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By Bhanvi Satija
(Reuters) -Institutional Shareholder Services has recommended Pfizer investors reject a proposal on executive compensation at its upcoming annual meeting, citing concerns about certain changes made to long-term awards to its CEO and others.
The modifications, including repeated changes to Pfizer's cash flow targets, and a lack of clarity about certain pipeline goals are concerning and undermine a "pay-for-performance philosophy", ISS said.
Annual incentives for executives are tied to achieving three financial goals, and payouts can be 30 percentage points higher or lower based on pipeline and ESG-related goals achieved, ISS said.
"For the seventh consecutive year, the target goal for the cash flow metric was set lower than actual results from the prior year," the firm said in its report.
The proxy adviser added Pfizer used a "negative discretion" to reduce payouts slightly from their maximum level of 200% and did not disclose details about pipeline goals that would justify a payout.
A lack of disclosure of forward-looking performance awards for fiscal year 2024 is also of concern, ISS said.
Pfizer told Reuters in an email response its executive compensation program was consistent with its goal to drive performance and increase shareholder value.
Pfizer, under CEO Albert Bourla's leadership, has faced investor pressure to improve performance from cancer drugs and other treatments to make up for the crash in sales of COVID-related products, which had brought in close to $60 billion in revenue at the peak of the pandemic.
The stock has lost more than half of its value from a high of $60 in 2021.
ISS said the changes to long-term awards added about $1 million in additional value for the CEO.
Pfizer's shareholders are expected to vote on the proposal at the annual meeting scheduled for April 24.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Sriraj Kalluvila and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
