Company: ABR-PF
Filing Date: 2025-04-17
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001628280-25-018236
Chunk: 38

Company: ARBOR REALTY TRUST INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-17
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 38
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 and for any reason. This is consistent with our performance-based employment and compensation philosophy.

Base Salary

Salaries provide executives with a base level of income and help achieve the objectives outlined above by attracting and retaining talented individuals with the skills and experience necessary to achieve our key business objectives. The Compensation Committee reviewed and approved, with respect to 2024, the base salaries of the NEO group. Generally, base salaries are not based upon specific measures of corporate performance, but are determined by: (1) tenure of service; (2) scope and complexity of the position, including current job responsibilities; (3) an evaluation of each officer’s individual performance and contribution to our operational, financial and strategic goals and objectives; and (4) with respect to the NEOs other than Mr. Kaufman, the recommendations of our CEO. Consistent with compensation practices commonly applied in the real estate finance industry, salaries generally consist of a lower percentage of an executive’s total compensation, with a substantial portion of total compensation coming from incentive compensation that is tied to our performance.

Please refer to the “Summary Compensation Table for 2024” below for a further description of the base salaries paid to our NEOs with respect to their services during 2024.

Annual Incentive Awards

We aim to promote a pay-for-performance culture, with a substantial portion of total compensation being “at risk.” The annual incentive award may be in the form of cash, stock-based awards or a combination thereof, at the discretion of the Compensation Committee. We do not have a specific policy, practice or formula regarding an allocation between the cash component and the stock-based component. These awards are designed to help achieve the objectives of the compensation program and may vary significantly from year to year. Except with respect to Mr. Kaufman’s Annual Incentive Agreement, in 2024, the Compensation Committee did not establish any specific performance-based goals that must be met in order to receive the annual incentive award.

The Compensation Committee believes that the structure and ultimate payout amounts of the incentive awards are appropriate to attract, retain and reward the NEOs, are competitive with those offered by our peers, provide a strong performance and retention incentive, support a pay-for-performance culture and increase each NEO’s vested interest in the Company.

The Compensation Committee determines the annual incentive awards of the NEOs in amounts relative to each individual’s contributions and responsibilities. Individuals with increased ability to directly impact our performance were allocated larger awards because they bear a greater proportion of the risk that compensation will decrease if we do not perform as expected