Company: STAA
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-058174
Chunk: 34

Company: STAAR SURGICAL CO
Filing Date: 2025-04-24
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 34
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, a strong network of surgeons, and a clear path to market share gains in a market that we expect to grow substantially over time. The building blocks for STAAR’s success are in place, and during 2025, we will be looking at opportunities for improvement, optimization, and efficiency. Despite recent challenges, we believe STAAR is well positioned to deliver strong returns as the refractive surgery market stabilizes and resumes its historic growth. Say-on-Pay Results, Shareholder Engagement and Actions Taken The Committee and the Board consider shareholder feedback regarding executive compensation. In 2024, we received 83% support on our “say on pay” vote. While this outcome is well above majority support, it indicated some level of dissatisfaction with our pay programs. The Company regularly interacts with shareholders throughout the year to discuss our financial results and to offer an opportunity for shareholders to provide their input and feedback, including related to corporate governance matters and executive compensation. Key concerns noted through shareholder engagement included the size and form of the sign-on equity award for Mr. Frinzi when he was appointed our new CEO in 2023, prior use of discretion in determining bonus and PSU payout levels, less than a majority of long-term incentives (LTI) being in the form of performance-based awards, and PSUs that duplicate the annual bonus metric and only measure one year of performance. As noted above, the pay actions in 2024 and 2025 directly reflect feedback received from shareholders, including: • Applied no discretion in 2024 incentive outcomes, with executives earning zero payout for both the annual cash bonus program and the 2024 PSU awards • Increased the weighting of PSUs in the equity mix for our executives, with 40% of the 2024 annual equity award comprised of PSUs, and 50% of the 2025 award comprised of PSUs • Adopted a new PSU program for 2025 that measures revenue growth over a three-year period • Applied the same performance standards in the pay program for Mr. Farrell when he was appointed our CEO in 2025, with overall compensation levels lower than our prior CEO Compensation Program Philosophy and Process We seek to apply the core principles of our compensation philosophy in all pay actions, including:

| Targeting awards that will attract, retain, and motivate outstanding leaders that drive positive business results | Rewarding achievement of a mix of near, medium, and longer-term business objectives designed to build and increase shareholder value | Paying for performance and aligning the interests of management with Company shareholders |

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