Executive compensation is under increasing scrutiny
In a challenging economic environment, companies must ensure that executive compensation remains competitive, aligned with performance, and consistent with evolving market expectations.
For this purpose Board of Directors need reliable market intelligence to determine whether compensation structures remain fit for purpose, competitive, and aligned with best practice.
Getting these decisions right matters
Our Executive Compensation Design Dashboard and Levels Report offer a clear view into current market practice among the top 100 listed companies in Switzerland. The dashboard and report provide a thorough basis to benchmark your compensation approach, assess its competitiveness and support informed decision-making on executive pay design.
Executive Compensation Design Dashboard
Our Executive Compensation Design Dashboard is based on the published information on the compensation programmes applicable to the Boards of Directors and Executive Committees of the top 100 listed companies in Switzerland. The dashboard covers:
Board of Directors compensation:
- Compensation structure: board retainers, committee fees, meeting fees, etc.
- Form of compensation: cash, equity (instruments, restriction periods, etc.)
- Fee levels
Executive Committee compensation:
- Compensation mix
- Design of short-term and long-term incentive plans
- Malus and clawback provisions
- Share ownership guidelines
The report is delivered via an interactive dashboard and line-by-line data in Excel format. It is a uniquely detailed and comprehensive work of reference for anyone with an interest in the compensation of Swiss executives and non-executive directors.
Companies that purchase the report are invited to:
- Two physical roundtables, taking place in our PwC office in Oerlikon in November 2026 and June 2027. While the November roundtable is a half-day event with an experience exchange on executive compensation, the June roundtable is a full-day event as combination of guest speaker session and experience exchange.
- Five Teams meetings focusing on topics in executive compensation chosen by the participants, taking place in October 2026 and each month from January to April 2027.
Executive Compensation Levels Report
This report is based on a survey (information collected from the participating companies) and includes data on the compensation levels for Executive Committee roles and functions reporting to the Chief Executive Officer that are based in Switzerland.
The information includes:
- Annual base salary
- Short-term incentive (target and actual)
- Long-term incentive (target and vesting)
- Pension contributions
In order to ensure the highest level of relevance, the data is presented in four cuts for each function:
- SMI companies
- SMIM companies
- SPI companies (non-SMI and non-SMIM)
- All companies
In 2026, our database includes compensation information from 68 participating companies, maintaining a robust and diverse representation of Swiss companies.