Company: ASB
Filing Date: 2025-03-17
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000007789-25-000025
Chunk: 39

Company: ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP
Filing Date: 2025-03-17
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 39
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,530 |                                                                      $22.36 |                                                                                                                                5,211,343 |

| RECOMMENDATION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS |

The Board recommends that shareholders vote “FOR” the approval of the Associated Banc-Corp 2025 Equity Incentive Plan.

32

PROPOSAL 3: ADVISORY APPROVAL OF ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP’S NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICER COMPENSATION Background We recognize that executive compensation is an important matter for our shareholders, and in accordance with SEC rules, we are asking our shareholders to approve an advisory resolution on the compensation of our Named Executive Officers (“NEOs”). This advisory approval, commonly referred to as a “say-on-pay” proposal, is a non-binding approval on the compensation paid to our NEOs as set forth in the “Executive Compensation” section of this proxy statement, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the accompanying executive compensation tables and corresponding narrative discussion and footnotes. It is not intended to address any specific item of executive compensation, but rather the overall executive compensation program for our NEOs and our executive compensation philosophy, policies and practices as described in this Proxy Statement. The non-binding resolution approving our executive compensation program was approved by more than 97% of the shareholders present or represented by proxy at our 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Our Pay Philosophy Associated’s executive compensation program for our NEOs is designed to attract, retain, motivate and reward highly qualified and talented executives who will enable us to execute on our strategic priorities, perform better than our competitors and drive long-term shareholder value. The underlying core principles of our executive compensation program are to (i) align executive incentive compensation with long-term shareholder value creation, (ii) provide target executive compensation within competitive market levels, and (iii) reward performance, without incentivizing unnecessary or excessive risk, while maintaining an appropriate cost structure. Best Practices • A substantial portion of total executive compensation is variable and tied directly to Company performance. • All long-term incentive compensation awards are in the form of Associated shares of stock. • Equity awards are heavily weighted in the form of performance-based restricted stock units (75% of awards) and time- based restricted stock units (25% of awards) to align with shareholder value. • We maintain stock ownership guidelines whic h require each of our NEOs to hold 100% of shares of restricted stock granted until the applicable share ownership guideline amount is achieved. • All incentive compensation awards are subject to a clawback policy. • Our CEO and other