In early 2013, many were mystified when one of the most vocal deflationists, and hence stock market bears, David Rosenberg, turned furiously bullish. Just what was the motive behind this transformation many wondered? Thanks to a just filed Gluskin Sheff compensation table, we can put all such lingering questions to rest: the reason, or rather reasons: 3,082,441... all-cash.
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Some more on why the formerly rather bearish ex-Merrill strategist will make the most in 2013, or $3.1 million, almost as much as the CEO of his employer, and has the highest, $1.8 million, annual incentive plan of any Gluskin Sheff:
Mr. Rosenberg’s employment agreement provides a mechanism by which Mr. Rosenberg shares in any net revenues generated from Gluskin Sheff’s efforts to monetize economic research authored by Mr. Rosenberg and published by Gluskin Sheff. Mr. Rosenberg’s employment agreement further provides that he will receive guaranteed additional compensation of $1,800,000 per annum in addition to his base salary until June 30, 2014.... In the case of Mr. Rosenberg, his employment agreement stipulates that he will receive guaranteed additional compensation of $1,800,000 per annum until June 30, 2014, in addition to his base salary. For the 2013 fiscal year, $0.5 million of the guaranteed additional compensation paid to Mr. Rosenberg was allocated from the Bonus Pool, and for fiscal 2012 the guaranteed additional compensation was not allocated from the bonus pool.
And the full explanation, from Globe and Mail [7]
It's hard to imagine a a top-five executive with a public company in Canada with a sweeter deal than David Rosenberg, as evidenced by his employer Gluskin + Sheff Associates Inc.'s newly filed management information circular.
Mr. Rosenberg, the all-star chief economist and strategist with the money management firm earned an impressive $3.1-million in the company's most recent fiscal year, ended June 30, making the former chief North American economist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch the company's second-highest paid executive behind CEO Jeremy Freedman.
What is unusual about his compensation is how little of it is tied to the success of his employer, either in its financial performance or stock price. Actually, none of it is. As long as Gluskin has enough money to keep on the lights, stay in business and pay employees, Mr. Rosenberg is guaranteed a payment of $2-million a year. That's split into two parts: his $200,000 salary, and a $1.8-million amount identified in the proxy circular as "guaranteed annual compensation." The guaranteed payment agreement has been in place for the last two fiscal years and continues through the end of this fiscal year next June. It is paid in cash, not share units.
The third element of his compensation is variable, but it has nothing to do with the performance of his firm or the accuracy of his forecasting, but rather the popularity of his research, which reaches far beyond Canada: Mr. Rosenberg pocketed $1.08-million in gross pay last year from his share of net revenues generated by the company's sale of economic research he pens. That's up from $877,645 the year before, making Mr. Rosenberg one of the few Canadian authors to earn a $1-million a year for his work.
Not a bad haul when you consider Mr. Rosenberg made a much publicized shift in his thinking earlier this year, shedding part of his bearish stance to adopt a more bullish view on Canada.
Source: Gluskin Sheff circular [8] [8]