Company: BWFG
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001505732-25-000079
Chunk: 42

Company: Bankwell Financial Group, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-08
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 42
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The Compensation Committee has concluded that our compensation programs do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on our business. Although a material portion of our executive compensation program is performance-based, the Committee has focused on aligning our compensation policies with the long-term interests of our shareholders and avoiding rewards that could create excessive or inappropriate risks to the Company, as evidenced by the following:

• Our executive compensation program reflects an appropriate mix of compensation elements and balances current and long-term performance objectives, cash and equity compensation, and risks and rewards associated with executive roles.

• We use a variety of performance goals that are consistent with our business objectives, measure performance from different and balanced perspectives, and correlate to long-term value. These goals directly tie to our audited financial statements and are reviewed by our accounting department as well as our external auditors.

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• Our performance goals are tied to our annual budget and set at levels that we believe are reasonable in light of past and expected performance and market conditions.

• Equity incentive awards generally vest over a period of three years, in order to focus our executives on long-term performance and to enhance retention. Vesting requirements encourage executives to avoid short-term actions that are to the Company’s long-term detriment.

• Our stock retention guidelines require executives to retain all vested restricted stock (net of shares withheld for or used to pay taxes) until they achieve the specified ownership level and thereafter maintain such ownership level. These guidelines subject executives to the possibility of significant market penalties in the event they make decisions that benefit the Company in the short-term but ultimately prove detrimental to the Company’s long-term interests.

#### Compensation Committee Report
The Compensation Committee has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis with management and the Committee’s outside compensation consultant. Based on the review and discussions, the Compensation Committee has recommend ed to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in the Company’s 2025 proxy statement.

#### Compensation Committee
<div align='center'>Eric J. Dale, Chair</div>

| Carl M. Porto |     | Todd H. Lampert |

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#### Summary Compensation Table
The following table provides information regarding the total compensation of our CEO and the Company’s two most highly compensated executive officers other than the CEO who were serving as executive officers as of December 31, 2024 (collectively, the “Named Executive Officers” or “NEOs”) for our fiscal years ended December 31, 2024 and 202