Company: FFWM
Filing Date: 2025-04-17
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-036041
Chunk: 72

Company: First Foundation Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-17
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 72
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) annual cash incentive compensation; and (iii) equity incentive compensation in the form of RSUs. Base salaries constitute the “guaranteed” portion of each NEO’s compensation, while cash incentives and equity incentives constitute the “at-risk” portion of our NEOs’ compensation, because the payment of those incentives generally is made contingent on the financial performance of the Company and, in the case of equity incentives, on the continued employment of the NEO with the Company. We believe that these components of executive compensation enable us to retain and attract management employees in the competitive local and national markets, as well as balance the motivation of our NEOs and other key management employees to execute on immediate goals while remaining conscious of our longer-term strategic objectives. The allocation of the individual components of executive compensation is based on a number of factors, including competitive market conditions, the positions within our organization held by our NEOs and other key management employees, and each executive’s ability to influence our financial performance. Generally, the percentage of compensation “at risk,” either in the form of bonus or equity compensation, is higher for our NEOs than for other management employees because the performance of our NEOs has a greater impact on whether we achieve our financial goals and strategic objectives. The Compensation Committee performs annual reviews of our executive compensation programs to evaluate their competitiveness and their consistency with our overall management compensation philosophy and objectives. To ensure that we are appropriately compensating our NEOs and other key management employees and that we have appropriate human resources to execute on our business plans, the members of our Compensation Committee review information that is available to them and use their judgment in making compensation decisions. While we consider the compensation paid by other comparable or similar 44

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companies (including the peer group referred to above) to their senior executives, no single factor is determinative in setting compensation structure or allocating among elements of compensation. In addition, the Compensation Committee reviews the Company’s executive and employee compensation practices to assess whether they create improper incentives that would result in material risks to the Company. The Committee believes that the features of our compensation plans and programs, either alone or combined with the systems of controls in place, do not encourage unnecessary or excessive risk and do not encourage the manipulation of reported earnings to enhance the compensation of any employee. Base Salaries The Compensation Committee reviews base salaries for all NEOs and other executives annually to align them with market and industry practices as appropriate and after considering the Company’s general financial performance and the executive’s role, responsibilities, experience, and future potential. The Compensation