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Average Say on Pay support stands at 92.1% for Russell 3000 companies and 90.6% for S&P 500 companies year-to-date. 16 Russell 3000 companies have failed Say on Pay so far this year (0.8% failure rate), four of which are in the S&P 500 (1.0% failure rate).

Compensation elements have shifted to focus more on equity over the last ten years. Base salary and bonus compensation have become less prominent in pay design and have been replaced by more emphasis on long-term incentive (LTI) vehicles.

This report analyzes CEO demographics and succession practices in the Russell 3000 and S&P 500, drawing on extensive longitudinal data to highlight shifting turnover dynamics, diversity trends, tenure, and approaches to leadership continuity.

2025 SOP support stayed strong, with nearly 2,000 votes reported.

2024 Say On Pay failure rate the lowest it has ever been.

This report offers comprehensive data on current trends in CEO succession among US public companies, along with best practices for leadership transitions.

The inclusion of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics in incentive plans has reached a more stable phase after several years of growth, with prevalence changing from 72% in FY2022 to 74% in FY2023.

Say on Pay vote failure rate sits at lowest level since 2017.

ESG metric prevalence in incentives continues to increase among S&P 500 companies but at a slower rate than prior years, as market focus shifts to refining existing ESG metric types and structures rather than increasing adoption.

CAP to SCT ratios remain positively correlated with TSR over the reported period.

Our year-end report recaps proxy voting results and trends for 2022.

Moving forward, we anticipate that ESG metrics will continue to become more prevalent among S&P 500 companies before hitting an eventual plateau.