Schwab CEO Walt Bettinger's pay drops 35%

Brokerage and investment manager Charles Schwab Corp. gave its CEO Walter Bettinger a pay package valued at $10 million last year, according to a regulatory filing made Tuesday. That's down 35 percent from the $15.4 million in compensation Bettinger received in 2008, according to an Associated Press calculation of data filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The drop in Bettinger's compensation came partly as a result of a lower performance-based cash bonus in a year when Schwab saw its own profit fall significantly. Bettinger, 49, served as president and chief operating officer for most of 2008 until his promotion in October of that year to his current position. In 2009, Bettinger received a base salary of $900,000 and no bonus. That compared with a base salary of $793,750 and a bonus of $128,250 in 2008. The stock and options awarded to Bettinger in 2009 were valued at $6.5 million on their grant date, down from $10 million the previous year. His performance-based compensation fell to $2.5 million, from $4.3 million in 2008. Bettinger also received perks and other compensation worth $98,160, consisting of $83,500 in restricted stock dividends and $12,500 in matching contributions to his retirement plan. The 35 percent smaller pay package mirrors the steep decrease in profit Schwab saw in 2009. For the year, the company's earnings fell 35 percent to $787 million as trading revenue declined by 8 percent, though trading activity remained healthy. In the fourth quarter alone, Schwab said its profit fell 47 percent as low interest rates and waivers on management fees hurt revenue. The company's shares, however, rose 16 percent during 2009 to close the year at $18.82. The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation package during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year. The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals that companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executive's compensation in the previous fiscal year.