Key Insights

• Assured Guaranty will host its Annual General Meeting on 2nd of May
• Total pay for CEO Dominic Frederico includes US$1.25m salary
• Total compensation is 58% above industry average
• Assured Guaranty's EPS grew by 46% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 60%

CEO Dominic Frederico has done a decent job of delivering relatively good performance at Assured Guaranty Ltd. (NYSE:AGO) recently. As shareholders go into the upcoming AGM on 2nd of May, CEO compensation will probably not be their focus, but rather the steps management will take to continue the growth momentum. However, some shareholders may still want to keep CEO compensation within reason.

How Does Total Compensation For Dominic Frederico Compare With Other Companies In The Industry?

According to our data, Assured Guaranty Ltd. has a market capitalization of US$4.3b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth US$13m over the year to December 2023. That's mostly flat as compared to the prior year's compensation. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$1.3m.

On comparing similar companies from the American Insurance industry with market caps ranging from US$2.0b to US$6.4b, we found that the median CEO total compensation was US$8.5m. Accordingly, our analysis reveals that Assured Guaranty Ltd. pays Dominic Frederico north of the industry median. What's more, Dominic Frederico holds US$129m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

Speaking on an industry level, nearly 13% of total compensation represents salary, while the remainder of 87% is other remuneration. In Assured Guaranty's case, non-salary compensation represents a greater slice of total remuneration, in comparison to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

Assured Guaranty Ltd.'s Growth

Assured Guaranty Ltd. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 46% a year over the past three years. In the last year, its revenue is up 16%.

This demonstrates that the company has been improving recently and is good news for the shareholders. It's also good to see decent revenue growth in the last year, suggesting the business is healthy and growing. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Assured Guaranty Ltd. Been A Good Investment?

We think that the total shareholder return of 60%, over three years, would leave most Assured Guaranty Ltd. shareholders smiling. So they may not be at all concerned if the CEO were to be paid more than is normal for companies around the same size.

In Summary...

Given that the company's overall performance has been reasonable, the CEO remuneration policy might not be shareholders' central point of focus in the upcoming AGM. However, if the board proposes to increase the compensation, some shareholders might have questions given that the CEO is already being paid higher than the industry.

CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. That's why we did our research, and identified 3 warning signs for Assured Guaranty (of which 1 doesn't sit too well with us!) that you should know about in order to have a holistic understanding of the stock.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking at a different set of stocks. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.