Throughout the term, a series of lectures have been given to pupils on a stimulating range of topics, aiming to stretch, deepen and encourage intellectual debate. This week, Dr Farmer shared highlights on his subject of interest: the complexities of executive pay. Before becoming a teacher, he worked as an executive compensation specialist at a professional services firm.
In his lecture, Dr Farmer discussed several key points with the pupils, including how competition for top executives can drive up pay across the board. He explored the link between executive compensation and company performance, emphasising the goal of aligning decisions with shareholder interests. Dr Farmer also addressed whether short-term profit focus might harm long-term company health and how remuneration committees use various performance indicators and timelines to evaluate executives.
The session provided pupils with an interesting insight into the topic, “I really enjoyed this week’s Experts at Epsom talk as it fitted in very well into my extracurricular studies and was a unique area of corporate finance that I had not yet heard about about.” commented Lara.
In wrapping up the presentation, Dr Farmer concluded that executive pay is a complex issue that gets a lot of people talking, especially when it seems excessive or misaligned with a company’s performance. As the business and leadership dynamics and broader economic landscape shift over time, so too will the debates around executive compensation.
