Company: WTFCN
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-031671
Chunk: 53

Company: WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 53
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 Banking System, Inc. and Hancock Whitney Corporation, based on the peer group selection criteria described above. When making compensation decisions, the Committee generally reviews the compensation paid to our CEO and other NEOs relative to the compensation paid to similarly-situated executives, to the extent available, at our peer companies based on publicly available information reported in our peers’ proxy statements. Benchmark Analysis In December 2023, Meridian provided the Committee with background information regarding the Company’s compensation structure as compared to the peer group and market practices. Meridian provided the Committee with an analysis undertaken with respect to each of the NEO’s positions, including a comparison of target total compensation, target total direct compensation as well as each component of compensation (e.g., base salary, short-term incentives, long-term incentives, benefits) on a comparative basis with the Company’s peer group. In addition, the Committee reviewed NEO compensation in the aggregate to that of our peer group. The Committee believes that reviewing compensation across both dimensions of their role and in aggregate

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TABLE OF CONTENTS provides the Committee with the most well-rounded view of the appropriateness of NEO compensation levels relative to peers. Pay-for-Performance Analysis Each year, Meridian conducts a pay-for-performance analysis which compares realized and realizable pay for the CEO as compared to the chief executive officers in our peer group. This analysis provides a retrospective look which evaluates the historical relationship between pay and performance, the effectiveness of the Company’s pay structures and performance goals and whether pay was aligned with performance. The 2024 study reviewed pay and performance over the prior three-year period (2021-2023) and found that the Company’s historical performance and the CEO’s actual pay results were reasonably aligned. The Committee intends to continue to monitor the effectiveness of the Company’s executive pay program and alignment of pay with performance. Amended and Restated Employment Agreement with Mr. Wehmer As previously disclosed, in early 2023, the Board appointed Mr. Crane to succeed Mr. Wehmer, the Company’s founder, as Chief Executive Officer. In negotiating the terms of continued employment and engagement with Mr. Wehmer for recommendation to the Board, the Committee took into account factors including the need to provide for a smooth and orderly leadership transition, and valuable continuity, that would benefit all of the Company’s stakeholders. The Committee considered it essential to provide for Mr. Wehmer’s continued engagement during a transition period that extends through December 31, 2026, given Mr. Wehmer’s unique role as