If You Want Your CEO to Be Happier, Perhaps Pay Them Less—Agenda
June 29, 2026
Farient Chief Data Officer Eric Hoffmann was featured in Agenda discussing whether increasingly complex long-term incentive (LTI) plans are delivering the outcomes boards intend. The article explores emerging research suggesting that simpler compensation structures centered on salary and annual bonuses may be more effective at motivating executives than large, multi-year equity awards.
Along with insights provided by Farient’s data team, Hoffmann commented on the growing use of high-profile “moonshot” incentive awards and the scrutiny they are likely to face from shareholders and proxy advisors.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see the pushback from shareholders, proxy advisors, but also the competing push for these types of awards from executives,” Hoffmann said. “I think the pendulum will begin to swing the other way. The question is, how long is that going to take, and what sort of pressure is going to be applied to do that?”
About Eric Hoffmann
Chief Data Officer
Louisville, Kentucky
(626) 800-3120
eric.hoffmann@farient.com
Eric leads Farient’s data strategy, operational capabilities, partnerships, research, and client insights. With more than 20 years of human resource technology and data analytics experience, Eric’s work at Farient focuses on creating and delivering information and decision support to boards of directors, human resource professionals, and investors. Combining data analytics and visualization, Eric and his team create compelling narratives that lead to business insight and defensible decisions for his clients.
Eric has extensive experience in executive compensation and performance. From March 2005 to January 2011, he was the Technology Solutions Delivery Leader and a partner at Mercer. In support of Mercer’s compensation and benefits data and analytics business, Eric and his global, cross-disciplinary team delivered leading-edge SaaS-based client-facing and operationally driven data analytics solutions. Before that, Eric was a principal at Mercer, where he led a software development team. Eric holds a BS in computer science and mathematics from Purdue University and an MS in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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