). The Committee retains this downward discretion for the following purposes:

 

•

to ensure greater control over final performance-based compensation amounts based on its assessment of the quality of our results relative to our various performance measures, the risks taken to attain those results and our overall financial performance;

 

•

to ensure that performance-based compensation continues to effectively serve the interests of our business and our shareholders; and

 

•

to avoid inappropriately rewarding executive officers based on events or circumstances that were not expected at the beginning of the performance period.

The Committee has historically exercised this downward discretion with respect to General RONA Bonuses awarded under the Performance Bonus Plan to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer and certain other executive officers. At the beginning of the year, the Committee determines for each of these executive officers a General RONA Bonus award opportunity that is large enough to ensure that we meet our objectives for annual cash incentive compensation and, at the same time, preserve the ability of the Committee to exercise its discretion to reduce the amount of the award payout to an appropriate level as compared to the final payouts made to executive officers who receive annual cash incentive compensation outside the Performance Bonus Plan and

 

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after taking into account individual performance and contributions to the success of our business. In addition, our calculation methodology for LTIP Award payouts also allows the Committee to exercise this discretion with respect to LTIP Award payouts.

ELEMENTS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Our executive compensation program provides the Named Executive Officers with the elements of compensation described below. All of these elements are designed to contribute to our continuing effort to achieve top-quartile performance among our peers and encourage behavior that promotes long-term value creation for our shareholders within the framework of The Win Strategy.

Base Salaries

Each of the Named Executive Officers receives an annual base salary to:

 

•

encourage and reward attainment of individual performance goals established during the annual performance review process;

 

•

recognize experience, expertise, level of responsibility, continuity of leadership, leadership qualities, advancement, individual accomplishment and other significant contributions to the enhancement of shareholder value and the success of our business; and

 

•

attract, retain and motivate the highly-talented and values-driven individuals we need to advance the goals of The Win Strategy.

The Committee establishes a base salary range for each Named Executive Officer by using Mercer’s annual review to analyze base salaries of persons holding comparable positions within the Peer Group companies. The Committee determines the base salary for each Named Executive Officer for the next fiscal year based on the Named Executive Officer’s annual performance review, and compares the amount to the applicable market range to make sure that it is reasonable. The Committee may increase base salaries, where appropriate, periodically throughout the fiscal year based on the results of interim performance reviews. The Committee generally tries to target base salary amounts at approximately the median of the Peer Group companies.

As part of our Company-wide cost control measures related to the economic downturn and COVID-19, the base salaries of our Named Executive Officers were reduced for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 in the following amounts: by 50% for Mr. Williams; by 25% for Ms. Suever; by 30% for Mr. Banks; by 20% for Mr. Leonti; and by 20% for Mr. Weeks. This reduction remained in effect during the first quarter of fiscal year 2021, and is being evaluated on a quarterly basis as conditions warrant. In addition, fiscal year 2021 base salaries were frozen at fiscal year 2020 levels. The table below reflects the base salary as approved by the Committee in August 2019, as well as the total base salary actually paid to each of the Named Executive Officers as of June 30, 2020, which is also included in the “Salary” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020.

 

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ELEMENTS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

 

Base Salaries

Named Executive Officers		FY2020 Base Salary   (As of July 1, 2019)		FY2020 Base Salary   (Actual)
Thomas L. Williams		$1,325,000		$1,159,375
Catherine A. Suever		$800,000		$750,000
Lee C. Banks		$1,050,000		$971,250
Joseph R. Leonti		$647,400		$615,030
Andrew M. Weeks		$601,200		$571,140

Annual Cash Incentive Compensation

Our executive officers are eligible to receive annual cash incentive compensation based on pre-determined financial and growth objectives that are dependent on free cash flow margin, return on net assets and revenue growth. This category of compensation consists of three specific elements, which we refer to as Target Incentive Bonuses, General RONA Bonuses, and Converted RONA Bonuses. All of the Named Executive Officers are eligible to receive Target Incentive Bonuses, General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses. As described beginning on page 37, Mr. Weeks is the only Named Executive Officer whose General RONA Bonus is subject to the application of our Profitable Growth Incentive Plan, which we refer to as the PGI Plan.

The Committee allocates a significant portion of the total cash compensation for executive officers to annual cash incentive compensation, which is wholly dependent on achieving pre-determined financial and operational goals. At the beginning of fiscal year 2020, Target Incentive Bonuses, General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses, at target, represented the following percentages of base salary for each of our Named Executive Officers:

 

 

Target Percentage of Base Salary
Named Executive Officer		Target Incentive Bonuses General RONA Bonuses* and Converted RONA Bonuses
Thomas L. Williams		161%
Catherine A. Suever		92%
Lee C. Banks		108%
Joseph R. Leonti		74%
Andrew M. Weeks		74%

 

*   Because General RONA Bonuses are calculated based on actual base salary received during the fiscal year, the reductions in base salary as a result of actions taken in response to COVID-19 and the economic downturn had a corresponding downward impact on General RONA bonus payouts.

The Committee pre-determines the performance measures applicable to each element by analyzing our annual goals and objectives for each performance measure and, for Target Incentive Bonuses, Mercer’s annual review. The Committee directly and materially links annual cash incentive compensation to performance that drives and supports The Win Strategy.

Target Incentive Bonuses

During fiscal year 2020, the Named Executive Officers received annual cash incentive compensation based on our free cash flow margin, which we refer to as Target Incentive Bonuses. Free cash flow margin is calculated as the percentage of sales represented by actual operating cash flow less capital expenditures, excluding any discretionary pension contributions made during the fiscal year.

The Committee identified free cash flow margin as a performance measure critical to the profitable growth and financial performance goals of The Win Strategy. Maximizing free cash flow allows us to continue to pay annual

 

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ELEMENTS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

 

dividends, strategically acquire our outstanding shares, and reinvest in our business by funding innovation and financing growth through acquisitions of businesses and technologies. Target Incentive Bonuses encourage executive officers to maximize free cash flow by increasing net income, implementing lean initiatives, controlling inventory, collecting receivables, controlling accounts payable, and optimizing capital expenditures. We have also identified a strong correlation between increases in free cash flow and increases in operating earnings.

Target Incentive Bonuses are designed to directly reward executive officers for free cash flow margin performance against our annual plan and the performance of the Peer Group. Specifically, the Committee determines the target award opportunity for each of the executive officers and establishes the levels of performance for threshold, target and maximum payouts after evaluating our annual plan for free cash flow margin and the one-year, three-year and five-year average free cash flow margin within the Peer Group. Based on this data, the Committee estimated that 5.5%, 8.5% and 12% free cash flow margins would represent bottom-quartile, median and top-quartile free cash flow margin results, respectively, within the Peer Group companies during fiscal year 2020. After review and consideration of such data and our annual plan for free cash flow margin, the Committee increased the free cash flow top-quartile payout threshold for our Target Incentive Bonuses from 11.5% in fiscal year 2019 to 12.0% in fiscal year 2020, and kept the bottom quartile and median thresholds the same as fiscal year 2019 at 5.5% and 8.5%, respectively.

The following table illustrates how final fiscal year 2020 Target Incentive Bonus amounts would be calculated:

 

FY20 Free Cash Flow Margin:		Less than   5.5%		5.5%		8.5%		Greater than or equal to 12.0%
Payout %		0%		50%		100%		200%

This table illustrates that each recipient of a Target Incentive Bonus would receive a year-end payout of 100% of his or her target award if our free cash flow margin for fiscal year 2020 was 8.5% and a maximum payout of 200% of his or her target award if our free cash flow margin was greater than or equal to 12%, representing top-quartile free cash flow margin. This table also illustrates that no Target Incentive Bonuses would be paid if our free cash flow margin for fiscal year 2020 was less than 5.5%. The payout percentage that is applied is interpolated on a linear basis between the points in the above table.

In consideration of the foregoing, at the beginning of fiscal year 2020, the Committee approved the following Target Incentive Bonuses for each of the Named Executive Officers:

 

Named Executive Officer		Target Incentive Bonuses
Thomas L. Williams		$927,500
Catherine A. Suever		$320,000
Lee C. Banks		$472,500
Joseph R. Leonti		$194,200
Andrew M. Weeks		$150,300

Our actual free cash flow margin for fiscal year 2020 was 13.42% (calculated by taking the difference of fiscal year 2020 cash flow from operating activities of $2,070,949,000, less fiscal year 2020 capital expenditures of $232,591,000, and dividing the result by fiscal year 2020 net sales of $13,695,520,000). Accordingly, each of the Named Executive Officers received 200% of their Target Incentive Bonus award. These amounts are included in the “Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020.

Target Incentive Bonuses are paid in one lump sum in August for each executive officer whose Target Incentive Bonus is awarded under the Performance Bonus Plan, and are paid in three installments in March, June and August for all other executive officers. The March and June payments are estimated based on year-to-date results, and the August payment represents the balance of the Target Incentive Bonus payable based on the actual results for the entire fiscal year. We generally hold back 25% of the year-to-date estimate from each March and June payment to ensure that we have the flexibility to reconcile the August payments to final year-end results. All payments are made in cash, except that the August payment may, at the election of the recipient, be deferred as a credit to the recipient’s account under the Executive Deferral Plan, which we describe in the section, “Non-Qualified Benefit Plans”.

 

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General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses

During fiscal year 2020, each of the Named Executive Officers was eligible for, and received, annual cash incentive compensation based on our return on net assets, which we refer to as General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses. The Committee awards General RONA Bonuses to our executive officers to encourage and reward performance which maximizes our returns on net assets. The Committee awards Converted RONA Bonuses to our executive officers in place of certain executive perquisites.

The performance measures used to determine payouts on General RONA Bonuses are as follows:

 

•

for executive officers who receive General RONA Bonuses under the Performance Bonus Plan, return on consolidated net assets;

•

for executive officers who are operating group presidents and do not receive General RONA Bonuses under the Performance Bonus Plan or who are not Executive Vice Presidents, return on average division net assets for divisions in the applicable operating group; and

•

for all other executive officers, return on average net assets for all divisions.

The performance measure used to determine the amount of the payouts on Converted RONA Bonuses is the return on average net assets for all of our divisions.

Return on net assets is calculated by dividing earnings (year-to-date segment operating income) by average assets (average of inventory, accounts receivable, prepaid expenses, property, plant and equipment, goodwill and intangibles, less trade accounts payable and contract reserves, at the beginning of the fiscal year and at the end of each applicable quarter.

The Committee identified return on net assets as a performance measure critical to the financial performance and profitable growth goals of The Win Strategy. The Committee uses General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses to encourage executive officers and other team members to increase segment operating income and control net average assets by reducing investments in assets and increasing efficiency in managing those investments. In addition, General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses encourage executive officers and other team members to increase sales and to reduce operating expenses and other costs associated with managing our working capital and investments. The Committee also believes that offering Converted RONA Bonuses in lieu of certain eliminated executive perquisites is appropriate to keep us competitive in attracting, retaining, and motivating present and future executive officers and to hold our executive officers accountable for results.

General RONA Bonuses awarded under the Performance Bonus Plan are paid in one lump sum in August. General RONA Bonuses awarded outside the Performance Bonus Plan and Converted RONA Bonuses, which are not awarded under the Performance Bonus Plan, are paid in four installments in October, January, April and August. Each installment is based on actual year-to-date results. We generally hold back 25% of the year-end estimate from each October, January and April installment to ensure that we have the flexibility to reconcile the August payments with final year-end results. All payments are made in cash, except that General RONA Bonus payments made in August may, at the election of the recipient, be deferred as a credit to the recipient’s Executive Deferral Plan account.

The Committee determines and calculates General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses as follows:

 

•

Setting Target Amounts: During the first quarter of the fiscal year, the Committee determines target General RONA Bonuses and target Converted RONA Bonuses for each of the executive officers. The Committee makes these determinations after review and consideration of Mercer’s annual review, and focuses on setting targets that are reasonable in relation to the median of similar compensation offered to executives in similar positions by the Peer Group companies.

 

•

Converting Target Amounts to “RONA shares”: Once determined, the target amounts set for General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses are converted into a number of “RONA shares” based on our annual goals for return on net assets. In fiscal year 2020, we established and communicated an overall goal of 21.4% return on net assets on a consolidated basis, with a target “multiple” of 5% of base salary for each “share”. The target amounts were converted into “shares” at the 5% target multiple

 

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by dividing the executive officer’s General RONA Bonus or Converted RONA Bonus target by the product of the executive officer’s base salary and the 5% target “multiple.”

 

•

Determining the Actual Multiple: At each installment date, the actual return on net assets is calculated and, as follows, used to determine the actual “multiple”: (a) for that portion of the applicable return on net assets which is less than or equal to 35%, the actual multiple is 1% for every 5.6% of return on net assets; and (b) for that portion of return on net assets in excess of 35%, the actual multiple is 1% for every 11.2% of the excess. We allow our divisions to consider the benefit of intercompany sales when calculating return on net assets, and, therefore, to compensate for this additional benefit, we require an actual return on net assets of 28% for a payout multiple at the 5% target (i.e., 28.0% ÷ 5.6%). In other words, the 28% internal goal represents our estimate of division-level return on net assets performance (which would include intercompany sales) needed to achieve 21.4% return on net assets on a consolidated basis (after excluding intercompany sales).

 

•

Calculating the Actual RONA Bonuses: For General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses, the amounts of the actual bonuses earned are calculated by multiplying the executive officer’s “shares” by his or her multiple, and multiplying that total by his or her base salary for the fiscal year.

The following tables show each of the Named Executive Officers’ General RONA Bonus and Converted RONA Bonus target amounts, “shares”, “multiples” and actual amounts.

 

General RONA Bonuses
Named Executive Officer		Base Salary(1)		Target   General   RONA   Bonus   Amount		General   RONA   Bonus   “Shares”		General   RONA   Bonus   “Multiple”		Actual     General     RONA     Bonus      Amount
Thomas L. Williams		$1,159,375		$1,126,250		17		6.45%		$1,271,255
Catherine A. Suever		$750,000		$360,000		9		6.45%		$435,375
Lee C. Banks		$971,250		$577,500		11		6.45%		$689,102
Joseph R. Leonti		$615,030		$226,590		7		6.45%		$277,686
Andrew M. Weeks (2)		$571,140		$240,480		8		6.07%		$277,356

 

(1)

Reflects reductions in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 in connection with cost reduction actions associated with the economic downturn and our COVID-19 response.

 

(2)

In fiscal year 2020, Mr. Weeks received his General RONA Bonus under the Performance Bonus Plan. As a result, the Committee used return on consolidated net assets to determine that his maximum General RONA Bonus “Multiple” was 7.90%. As described below, however, Mr. Weeks’ General RONA Bonus “Multiple” was reduced to 5.19% upon the Committee’s exercise of downward discretion, and then increased to 6.07% after applying his PG RONA Multiplier under our PGI Plan.

 

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		Converted RONA Bonuses
Named Executive Officer		Target Converted   RONA Bonus Amount		Converted   RONA   Bonus   “Shares”		Converted   RONA   Bonus   “Multiple”		Actual   Converted   RONA   Bonus   Amount
Thomas L. Williams		$80,490		1.19		6.45%		$103,832
Catherine A. Suever		$55,220		1.48		6.45%		$71,234
Lee C. Banks		$80,060		1.69		6.45%		$103,277
Joseph R. Leonti		$55,040		1.86		6.45%		$71,002
Andrew M. Weeks		$55,040		1.86		6.45%		$71,002

Each of the Named Executive Officers received the General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses included in the “Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020. In arriving at these amounts, the Committee compared the original target award opportunities for executive officers receiving General RONA Bonuses under the Performance Bonus Plan (including each of the Named Executive Officers) with the final payout amounts of annual cash incentive compensation for the other executive officers, and evaluated the individual performance and contributions to the success of our business of the executive officers receiving General RONA Bonuses under the Performance Bonus Plan. Based on that comparison and evaluation, the Committee determined that it would be appropriate to exercise downward discretion and reduce the final General RONA Bonus payout amounts for General RONA Bonuses awarded to the Named Executive Officers under the Performance Bonus Plan by approximately 14%. The amounts reported in the tables above represent the final amounts paid to the Named Executive Officers following that exercise of discretion.

Converted RONA Bonus payments are not eligible for deferral under the Executive Deferral Plan, the Retirement Savings Plan, or the Savings Restoration Plan. Converted RONA Bonuses are also not considered in calculating benefits under the Pension Plan, the Pension Restoration Plan, the Supplemental Retirement Program, the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program, the Executive Long-Term Disability Plan, and the Change in Control Agreements. The Committee determined that it would not be appropriate to allow Converted RONA Bonuses to be deferred under those plans or considered in those calculations because they are intended to replace executive perquisites which, historically, were not used or taken into account for those purposes.

Profitable Growth Incentive Plan

Our PGI Plan is designed to implement the strategies and advance the goals of The Win Strategy by encouraging and rewarding participants for sales growth, organically and through acquisitions at the operating group or division level. The Committee identified sales growth, organically and through acquisitions, as a performance measure critical to advance the financial performance and profitable growth goals of The Win Strategy. Under our PGI Plan, the General RONA Bonuses for participants may be adjusted after each fiscal year on the basis of a multiplier, which we refer to as the PG RONA Multiplier, that is determined by the three-year compound annual growth rate of external customer sales for the applicable operating group or division, which we refer to as 3-year CAGR. The following table sets forth examples of the PG RONA Multiplier that may be applied to, and which may increase or decrease, the General RONA Bonuses under our PGI Plan after each fiscal year:

 

3-year CAGR:		Less than or equal to -5%		3%-5%		8%		Greater than or equal to 15%
PG RONA Multiplier:		90%		100%		105%		130%

The PG RONA Multiplier is interpolated on a linear basis between the points in the above table. Of our executive officers, only our operating group presidents’ General RONA Bonuses are subject to our PGI Plan, and, therefore, the PGI Plan applies to Mr. Weeks, but not to any of our other Named Executive Officers. During fiscal year 2020, the three-year CAGR applicable to: Mr. Weeks’ General RONA Bonus was 11.35%, resulting in a PG RONA Multiplier of 116.96%. This PG RONA Multiplier was applied to Mr. Weeks’ final RONA Bonus causing the increase from a 5.19% General RONA Bonus multiple to 6.07% for Mr. Weeks, as reflected in the General RONA Bonus table above.

 

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Long-Term Incentive Compensation

The Named Executive Officers receive long-term incentive compensation consisting of long-term incentive performance awards, which we refer to as LTIP Awards, and stock appreciation rights, which we refer to as Stock Incentives. The target amounts of LTIP Awards and the number of Stock Incentives awarded to the Named Executive Officers are based on similar compensation awarded to persons holding comparable positions within the Peer Group companies.

LTIP Awards and Stock Incentives encourage long-term focus on shareholder value and are directly and materially linked to performance that advances both the financial performance and profitable growth goals of The Win Strategy over the long-term. LTIP Award payouts are based on a comparison of our performance against the Peer Group companies in certain key financial metrics over a three-year performance period. The holders of Stock Incentives realize a payout only if our stock price increases above the applicable grant price over a three-year pro-rata vesting period. LTIP Awards and Stock Incentives work together to align the long-term financial interests of our executive officers and shareholders.

LTIP Awards are granted to eligible employees on an annual basis at the January meeting of the Committee. This meeting is typically scheduled at least one year in advance. The only exceptions to this practice are that pro-rated LTIP Awards are granted to individuals who become executive officers, are promoted to new executive officer positions, or are given increased responsibilities during a performance period.

Stock Incentives are granted to eligible team members on an annual basis at the August meeting of the Committee. This meeting is typically scheduled at least one year in advance.

The Committee does not grant LTIP Awards or Stock Incentives to executive officers in anticipation of the release of significant positive earnings announcements or other material non-public information likely to result in changes to the price of our common stock. Similarly, the Committee does not time the release of material non-public information based on Stock Incentive grant dates.

LTIP Awards

During the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, the Committee adopted a Long-Term Incentive Performance Plan under the Performance Bonus Plan, which we refer to as the Officer LTIP Plan, to establish the terms and conditions for LTIP Awards granted to our executive officers during and after fiscal year 2011. During the third quarter of fiscal year 2020, the Committee granted to each of the Named Executive Officers, under our Officer LTIP Plan and our Amended and Restated 2016 Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan, which we refer to as the Amended 2016 Equity Plan, the following target LTIP Awards based on the following target LTIP Award values:

 

Named Executive Officer		Target LTIP Award Shares		Target LTIP Award Values
Thomas L. Williams		26,670		$5,450,000
Catherine A. Suever		7,950		$1,625,000
Lee C. Banks		12,240		$2,500,000
Joseph R. Leonti		4,160		$850,000
Andrew M. Weeks		3,430		$700,000

The target LTIP Award shares shown in this table (along with the awarded dividend equivalent units applicable to the calendar years 2020-21-22 performance period) are also included in the “Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards—Target” column of the Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2020 table. The “Stock Awards” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020 includes the aggregate grant date fair value of these awards in fiscal year 2020.

Under the Officer LTIP Plan, the actual payouts for these LTIP Awards will be calculated following the three-year performance period ending December 31, 2022, as follows:

 

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•

The Committee will first determine if, during the performance period, we achieved an average return on average equity of 4% or an average free cash flow margin of 4%.

 

•

If at least one of these threshold performance measures above are not achieved, participants will not receive a payout.

 

•

If at least one of these threshold performance measures above are achieved, participants will become eligible to receive the maximum payout of 200% of the applicable target LTIP Award value. The Committee will then, if appropriate, apply its discretion to reduce the final payouts based on any performance measures that the Committee determines to be appropriate. The Committee determined that this calculation methodology would provide the Committee with more flexibility to ensure payout levels are as accurately reflective of the Company’s performance against the Peer Group as possible and are otherwise in the best interests of our business and our shareholders.

To provide the Committee with guidelines for exercising its discretion, the Officer LTIP Plan provides that the Committee may, among other things, following the calendar years 2020-21-22 performance period compare our revenue growth, growth in fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations and average return on invested capital from continuing operations against the corresponding results of the Peer Group companies during their three most recent fiscal years. The Committee has identified long-term revenue growth, earnings per share growth and return on invested capital as performance measures critical to the financial performance and profitable growth goals of The Win Strategy because, among other things, they encourage our executive officers to provide on-time delivery of quality products, value-added services and systems, strategic supply chain, lean enterprise, value pricing, market-driven innovation and strong distribution.

Specifically, the Officer LTIP Plan provides for using weights of 20% for revenue growth, 40% for growth in fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, and 40% for average return on invested capital from continuing operations for the applicable performance periods, and the following table to calculate final LTIP Award payouts:

 

Peer Group Percentile Rank:		Less than 35th		35th		50th		75th or higher
Payout %		0%		50%		100%		200%

At the end of calendar year 2022, if we achieve an average return on average equity or an average free cash flow margin of 4% or greater, the Committee may exercise discretion in determining the appropriate payout by determining our percentile rank as compared to the Peer Group for each of the three performance measures. Using this table, the Committee will calculate the portion of the target LTIP Award value earned with respect to each performance measure. The Committee will multiply each portion by its applicable weight and add up the total to determine the total LTIP Award payout for the calendar years 2020-21-22 performance period. This table illustrates that recipients of LTIP Awards granted during calendar year 2020 will receive the maximum payout of 200% of the applicable target LTIP Award value if we rank at or above the 75th percentile among the Peer Group companies in the aggregate based on all three performance measures, and will receive no payout if we rank at or below the 35th percentile in the aggregate based on all three performance measures. The payout percentage that is applied is interpolated on a linear basis between the points in the above table.

LTIP Award payouts for the calendar years 2020-21-22 performance period may only be paid after the end of the applicable three-year performance period in unrestricted shares of our common stock.

The Committee designed these LTIP Awards to reward executive officers directly in relation to our long-term performance against the Peer Group. The Committee determined that requiring performance in excess of the 50th percentile for a payout in excess of 100% would encourage executive officers to achieve performance above median Peer Group performance. The Committee also determined that requiring performance at the 75th percentile for a maximum payout, and awarding no payout for performance at or below the 35th percentile, would further encourage executive officers to achieve top-quartile performance within the Peer Group companies.

In addition, each of the Named Executive Officers received a payout under LTIP Awards granted during the third quarter of fiscal year 2017 for the three-year performance period ending December 31, 2019. We exceeded our threshold performance measures with an average return on average equity for the three-year performance period of 21.6% and average free cash flow margin for the three-year performance period of 10.8%. The Committee

 

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decided to exercise discretion to determine the appropriate payout and determined that we achieved the following percentile rankings among the Peer Group companies with respect to the LTIP Award performance measures for the calendar years 2017-18-19 performance period:

 

Performance Measure		Result		Percentile   Rank		Weighted Payout     Percentage
Revenue Growth (20%)		26.80%		83rd		200%
Earnings Per Share Growth (40%)		62.12%		72nd		188.88%
Average Return on Invested Capital (40%)		17.33%		66th		166.64%

As a result, each of the Named Executive Officers received the LTIP Award payout during fiscal year 2020 included in the “Number of Shares Acquired on Vesting” column of the Option Exercises and Stock Vested for Fiscal Year 2020 table. Each payment represents a total payout of 182.21% of the target LTIP Award values for the three-year performance period ended December 31, 2019.

Stock Incentives

Each of the Named Executive Officers received Stock Incentives under our Amended 2016 Equity Plan during the first quarter of fiscal year 2020. The Committee grants Stock Incentives to executive officers to encourage and reward efforts and accomplishments that advance the goals of The Win Strategy and make other contributions to maximize long-term shareholder value.

The number of Stock Incentives granted by the Committee is determined by utilizing the Black-Scholes valuation model to convert a target dollar value into the number of Stock Incentives to be granted. The Committee uses Mercer’s annual review to ensure the target dollar values are reasonable in relation to the median of similar compensation offered within the companies included in Mercer’s annual review. The following table shows the Target Value and the number of Stock Incentives granted to each of the Named Executive Officers in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020:

 

Named Executive Officer		Target Value		Stock Incentive Grants         (# of Underlying Shares)
Thomas L. Williams		$5,450,000		88,680
Catherine A. Suever		$1,625,000		26,440
Lee C. Banks		$2,500,000		40,680
Joseph R. Leonti		$850,000		13,830
Andrew M. Weeks		$700,000		11,390

The fiscal year 2020 Stock Incentive grants shown above are also included in the “All Other Option Awards: Number of Securities Underlying Options” column of the Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2020 table and the “Option Awards—Number of Securities Underlying Unexercised Options—Unexercisable” column of the Outstanding Equity Awards at June 30, 2020 table. The “Option Awards” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020 includes the aggregate grant date fair value of these awards in fiscal year 2020.

As required by the terms of our Amended 2016 Equity Plan, these fiscal year 2020 Stock Incentives have an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant. The plan does not permit the re-pricing of Stock Incentives. The Committee analyzed the terms of our Amended 2016 Equity Plan and considered Mercer’s annual review to establish all other terms of these Stock Incentives. These fiscal year 2020 Stock Incentives have a ten-year term and vest in one-third increments over three years following the grant date. When vested, each Stock Incentive will entitle the holder to receive the increase in value of one common share from the grant date to the date of exercise.

Upon exercise of fiscal year 2020 Stock Incentives, common shares will be issued directly to the holder. The appreciation in these Stock Incentives will be calculated by subtracting the grant price from the fair market value of the common shares at exercise, and multiplying the result by the number of Stock Incentives exercised. The

 

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number of common shares to be issued is determined by dividing that appreciation by the market price of the common shares at exercise.

Employee Benefits

The Named Executive Officers are eligible to participate in various employee benefit plans and programs. These plans and programs reward experience, expertise, level of responsibility, continuity of leadership and advancement. We use these plans to ensure that our executive compensation program remains sufficiently competitive to attract, retain and motivate the executive officers and other team members necessary to advance the goals of The Win Strategy.

Qualified Benefit Plans

During fiscal year 2020, the Named Executive Officers participated in the following tax-qualified benefit plans and programs:

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Consolidated Pension Plan, which we refer to as the Pension Plan, except for Messrs. Leonti and Weeks who are not eligible to participate in the Pension Plan; and

•

The Parker Retirement Savings Plan, which we refer to as the Retirement Savings Plan.

The Pension Plan is a qualified defined benefit pension plan in which most full-time non-union U.S. salaried employees hired prior to April 1, 2004, participate. The Pension Plan offers normal retirement, early retirement and death benefits. The monthly normal retirement benefit is the greater of a minimum benefit and an amount based on final average pay. The minimum benefit and final average pay amounts are calculated as follows:

 

Minimum Benefit:		$21.00 multiplied by years of service, up to a maximum of 40 years.
Final Average Pay Amount:		◆  0.75% of the highest five consecutive year average of monthly base salary, Target Incentive Bonuses and General RONA Bonuses up to the social security wage base, multiplied by years of service up to a maximum of 35 years; plus   ◆  1.36% of the highest five consecutive year average of monthly base salary, Target Incentive Bonuses and General RONA Bonuses in excess of the social security wage base, multiplied by years of service up to a maximum of 35 years; plus   ◆  0.50% of the highest five consecutive year average of monthly base salary, Target Incentive Bonuses and General RONA Bonuses, multiplied by years of service in excess of 35 up to a maximum of five years.

The amount of the benefit is reduced by 6% per year for each year prior to age 65 if retirement occurs and payments commence before age 65 and after age 55. We elected to freeze new participation in the Pension Plan in 2004. All participants as of April 1, 2004, were given the option to either remain in the Pension Plan or terminate in favor of maintaining a retirement income account under the Retirement Savings Plan. Employees hired after April 1, 2004, including Messrs. Leonti and Weeks, were not eligible to participate in the Pension Plan and instead maintain a retirement income account under the Retirement Savings Plan. Each of the Named Executive Officers who are in the Pension Plan elected to remain in and continue to accrue benefits under the Pension Plan. All benefits accrued by team members who elected to terminate participation in the Pension Plan were frozen as of June 30, 2004. Those team members initiated their retirement income accounts on July 1, 2004.

The Retirement Savings Plan is a qualified defined contribution pension plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. Most full-time U.S. team members are eligible to participate in the Retirement Savings Plan. Participants may make pre-tax and post-tax contributions to the Retirement Savings Plan up to the applicable statutory limit. Converted RONA Bonuses are not eligible for deferral under the Retirement Savings Plan. We provide to each participant a matching contribution of 100% on the first 3% of pay contributed and 50% on the 4th and 5th percent of pay contributed on a pre-tax basis or Roth basis. As described above, certain participants also maintain a retirement income account within the Retirement Savings Plan. We provide to each holder of a

 

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retirement income account an annual contribution equal to a percentage of the amount of the participant’s annual compensation up to the Internal Revenue Service statutory limit (currently $285,000 per year), based on age and length of service. These contributions range from 0.5% to 6% of the participant’s compensation which does not exceed that limit. Participants accrue earnings on contributions based on the performance of various investment funds available within the Retirement Savings Plan. The contributions made by us under the Retirement Savings Plan for the Named Executive Officers during fiscal year 2020 are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020 on page 50.

Non-Qualified Benefit Plans

During fiscal year 2020, the Named Executive Officers participated in the following non-qualified benefit plans and programs:

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Corporation Savings Restoration Plan, which we refer to as the Savings Restoration Plan;

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Corporation Executive Deferral Plan, which we refer to as the Executive Deferral Plan, except for Messrs. Leonti and Weeks who do not participate in the Executive Deferral Plan;

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Corporation Pension Restoration Plan, which we refer to as the Pension Restoration Plan, except for Messrs. Leonti and Weeks who are not eligible to participate in the Pension Restoration Plan as they are not participants in the Pension Plan;

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Corporation Supplemental Executive Retirement Benefits Program, which we refer to as the Supplemental Retirement Program, except for Messrs. Leonti and Weeks who are not eligible to participate in the Supplemental Retirement Program; and

 

•

The Parker-Hannifin Corporation Defined Contribution Supplemental Executive Retirement Program, which we refer to as the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program (Messrs. Leonti and Weeks are the only Named Executive Officers who participate in the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program).

The Savings Restoration Plan is available to team members who earn base salaries equal to or in excess of $150,000 per year and who are otherwise eligible to participate in the plan. The Savings Restoration Plan was established to restore deferral opportunities and matching contributions lost because of statutory limits in the Retirement Savings Plan. Specifically, the Savings Restoration Plan allows executive officers to defer a portion of their pre-tax compensation and receive matching contributions from us that would have been available under the Retirement Savings Plan if the Internal Revenue Service statutory limit did not exist. Converted RONA Bonuses are not eligible for deferral under the Savings Restoration Plan. Each Named Executive Officer may annually defer to his or her Savings Restoration Plan account any portion of the compensation that he or she cannot defer under the Retirement Savings Plan due to the statutory limit, other than Converted RONA Bonuses, up to the greater of 20% of base pay or $25,000. We provide to each participant a matching contribution of common stock equal to 100% on the first 3% of pay contributed and 50% on the 4th and 5th percent of pay contributed, reduced by the maximum matching contribution available to the participant under the Retirement Savings Plan. We also take into account the matching contributions made under the Retirement Savings Plan to ensure that the maximum match under both plans does not exceed $17,000. In addition, all participants who maintain a retirement income account within the Retirement Savings Plan also maintain a separate retirement income account within the Savings Restoration Plan. We provide to each holder of a retirement income account an annual contribution equal to a percentage of the amount of the participant’s annual compensation in excess of the Internal Revenue Service statutory limit determined based on age and length of service. These contributions range from 0.5% to 6% of the amount of the participant’s compensation in excess of that limit. All deferrals and contributions are made under the Savings Restoration Plan by accounting entry rather than any physical exchange of cash or common stock. Participants also accrue earnings, on an accounting-entry basis, on deferrals based on the performance of various investment fund choices and on contributions based on the performance of our common stock. Participants are our unsecured creditors for their respective account balances.

 

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Savings Restoration Plan and Executive Deferral Plan account balances are paid out upon any of the following events as follows:

 

Retirement:		Balances are distributed to the participant in either a lump sum or in periodic installments, based on a prior election by the participant. The participant can delay the commencement of payments up to five years following retirement. Balances continue to accumulate earnings under the various investment funds at all times during the payout period.
Termination Before Retirement:		Balances accruing on or prior to December 31, 2004 are, at our election, distributed to the participant in either a lump sum upon termination or in periodic installments. Account balances accruing on or after January 1, 2005 are distributed to the participant in a lump sum upon termination.
Disability:		If we determine that a participant is totally disabled, the participant’s account balance will be paid upon termination in the same manner as if he or she retired.
Withdrawals During Employment:		Balances can be withdrawn without penalty during employment only if we determine that the participant suffered severe financial hardship. Balances accruing on or prior to December 31, 2004 can also be withdrawn voluntarily during employment, subject to a 10% forfeiture penalty.
Death:		Balances are distributed to the participant’s beneficiary in a lump sum or, if elected by the participant, in installments.
Change in Control:		Under the Savings Restoration Plan, balances accruing on or prior to December 31, 2004 are distributed to the participant in a lump sum without penalty if the participant expressly elected a lump sum. If the participant did not expressly elect a lump sum, distributions are treated as unscheduled withdrawals and are subject to a forfeiture penalty of 5% if they are withdrawn within 30 days or 10% if they are withdrawn beyond the 30-day period. Balances accruing on or after January 1, 2005 are distributed to the participant in a lump sum. Under the Executive Deferral Plan, balances are distributed to the participant in a lump sum.

Our matching contributions made under the Savings Restoration Plan for the Named Executive Officers during fiscal year 2020 are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020. All contributions, earnings, withdrawals, distributions and aggregate balances for the Named Executive Officers participating in the Savings Restoration Plan during fiscal year 2020 are included in the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation for Fiscal Year 2020 table.

The Executive Deferral Plan is available to executive officers and certain other key team members. The Executive Deferral Plan provides executive officers with an opportunity to defer a portion of their compensation (in addition to that deferred under the Retirement Savings Plan and the Savings Restoration Plan) on a pre-tax basis, including Target Incentive Bonuses and General RONA Bonuses, and to accumulate tax-deferred earnings on the deferrals. LTIP Award payouts and Converted RONA Bonuses are not eligible for deferral under the Executive Deferral Plan. Each executive may defer to his or her account up to 80% of base salary and 80% of General RONA Bonuses paid in August and Target Incentive Bonuses paid in August. Similar to the Savings Restoration Plan, all deferrals are made under the Executive Deferral Plan by accounting entry rather than any physical exchange of cash. Participants also accrue earnings on an accounting-entry basis based on the performance of various investment fund choices. Participants are our unsecured creditors for their respective account balances. Account balances in the Executive Deferral Plan are paid as indicated in the table below. For those who were participants in the Executive Deferral Plan prior to January 1, 2016, prior to distribution, the balances are increased to reflect any “gross-up” amount necessary to offset federal excise taxes and any after-tax value the participant would have received if the account had remained in place and been paid as elected by the participant. Any balances on

 

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distribution to a participant in the Executive Deferral Plan who becomes a participant on or after January 1, 2016, are no longer increased to reflect any “gross-up” amount to offset federal excise taxes and any after-tax value the participant would have received if the account had remained in place and been paid as elected by the participant. All contributions, earnings, withdrawals, distributions and aggregate balances for the Named Executive Officers participating in the Executive Deferral Plan during fiscal year 2020 are included in the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation for Fiscal Year 2020 table.

The Pension Restoration Plan is available to all individuals who participate in the Pension Plan and who are otherwise eligible to participate in the Pension Restoration Plan. The Pension Restoration Plan was established to restore benefits lost because of statutory limits on the Pension Plan. Specifically, the benefits available under the Pension Restoration Plan equal the amount that would be payable to the participant under the Pension Plan in excess of the Internal Revenue Service statutory limit if that limit did not exist and the participant had not elected to defer any compensation under the Savings Restoration Plan and the Executive Deferral Plan. Similar to the Pension Plan, Converted RONA Bonuses are not considered in calculating the benefits available under the Pension Restoration Plan.

The Supplemental Retirement Program was established to provide executive officers with retirement benefits supplemental to the benefits under the Pension Plan. The benefit provided under the Supplemental Retirement Program is intended, at age 65, to provide to participants with at least 15 years of service 55% of the average of the three highest years of base salary plus annual cash incentive compensation. Similar to the Pension Plan and the Pension Restoration Plan, Converted RONA Bonuses are not considered in calculating the benefits available under the Supplemental Retirement Program. LTIP Awards and Stock Incentives are also not considered in calculating the benefits available under the Supplemental Retirement Program. The benefit is subject to reduction for early retirement, less than 15 years of service, benefits under the Pension Plan, the Pension Restoration Plan and any of our non-U.S. pension plans, 50% of primary social security benefits and 100% of any similar non-U.S. state-provided retirement benefits, and contributions to the participant’s retirement income accounts under the Retirement Savings Plan and the Savings Restoration Plan. Participants vest at age 60, or at age 55 with the consent of the Committee, and with five years of participation in the Supplemental Retirement Program, or a lesser period established by the Committee at the time they become participants. To receive a benefit under the Supplemental Retirement Program, however, a vested participant must have at least five years of service. In January 2015, the Committee closed the Supplemental Retirement Program to new participants as of July 1, 2014.

The Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program was established to provide executive officers and certain other key management team members with retirement benefits supplemental to the benefits under the Retirement Savings Plan and the Savings Restoration Plan. The Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program was established to replace the Supplemental Retirement Program for executive officers who are designated as participants on or after July 1, 2014. Depending on a participant’s salary grade on December 31 of each year, we provide an annual non-discretionary employer contribution of 8%, 10% or 12% of a participant’s base salary, Target Incentive Bonus and General RONA Bonus that was paid during the calendar year. The Committee may determine to make an additional annual discretionary contribution to a designated participant’s account. Participants vest at age 60, or at age 55 with the consent of the Committee, and with five years of participation in the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program, or a lesser period established by the Committee at the time they become participants. To receive a benefit under the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program, however, a vested participant must have at least five years of service. Messrs. Leonti and Weeks are our only Named Executive Officers who participate in the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program.

Our contributions made under the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program for Messrs. Leonti and Weeks during fiscal year 2020 are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020. All contributions, earnings, withdrawals, distributions and aggregate balances for the Named Executive Officers participating in the Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program during fiscal year 2020 are included in the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation for Fiscal Year 2020 table.

Health and Welfare Benefits

The Named Executive Officers participated in various health and welfare programs generally available to all team members during fiscal year 2020. The Named Executive Officers also participated in our Officer Life Insurance Plan and our Executive Long-Term Disability Plan.

Under the Officer Life Insurance Plan, we pay all required premiums for life insurance on executive officers who were participants prior to January 1, 2008 (which includes Named Executive Officers Messrs. Williams and

 

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Banks) for the longer of 10 years or until the executive officer reaches age 65. For those executive officers who were participants after January 1, 2008 (which includes Named Executive Officers Ms. Suever and Messrs. Leonti and Weeks) we pay all required premiums for life insurance until retirement up to age 65. The premiums are designed to maintain death benefits equal to:

 

•

five times base salary during employment and two times final base salary after retirement at age 65 for our Chief Executive Officer;

 

•

four times base salary during employment and two times final base salary after retirement at age 65 for our Chief Financial Officer and our President and Chief Operating Officer; and

 

•

three times base salary during employment and two times final base salary after retirement at age 65 for all other Named Executive Officers and other participants.

If the participant retires between ages 55 and 65, the post-retirement death benefit is reduced by 10% of base salary for each year prior to age 65 that the participant retires. The amount of the death benefit is adjusted each year on January 1st based on the participant’s base salary as of the preceding December 1st. The policies underlying the plan are cash value life insurance policies owned by the participants. The premiums we paid on behalf of the Named Executive Officers during fiscal year 2020 are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020.

The Executive Long-Term Disability Plan is intended to replace a reasonable amount of an executive officer’s income upon disability. The plan provides a total benefit in the event of a qualifying disability of two-thirds of base salary plus Target Incentive Bonuses and General RONA Bonuses (after applying the PG RONA Multiplier if applicable) paid during the calendar year ending December 31 of the year prior to the disability, up to a maximum monthly benefit, in the case of Messrs. Williams and Banks and Ms. Suever, of $33,000, or, in the case of Messrs. Leonti and Weeks, of $35,000. Our executive officers are not eligible to receive the long-term disability benefit generally available to other team members.

Change in Control Agreements

We are not a party to any written employment agreements with our executive officers. We have, however, entered into separate Change in Control Severance Agreements with our executive officers, which we refer to as the Change in Control Agreements. We are not obligated to pay severance to executive officers under any agreement other than the Change in Control Agreements. The executive officers are, however, eligible to receive severance upon termination for reasons other than a change in control in accordance with our general severance policy for salaried employees. The Change in Control Agreements are designed to attract, retain and motivate executive officers, provide for stability and continuity of management in the event of any actual or threatened change in control, encourage executive officers to remain in service after a change in control and ensure that executive officers are able to devote their entire attention to maximizing shareholder value and safeguarding team member interests in the event of a change in control. The Committee determined that the amounts payable under the Change in Control Agreements are reasonable and necessary to achieve those objectives. The Potential Payments upon Termination or Change of Control at June 30, 2020, tables and the related narrative descriptions provide additional information on the Change in Control Agreements, including a brief discussion of the material provisions of the Change in Control Agreements under the captions “Payments upon a Change in Control” and “Payments upon a Qualifying Termination in Connection with a Change in Control.”

Indemnification Agreements

We enter into separate Indemnification Agreements with each of our executive officers. Each agreement remains in effect during and after employment with respect to any action taken while the individual serves as an executive officer. The agreements are designed to attract, retain and motivate executive officers by encouraging reasonable and measured risk-taking in the interests of our business and our shareholders, and protecting against liabilities incurred in the performance of their duties to the maximum extent permitted by Ohio law.

The agreements provide for indemnification for all expenses, including attorney fees, judgments, fines, and settlement amounts, that the executive officer incurs by reason of his or her service:

 

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ELEMENTS OF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

 

•

in a civil action or proceeding by another party (unless it is proven that the officer’s act or failure to act was taken with deliberate intent to cause injury to our business or in reckless disregard for the best interest of our business); or

 

•

in a criminal action or proceeding (unless the officer had reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful).

Executive Perquisites

During fiscal year 2020, we made various executive perquisites available to each of the Named Executive Officers. These perquisites are offered to promote the business objectives for each perquisite as described below and to ensure that our executive compensation program remains competitive to attract, retain and motivate the individuals necessary to advance the goals of The Win Strategy. The costs of these perquisites for the Named Executive Officers reportable for fiscal year 2020 are included in the “All Other Compensation” column of the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020.

Private Clubs. We pay or reimburse initiation fees for one private club for each executive officer. We offer this perquisite to encourage executive officers to entertain business colleagues and customers, engage in social interaction with peers from other companies, local leadership and the community, and hold business meetings at off-site locations. Historically we have paid or reimbursed the initiation fees and provided gross up payments on those fees for additional clubs for the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Officer, the President and Chief Operating Officer and at the Executive and Senior Vice President levels on a business-needs basis and only with appropriate advance approval. We maintain a policy of not providing gross up payments on private club initiation fees, and in fiscal year 2020 no such gross up payments were made.

Spousal Travel. In limited circumstances and only with appropriate advance approval, we reimburse our executive officers for transportation, lodging, meals, entertainment and other travel expenses for their spouses or other family members who accompany them on out-of-town business. We offer these perquisites to encourage executive officers to spend an appropriate amount of time with their direct reports in locations away from corporate headquarters, to allow executive officers and their spouses to develop a more personal relationship with the executive officers’ subordinates and their families, and to encourage spouses to attend retirement parties, funerals, business dinners and other corporate functions at locations away from their homes.

Executive Physicals. We pay for annual physicals and any necessary travel vaccinations for each of our executive officers and certain other key team members. We offer this benefit as part of our overall preventive medicine program to promptly identify and address medical issues and to preserve our investment in our executive officers by encouraging them to maintain healthy lifestyles and be proactive in addressing actual or potential health issues.

Leased Vehicles. We lease an automobile for each of our executive officers and for certain other key team members. We offer this perquisite to provide executive officers with use of a company car for business travel needs, recognizing that the vehicles can also be used for personal purposes. We pay or reimburse each executive officer for lease payments on one automobile, typically for a three-year term. Each executive officer has a maximum allowance of $1,570 per month. We also reimburse each executive officer for the cost of tires and maintenance and provide insurance on each vehicle during the lease term. We require each executive officer to take title to his or her vehicle at the end of the lease term because we amortize the entire cost of the vehicle over the lease term. We pay or reimburse each executive officer for sales taxes on his or her vehicle at the time of title transfer, but the executive officer is responsible for the payment of all income taxes assessed on payments and reimbursements made during the lease term and at the time of title transfer, including those assessed on the fair market value of the vehicle at the time of title transfer.

Matching Gifts Program. We match any amount in excess of $50 contributed to any accredited educational institution by an active, full-time employee, retiree, or member of our Board of Directors with at least one year of service. Our matching contributions are capped at $5,000 per fiscal year for any individual’s contribution to any single institution, and $10,000 per fiscal year for any individual’s aggregate contributions to all institutions.

Company Apartments. We maintain apartments in Cleveland, Ohio, Newport Beach, California and London, England to provide accommodations to team members working off-site at or relocating to our primary facilities. The apartments are also available to the executive officers for personal use with appropriate advance approval if the apartments are not otherwise being used for business purposes.

 

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Entertainment Venues. We maintain loges, boxes and tickets at various entertainment venues to provide civic support to arts, entertainment and other cultural activities at certain significant business locations and to provide a favorable setting for our team members to entertain customers and other business associates. The loges, boxes and tickets are, however, available to executive officers for personal use if they are not otherwise being used for business purposes. We pay all costs of admission, but all costs of food are paid by the executive officer using the venue only for personal use.

Corporate Aircraft. Effective May 1, 2019, the Committee elected to offer limited non-business use of our corporate aircraft to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for purposes of their safety, security, confidentiality and productivity while traveling. Such use is limited to U.S. domestic travel only and 50 hours of flight time per fiscal year for our Chief Executive Officer and 30 hours of flight time per fiscal year to each of our Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Otherwise, non-business use of our corporate aircraft by our executive officers is only available if (a) the flight was previously authorized for business purposes, there are available seats that are not being used for those business purposes and the officer’s use does not involve a deviation or extension of the planned business-travel itinerary, or (b) there is a medical emergency or other special circumstance and the flight is pre-approved by our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer or Chief Financial Officer.

CONSIDERATION OF 2019 SAY-ON-PAY VOTING RESULTS

At our 2019 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, we received approval, based on the total votes cast, for our advisory “say-on-pay” vote to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers. The Committee and Mercer specifically considered the voting results when exploring potential changes to our executive compensation program in fiscal year 2020. The Committee believes the voting results demonstrate strong, consistent support for our executive compensation program. The Committee will continue to explore with Mercer potential improvements to our executive compensation program to the extent appropriate to keep our executive compensation program aligned with best practices in our competitive market.

 

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COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Human Resources and Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis required by Item 402(b) of Regulation S-K with the Corporation’s management and, based on such review and discussions, the Human Resources and Compensation Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Proxy Statement.

Human Resources and Compensation Committee:

Joseph Scaminace, Chair

Robert G. Bohn

Kevin A. Lobo

Candy M. Obourn

James R. Verrier

James L. Wainscott

 

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COMPENSATION TABLES

SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020

The following table sets forth compensation information for our Named Executive Officers.

 

Name and Principal Position		Year		Salary       ($)(1)		Stock   Awards   ($)(2)		Option   Awards   ($)(3)		Non-Equity   Incentive Plan   Compensation ($)(4)		Change in Pension Value and   Nonqualified   Deferred Compensation Earnings ($)(5)		All Other Compensation ($)(6)		Total       ($)
Thomas L. Williams,		2020		1,159,375		5,350,280		2,992,950		3,230,087		5,986,427		143,742		18,862,861
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board		2019		1,250,000		5,173,005		2,980,930		3,148,895		4,757,754		161,916		17,472,500
		2018		1,200,000		6,068,600		2,961,344		2,167,473		5,667,239		173,790		18,238,446
Catherine A. Suever,		2020		750,000		1,594,690		892,350		1,146,609		3,867,370		103,432		8,354,451
Executive Vice President - Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer		2019		750,800		1,396,550		804,902		1,123,604		2,732,897		99,632		6,908,385
		2018		715,000		1,580,843		771,284		860,970		1,461,719		106,816		5,496,632
Lee C. Banks,		2020		971,250		2,455,433		1,372,950		1,737,379		3,543,794		215,145		10,295,951
President and Chief Operating Officer		2019		1,000,000		4,828,211		1,341,382		1,738,634		2,632,389		234,326		11,774,942
		2018		950,000		2,909,002		1,419,098		1,417,466		2,102,817		150,410		8,948,793
Joseph R. Leonti (7)		2020		615,030		834,509		466,763		737,088		—		293,406		2,946,796
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary		2019		605,000		620,654		357,653		717,294		—		545,826		2,846,427
		2018		565,000		822,790		400,875		578,679		—		534,670		2,902,014
Andrew M. Weeks (8)		2020		571,140		688,038		384,413		648,957		—		638,204		2,930,752
Vice President and President - Engineered Materials Group

 

(1)

Reflects the impact of a reduction in base salary in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2020 in accordance with cost control measures implemented in response to the economic downturn and COVID-19. Includes the following amounts deferred under the Savings Restoration Plan and the Executive Deferral Plan for fiscal year 2020:

Savings Restoration Plan: Mr. Williams—$24,844; Ms. Suever—$23,730; Mr. Banks—$22,312; Mr. Leonti—$24,442; and Mr. Weeks —$23,935.

Executive Deferral Plan: Mr. Leonti—$50,000.

These amounts are also reported in the “Executive Contributions in Last Fiscal Year” column of the Nonqualified Deferred Compensation for Fiscal Year 2020 table on page 56.

 

(2)

For 2020, these amounts consist of the aggregate grant date fair value computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 of LTIP Awards granted during fiscal year 2020 to each of the Named Executive Officers. For the LTIP awards, the amounts do not reflect whether a Named Executive Officer has actually realized a financial benefit from the LTIP awards. The amounts were calculated by multiplying the closing price on the date of grant by the number of LTIP Awards received and assuming a payout of 100%. As described beginning on page 38, however, LTIP Award payouts will be calculated following the applicable three-year performance period and could range from a minimum of 0% to a maximum of 200%. The grant date fair value of the LTIP Awards granted during fiscal year 2020 at the maximum payout of 200% are: Mr. Williams— $10,700,560; Ms. Suever—$3,189,380; Mr. Banks—$4,910,866; Mr. Leonti—$1,669,018; and Mr. Weeks—$1,376,076. Dividends in the form of dividend equivalent units are awarded as earned LTIP award shares for those LTIP awards beginning with the calendar years 2019-20-21 performance period. Dividends are paid on the LTIP Awards awarded prior to calendar years 2019-20-21 performance period after the prior performance periods end and the shares are issued at which point they will be paid in proportion to the actual amount of shares earned for the applicable performance period.

 

(3)

Amounts reflect the aggregate grant date fair value for Stock Appreciation Rights granted in fiscal year 2020 computed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718 of Stock Incentive grants. The amounts do not reflect whether a Named Executive Officer has actually realized a financial benefit from the award. The amounts were calculated using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted- average assumptions:

 

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COMPENSATION TABLES

 

 

During fiscal year 2020, no Stock Incentive awards were forfeited by any of the Named Executive Officers.

 

(4)	Amounts consist of the following Target Incentive Bonuses, General RONA Bonuses with PGI Multiplier, if applicable, and Converted RONA Bonuses for fiscal year 2020, which were paid in one or more installments with the final payments in August 2020:

Target Incentive Bonus for fiscal year 2020: Mr. Williams—$1,855,000; Ms. Suever—$640,000; Mr. Banks—$945,000; Mr. Leonti—$388,400; and Mr. Weeks—$300,600.

General RONA Bonus for fiscal year 2020: Mr. Williams—$1,271,255; Ms. Suever—$435,375; Mr. Banks—$689,102; Mr. Leonti—$277,686; and Mr. Weeks—$277,356.

Converted RONA Bonus for fiscal year 2020: Mr. Williams—$103,832; Ms. Suever—$71,234; Mr. Banks—$103,277; Mr. Leonti—$71,002; and Mr. Weeks—$71,002.

Amount also includes the following amount deferred under the Executive Deferral Plan:

Executive Deferral Plan: Mr. Leonti—$50,000.

 

(5)

Amounts consist of the change in annual actuarial present value of pension benefits for Messrs. Williams and Banks and Ms. Suever, as also reported in the Pension Benefits for Fiscal Year 2020 table. Mr. Leonti and Mr. Weeks do not have a benefit under our defined benefit pension plans. None of the Named Executive Officers received above-market or preferential earnings on deferred compensation.

 

(6)	The following table describes each component of the All Other Compensation column:

 

 

(a)

Amount consists of the following company contributions to our Defined Contribution Plans:

Retirement Savings Plan: Mr. Williams—$11,675; Ms. Suever—$10,499; Mr. Banks—$8,746; Mr. Leonti—$22,527 and Mr. Weeks— $22,404.

Savings Restoration Plan: Mr. Williams—$5,565; Ms. Suever—$5,365; Mr. Banks—$4,998; Mr. Leonti—$45,238; and Mr. Weeks— $42,059.

Defined Contribution Supplemental Retirement Program: Mr. Leonti—$152,652; and Mr. Weeks—$475,340.

 

(b)

Reported in this column are cash dividends that Ms. Suever and Mr. Banks received as dividend equivalents on RSUs that they were granted in Fiscal Years 2017 and 2019, and cash dividends that Mr. Weeks received as dividend equivalents on RSUs that he was granted in Fiscal Year 2019.

 

(c)

Reported in this column are amounts reimbursed or incurred by us with respect to: (i) executive long-term disability insurance premiums; (ii) one or more of the following executive perquisites: (A) leased vehicle, including state sales tax if applicable; (B) spousal travel; (C) executive physicals; (D) matching gifts program and (E) corporate aircraft travel. The Named Executive Officers also use our loges, box seats or tickets to various entertainment venues. However, there is no incremental cost to us for their use of these loges, box seats and tickets. No Named Executive Officer received an executive perquisite in an amount that exceeds the greater of $25,000 or 10% of the total amount of executive perquisites received by the Named Executive Officer.

 

(7)	Mr. Leonti was not a Named Executive Officer in Fiscal Year 2019, but was a Named Executive Officer in Fiscal Year 2018.

 

(8)	Mr. Weeks was not a Named Executive Officer for Fiscal Years 2019 and 2018.

 

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GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2020

The following table sets forth information with respect to non-equity and equity incentive plan awards granted to the Named Executive Officers during fiscal year 2020. The LTIP Awards and Stock Incentives listed below have been granted under our Amended 2016 Equity Plan.

 

						Estimated Future Payouts Under Non-Equity Incentive Plan Awards										Estimated Future Payouts Under Equity Incentive Plan Awards										All Other   Option Awards:   Number of   Securities Underlying Options (#)				Exercise   or Base Price of Option Awards ($/Sh)				Grant Date   Fair Value of   Stock and Option Awards ($)
Name		Date		Compensation  Committee Action Date (If Different than Grant Date)		Threshold  ($)		Target ($)				Maximum ($)				Threshold  (#)		Target (#)				Maximum (#)
Thomas L. Williams
Target Incentive Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			927,500				1,855,000			—			—				—				—				—				—
General RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			1,126,250				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
Converted RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			80,490				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
LTIP Award (CY 20-21-22) (3)		1/22/2020		—		—			—				—			0			26,921				53,842				—				—				5,350,280	(2)
Stock Incentives		8/14/2019		—		—			—				—			—			—				—				88,680				158.90				2,992,950
Catherine A. Suever
Target Incentive Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			320,000				640,000			—			—				—				—				—				—
General RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			360,000				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
Converted RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			55,220				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
LTIP Award (CY 20-21-22) (3)		1/22/2020		—		—			—				—			0			8,024				16,048				—				—				1,594,690	(2)
Stock Incentives		8/14/2019		—		—			—				—			—			—				—				26,440				158.90				892,350
Lee C. Banks
Target Incentive Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			472,500				945,000			—			—				—				—				—				—
General RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			577,500				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
Converted RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			80,060				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
LTIP Award (CY 20-21-22) (3)		1/22/2020		—		—			—				—			0			12,355				24,710				—				—				2,455,433	(2)
Stock Incentives		8/14/2019		—		—			—				—			—			—				—				40,680				158.90				1,372,950
Joseph R. Leonti
Target Incentive Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			194,200				388,400			—			—				—				—				—				—
General RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			226,590				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
Converted RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			55,040				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
LTIP Award (CY 20-21-22) (3)		1/22/2020		—		—			—				—			0			4,199				8,398				—				—				834,509	(2)
Stock Incentives		8/14/2019		—		—			—				—			—											13,830				158.90				466,763
Andrew M. Weeks
Target Incentive Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			194,200				388,400			—			—				—				—				—				—
General RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			240,480				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
Converted RONA Bonus		8/14/2019		—		0			55,040				(1)			—			—				—				—				—				—
LTIP Award (CY 20-21-22) (3)		1/22/2020		—		—			—				—			0			3,462				8,398				—				—				688,038	(2)
Stock Incentives		8/14/2019		—		—			—				—			—			—				—				11,390				158.90				384,413

 

(1)

There are no maximum amounts for General RONA Bonuses or Converted RONA Bonuses. General RONA Bonuses and Converted RONA Bonuses are calculated as described in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis beginning on page 23.

(2)

Calculated assuming a payout of 100% as described in footnote 2 to the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020.

(3)

Includes earned LTIP award shares in the form of dividend equivalent units for those LTIPs awarded for the calendar years 2019-20-21 and 2020-21-22 performance periods.

The elements of executive compensation included in each Named Executive Officer’s total compensation as reported in the Summary Compensation Table for Fiscal Year 2020 on page 49 and the compensation programs under which the grants described in the Grants of Plan-Based Awards for Fiscal Year 2020 table above were made are described in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of this Proxy Statement.

 

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