Sustainability and Executive Pay in S&P 500 Companies compared to Canadian Large Caps

Pensions and Investments reports on a study by GMI Ratings research firm that found the majority (58%) of S&P 500 linked executive pay to performance on sustainability (aka environmental social and governance) factors. That's perhaps impressive news at first glance, but the link seemed quite weak in most cases according to the article.

It's interesting to compare results with what I found on my other blog when I compiled the numbers for large Canadian companies in various sectors:

• Aerospace, Waste Management and Engineering - 4 of 11 had at least some explicit link between pay and ESG
• Transportation - 5 of 13 
• Consumer - 2 of 12
• Mining - 16 of 17
• Oil and Gas - 7 of 15

... which in total is 34 out of 68, or exactly 50%. It's not far off, though a bit behind, the US results.