The following cases illustrate the range of our work:
Start-up financial services company (Greenwich, CT)
- Situation: A privately held, leveraged finance company backed by two premier institutional investors needed to recruit staff from multiple talent sources, including large diversified financial services firms, top-tier investment firms and boutique private equity and hedge funds. The new total compensation strategy and system had to be responsive to each talent source and address the expectations of shareholders for a return on investment.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors collected and analyzed data on the needs and interests of each potential talent source and the goals and priorities of the institutional investors. We then developed a set of basic principles pertaining to compensation and translated these principles into a comprehensive total compensation system. Deliverables included the design of a base salary structure, an annual incentive plan, a phantom stock plan, deferred compensation and co-investment plans, and a benefits program. We developed employment agreements and created formal plan documentation.
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Newly IPO’d pharmaceutical company (Cambridge, MA)
- Situation: A biopharmaceutical company that was founded as a start-up in the late 1990s needed help evolving from a flat organization into a layered, multifunctional structure just before its IPO in 2007. Rapid staff growth included extensive senior-level recruitment from large pharmaceutical companies. The client recruited its first head of human resources just before its IPO, and Three Lens Advisors was retained to assist the head of human resources in the development of a total compensation strategy and system to support the firm’s rapid growth and transformation.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors developed a base salary structure, an annual incentive plan and a stock option allocation program. We created a career ladders program for the company to align career progression with total compensation opportunities, defining promotion criteria and required skills and competencies by career stage and function. We also worked with senior management to develop proposals for a new competitive peer group for senior executive compensation and to define the compensation committee’s role and core processes.
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Private equity portfolio company in the durable goods industry (Hartford, CT)
- Situation: A durable goods manufacturer experiencing rapid business growth had begun to recruit senior executive talent from large public companies and to assign key executives to overseas postings. Three Lens Advisors was retained to develop a new peer group and to conduct a competitive assessment of the company’s executive compensation program.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors advised the company on the phase-out of certain aspects of its senior executive total compensation program to improve performance. We also advised the company on the development of an expatriate compensation policy and program. Additional projects under discussion include the design of a broad-based employee incentive plan and local total compensation programs in international markets that are of interest to the company.
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Business unit of S&P 500 energy company (Washington, DC)
- Situation: The client developed an internal business development function to originate large-scale power generation and alternative energy projects around the world. To staff key positions, the unit began recruiting experienced investment professionals from the private equity industry. Three Lens Advisors was asked to create a custom-tailored total compensation approach to support this new business development strategy.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors advised management on the design and documentation of a total compensation program, including a specialized long-term incentive plan that would facilitate the attraction, retention and motivation of seasoned investment professionals from the private equity industry.
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Pre-IPO medical products startup (Cambridge, MA)
- Situation: A startup medical products company that recently received seed financing from a venture capital firm came to us while preparing for a Series A financing round. The client had recently recruited highly skilled new staff to expand the organization beyond the founders group and expressed interest in using creative compensation structures to retain, motivate and reward key staff to achieve stretch performance objectives.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors researched competitive practices among companies at similar and more advanced stages of development to ascertain how the compensation structure changes as companies mature from startup to IPO. Based on this data, we worked with senior management to develop a performance-vested stock option plan. We are currently working with senior management to develop a broader total compensation system to enable the company to expand quickly once it completes its Series A financing round.
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Publicly-traded diversified financial services firm (Chicago, IL)
- Situation: A mid-cap diversified financial services firm headquartered in Chicago, IL is expanding beyond its core business and needs to address associated compensation issues both at the executive level and below. The firm does not have a head of compensation and benefits and the board compensation committee has determined that its consulting firm should not advise management to avoid any perception of conflict of interest.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors has been retained to advise the VP of Human Resources and senior management on compensation matters generally, such as the evaluation of business unit incentive plan proposals, and to undertake certain strategic projects. These include a competitive assessment of executive compensation practices, the development of executive employment agreements, and an overhaul of the firm’s long-term incentive plan.
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Private equity roll-up of three media companies (Los Angeles, CA / New York, NY)
- Situation: A private equity firm acquired three media companies in different markets, organized them under a holding company structure and recruited a new CEO to integrate the three companies and lead the firm to an exit. The executive search firm that placed the CEO recommended Three Lens Advisors to advise him on how to integrate compensation and related human resources systems.
- Solution: Three Lens Advisors conducted a comprehensive review of the compensation systems in place in each of the three acquired entities and developed a proposal for a holding company compensation system that would support the integrated business strategy being implemented by the new CEO. This included implementing formal salary structures and designing and implementing new annual and long-term incentive plans. The long-term incentive plan was unique in that it simulated equity participation for the broad employee population but did not create any ownership dilution and only created earnings dilution if it paid out upon a successful exit.
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