Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000712534-25-000077
Chunk: 33

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 33
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 – Auditor – State of Ohio State Auditor’s Office.

Joseph C. Peterson , 49, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, FMC

Senior Vice President and President, Structured Finance from August 2018 to March 2024; Senior Vice President and Director, Debt Capital Markets and Structured Finance from February 2016 to August 2018; Senior Vice President and Director, Debt Capital Markets from April 2014 to February 2016; Senior Vice President at PNC Bank from 2007-2014; Vice President at General Electric Capital Corporation from 2000-2007.

#### VII.

#### COMPENSATION OF THE NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

#### THE NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
FMC’s named executive officers (“ NEOs ”) for the 2024 fiscal year, as defined in Item 402(a)(3) of SEC Regulation S-K, with the titles they held as of December 31, 2024, were:

• Mark K. Hardwick, Chief Executive Officer;

• Michael J. Stewart, President;

• Michele M. Kawiecki, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer;

• John J. Martin, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer; and

• Joseph C. Peterson, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer.

#### COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PROGRAM AND THE PROCESS FOR IMPLEMENTING THESE OBJECTIVES

The Compensation and Human Resources Committee, under its delegated authority from the Board, has established an effective, straight-forward executive compensation structure that gives FMC’s executives incentives to achieve the Company’s annual and long-term strategic goals, with the ultimate objective of achieving a superior return on the shareholders’ investment. To this end, the Company has designed its compensation programs so that executives have the opportunity to earn an appropriate mix of salary, employee benefits and short and long-term incentives, comprised of both cash and equity, which will financially reward them for excellent performance as measured against the Company’s strategic goals and in comparison to financial industry peers. The equity-based incentive compensation program includes provisions that obligate key employees to retain ownership throughout the period of their employment by the Company of a portion of the common stock they are awarded under that program, thus increasing their financial stake in the Company’s continued success and further aligning their interests with those of the other shareholders.

The Compensation and Human Resources Committee’s Corporate Compensation Policy lists the following considerations for the design of executive compensation programs that