Item 5.02
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Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers;
Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
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On July 31, 2018, the Board of Directors of MSCI Inc. (the
Company) appointed Jennifer Mak, the Companys current Global Controller and Head of Finance Operations, to also serve as, and assume the duties of, its Principal Accounting Officer, effective August 13, 2018. Richard J.
Napolitano, the Companys current Principal Accounting Officer, has been named Head of Business Finance for the Company.
Ms. Mak, age 44, joined the Company on July 9, 2018 and has served as the Companys Global Controller and Head of Finance
Operations since that time. Previously, Ms. Mak served at Honeywell International Inc. (Honeywell), as Vice President and Controller from April 2016 to June 2018, and as Controller of the Performance Materials and Technologies
segment from April 2014 to April 2016. She joined Honeywell in 2010 and served as Assistant Controller of Honeywell from 2011. Ms. Mak earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accountancy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL.
There were no new compensatory arrangements or modifications to existing compensatory arrangements entered into with Ms. Mak in
connection with her appointment as the Companys Principal Accounting Officer, including no modifications to the employment offer letter (the Offer Letter) entered into with Ms. Mak in connection with the commencement of her
employment with the Company on July 9, 2018 as the Companys Global Controller and Head of Finance Operations.
Pursuant to the
Offer Letter, in order to compensate Ms. Mak for incentive awards that she forfeited at Honeywell as a result of her resignation, Ms. Mak (i) is entitled to receive a
one-time
sign-on
cash bonus of $700,000 (the
Sign-on
Cash Bonus), which is payable in three installments (or, if earlier, upon an involuntary termination of her employment
following a change in control): (1) $175,000, which will be paid within 30 days of her date of hire, (2) $175,000 to be paid on February 15, 2019 and (3) $350,000 to be paid on July 15, 2019, in each case, subject to repayment if
Ms. Mak voluntarily resigns or her employment is terminated for cause prior to the first anniversary of the applicable payment date, and (ii) was granted a
one-time
sign-on
award of 6,002 restricted stock units (the
Sign-on
RSU Award) under the MSCI Inc. 2016 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the Omnibus Plan).
Ms. Maks
Sign-on
RSU Award will vest in full on the third anniversary of the grant date.
In addition, pursuant to the Offer Letter, Ms. Mak receives an annual base salary, and will also be eligible to receive an annual cash
bonus award under the MSCI Inc. Annual Incentive Plan and an annual long-term incentive award under the Omnibus Plan as will be determined by the Companys Compensation & Talent Management Committee of the Board of Directors as part of
its annual executive compensation review process. Ms. Maks base salary, target annual cash bonus opportunity and target annual long-term incentive award opportunity set forth in the Offer Letter were determined based on a review of
external compensation data, internal pay equity considerations and Ms. Maks historical compensation with her previous employer.
Ms. Mak will also continue to be eligible to participate in the Companys benefit plans available to all U.S.-based employees, as
well as a Company change in control severance plan, which provides for the payment of severance pay and benefits upon a qualifying termination of employment following a change in control.
The selection of Ms. Mak to serve as the Companys Principal Accounting Officer was not made pursuant to any arrangement or
understanding with respect to any other person. In addition, there are no family relationships between Ms. Mak and any director or other executive officer of the Company, and there are no related persons transactions (within the meaning of
Item 404(a) of Regulation
S-K)
involving Ms. Mak and the Company and/or its subsidiaries.