Proxy Reporting of Executive Pay 23   The ability to assess competitive executive practices among comparable competing organizations is available to all insurance agents and employee benefit consultants thanks to the Internet and SEC reporting.  The proxy reporting of executive pay, along with 10-K and other materials, are available to all professionals within seconds.  Determining how much one should pay top-level management requires more than a judgment regarding direct pay (salary and bonus).  In privately held firms today, long-term incentives and deferred compensation plans oftentimes accumulate more value than do direct pay.  These plans often exist to match the equity compensation rewards earned by counterparts in publicly traded corporations.  Matching the values of these plans to the rewards earned via stock options is one of the key skills called upon by the agent involved in executive compensation planning and design.  Moreover, the insurance agent today acts as a consultant to many clients.  Oftentimes an agent is asked his or her thoughts regarding competitive practices.  This course introduces the Internet resources that exist today to quickly assess competitive executive practices, with a focus on proxy reporting of executive compensation data.