Company: AOS
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001193125-25-037641
Chunk: 74

Company: SMITH A O CORP
Filing Date: 2025-02-27
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 74
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 We utilize our executive compensation programs to provide competitive compensation that will attract and retain our named executive officers, encourage our named executive officers to perform at their highest levels by linking compensation with financial and performance milestones and directly align our executive compensation with stockholders’ interests through the use of equity-based incentive awards. The Personnel and Compensation Committee has overseen the development and implementation of our executive compensation programs in line with these core compensation principles. The Personnel and Compensation Committee also continuously reviews, evaluates and updates our executive compensation programs to help ensure that we provide competitive compensation that motivates our named executive officers to perform at their highest levels, while increasing long-term value to our stockholders. With these core compensation principles in mind, the Personnel and Compensation Committee took the following compensation actions in 2024 to align our programs with stockholder interests:

| • |     | maintained the structure of our compensation programs and incentive awards generally to provide compensation at targeted levels based on benchmark studies; |

| • |     | conducted an annual risk assessment with respect to our executive compensation program; and |

| • |     | maintained the maximum cap in our annual incentive compensation plan at 200% of target, which aligns with market practices and rewards management for building extraordinary value for stockholders. |

We believe the Personnel and Compensation Committee’s compensation actions, like those described above, demonstrate our continued commitment to align our executive compensation with stockholders’ interests, while providing competitive compensation to attract, motivate and retain our named executive officers and other key talent. We will continue to review and adjust our executive compensation programs with these goals in mind to help ensure the long-term success of our company and generate increased long-term value to our stockholders. The Board of Directors requests the support of our stockholders for the compensation of our named executive officers as disclosed in the “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” section and the accompanying compensation tables and narrative discussion in this Proxy Statement. This advisory vote on the compensation of our named executive officers gives our stockholders another means to make their opinions known on our executive compensation programs. For the reasons we discuss above, the Board recommends that stockholders vote in favor of the following resolution: “ RESOLVED, that the stockholders approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the named executive officers, as disclosed pursuant to Item 402 of Regulation S-K,including in the ‘Compensation Discussion and Analysis’ section and compensation tables and narrative discussion contained in this Proxy Statement.” This vote on the compensation of our named executive officers is advisory and not binding on us, our Board of Directors