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Conseco trims CEO's pay but gives exec team raises

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Carmel-based insurer Conseco Inc. CEO James Prieur’s pay fell 5 percent last year, taking his total compensation to $3.3 million, according to the company’s newly filed proxy statement.

But the rest of his management team enjoyed large pay hikes as Conseco reversed two years of losses with four straight profitable quarters.

Prieur, 58, who had led Conseco since 2006, earned $186,054 less than in 2008. Conseco’s revenue last year increased from $4.2 billion to $4.3 billion. Meanwhile, its bottom line swung from a $1.1 billion net loss to an $85.7 million profit.

Conseco’s share price increased 6 percent in 2009, to $5.

Prieur’s salary was $900,000. But most of his pay last year came in the form of restricted stock and option grants worth $1.3 million and a performance-based bonus of $1.1 million.

In 2008, Conseco had awarded Prieur a performance-based bonus worth $633,800, which he chose not to accept due to the recession and the company’s financial condition. When that bonus is included, Prieur’s 2009 pay cut was 20 percent.

Pay for other top executives:

—Chief Financial Officer Edward Bonach earned $1.5 million, up 26 percent.

—40/86 Advisors Inc. President Eric Johnson earned $1.4 million, up 41 percent.

—Bankers Life and Casualty Co. President Scott Perry earned $1.5 million, up 54 percent.

—Conseco Insurance Group President Steven Stecher earned $1.2 million, up 25 percent.

IBJ uses the Associated Press formula to calculate executive pay. It gauges the value of compensation such as stock and options grants at the time they are awarded, not the time they are cashed in.

Conseco spent $1 million last year on combined board compensation for its eight independent directors, 33.2 percent less than it spent in 2008.
 

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  1. First, the Athenaeum is going to have to get past the hurdle with the Lockerbie residents and the agreement that the parcel would be residential. Second, and in my opinion, this prime piece of property should include parking, PLUS, a black box theater(s), some market rate and affordable artist housing and a plan to renovate and reconfigure the second story theater. I would negotiate to add the DeHaan property surface parking lot into the development mix, place a one story surface parking garage on the DeHaan lot on the street level (for the Dehaan tenants use during the daytime) and add a second story to the garage that would become an addition to the current second story theater and then change the direction of the theater by moving the stage across the alley and on top of the DeHaan lot parking. You can add all the stage elements that are currently missing from the Athenaeum stage to make it more attractive for use by Ballet, Opera and traveling productions. Plus, the theater changes would probably help solve some of the soundproofing issues. Alas,it does not seem to be a part of the strategic plan to conduct a study to determine best use of the property. Seems like the current plan is a quick and easy move that ignores the property best use/potential and any strategic property planning for the effect on future generations.

  2. I recall that MSA's pilings are still in the ground and hard to remove. It’s not likely any proposal will include significant underground construction/parking because of this. Start adding 2 floors of retail, 8 floors of parking and 5-10 floors of possible hotel, and/or 10-20 floors of residential, and you are at 30 floors already with possible expansion of all the uses. But then again I could be wrong.

  3. Accoriding to their website there is no deadline to the Do Not Call list. What is this article referring to??

  4. On what planet are they entitled to this largesse from the stockholders? These people make multi-million dollar salaries: Pay for your own personal travel.

  5. It matters because they're already paid enormously fat salaries: Pay for your own personal travel. Being "taxed on it" isn't a valid excuse--so what? They're still being gifted a raft of luxury perks from somebody else's money on top of an enormous, lavish salary.

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