Cockpit
Statements
Publications
Chronological list of Obermatt publications. There are also books, Speeches and Press Releases und Obermatt in the news.
Finanz & Wirtschaft - When high bonusus are justafiable
Hermann Stern discusses the latest Obermatt SMI/SPI Bonus Index – First Estimate 2009 where the Swiss Canton Banks lead the ranking table.
Article in PDF Format (German only)
Controller Magazin - How indexed bonus plans work
German: "Krisenfeste Bonuspläne" (Controller Magazin, July 2009)
Obermatt CEO Hermann J. Stern explains how indexed bonus targets are implemented in corporations and what methods suit best what situations.
Article in PDF format (German only)
Read this article online (German only)
Finanz & Wirtschaft - Working Capital
German: "Wenn Cash King wird" (Finanz & Wirtschaft, 27. Mai, 2009)
Analysis in Finanz & Wirtschaft on Swiss quoted SMI and SPI companies shows improvement potential in working capital management and inventory optimization.
Article in PDF format (German only)
Finanz & Wirtschaft - Swiss Bonus Index Results May 2009
German: "Der Vergleich bring es ans Licht" (Finanz und Wirtschaft, April 2009)
High salaries can be justified - objective assessment is possible - Best performance by Galenica and Richemont.
Article in PDF Format (German only)
To the Swiss Bonus Index April 2009
SSRN - Policy effects of indexed bonus plans
"On Compensation Policy: Accounting's contribution to executive pay" (SSRN working paper, April 26, 2009)
Brussel's recent proposal of caps on executive pay only caps motivation. Spiralling management pay is much better avoided by indexed bonus plans. This is also much easier to implement than other proposals on the negotiation table.
SSRN - Detailed description of indexed bonus plans
"Making Bonus Systems Fair and Crisis Proof" (SSRN Working Paper, March 11, 2009)
Hermann J. Stern discusses improvements for bonus plans after the credit crisis to make them fairer and more durable. 11 pages, 3 graphs and 2 table.
Free Download at the Social Science Research Network.
Obermatt Research - Volatility Analysis Svenska Handelsbanken
Research Report: Svenska Handelsbanken enjoys lowest operating volatility of major Swedish banks. This is accopanied by a tradition of indexed bonus targets since 1970. (Daniel Wiederkehr, Obermatt, March 11, 2009).
CFO Aktuell - How indexed bonus plans work
German: "Ein Bonus in der Rezession?" (CFO Aktuell, December 2008)
Managers deserve a bonus even in a recession if they are better than their peers. Stern shows in this Austrian CFO Aktuell article how the impact of economic cycles is eliminated from bonus targets.
Article in PDF-Format (German only) There is a newer, more complete article in Controller Magazin and a more current english working paper on the SSRN.
NZZ commentary - Regarding UBS Bonussystem
Obermatt White Paper, German (November 2008)
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 26.11.08, page 26, discusses market bonus targets for UBS. This German commentary discusses raised objections and explains why market based bonus targets would help UBS.
Finanz & Wirtschaft - Problems with the new UBS bonus system
"The Achilles' Heel of the new UBS Bonus System" (Finanz & Wirtschaft, November 2008)
UBS should set indexed bonus targets instead of fixed multi-year targets that don't take into account the economy's performance. If not, its new bonus system could soon again be topic of negative headlines.
Article in PDF format (german only)
Handelszeitung - Swiss Banking Index 2008
German: "Stark im Stammgeschäft" Handelszeitung (September 17, 2008)
Only private banks and retail banks hat better returns than their global competitors. Swiss asset managers and investment banks worked worse than rest of the world.
To the Swiss Banking Index September 2008
Article in PDF Format (German only)
Journal of Corporate Governance - How boards should measure performance
German: "Benchmarking im Aufsichtsrat zur Unternehmenssteuerung" (Zeitschrift für Corporate Governance ZCG, Dezember 2007)
Measureing performance against strategic plans acts like a performance cap. Exceeding targets leads to punishments in the future. Better to index operating performance. How this is done in boards is discussed in this article.
Article as PDF (German only)
Der Organisator - Indexierte Leistungsmessung
"Das Unternehmen auf Outperformance trimmen" (Der Organisator, 07. Dezember 2007)
Wie im Sport sollte es auch im Unternehmen sein. Der finanzielle Führungsprozess muss konsequent auf den Wettbewerb ausgerichtet werden. Der Vorteil: höhere Motivation und bessere Resultate.
Schweizer Bank - Swiss Banking Index November 2007
"Credit Suisse ist Top und Flop" (Schweizer Bank, November 2007)
Der Obermatt Global Banking Index 2007 beurteilt Banken und ihre Geschäftsbereiche beurteilt Banken und die Geschäftsbereiche der Grossbanken nicht aufgrund ihrer Aktienrendite, sondern aufgrund ihrer Leistung im weltweiten Direktvergleich mit anderen Banken.
CFO Aktuell - Indexiertes Leistungsmessung
"Die Führung auf den Wettbewerb ausrichten" (CFO Aktuell; Oktober 2007)
Die Leistung im Sport wird nicht als Ziel- oder Budgetabweichung gemessen. Erfolgreich ist, wer gewinnt und seinen Titel verteidigt. So wie im Sport sollte dies auch im Unternehmen sein. Der Artikel zeigt anhand konkreten Fallbeispielen auf, wie der finanzielle Führungsprozess konsequent auf den Wettbewerb ausgerichtet werden kann.
Handelszeitung - Swiss Banking Ranking September 2007
"Schweizer Banken im globalen Leistungstest" (Handelszeitung, September 19, 2007)
Achtzehn Schweizer Banken gehören zu den besten 25% aller Banken weltweit. Dies ist das Resultat des Obermatt Global Banking Competition Rankings 2007.
Swiss Banking Index - Artikel im PDF-Format - Ranking Report - Press Release
Finanzbetrieb News - Indexierte Leistungsmessung
"Finance Intelligence: Führung im Kapitalmarktvergleich" (Finanzbetrieb News, Februar 2007)
Nicht das Budget, sondern die Wettbewerber übertreffen. Finance Intelligence bedeutet, Unternehmen mit Hilfe eines Kapitalmarktvergleichs zu führen.
perspektive blau - How to use the Operating Index
German: "Abschied vom Budget: Wertmanagement mit dem operativen Index (perspektive blau, Januar 2007)
Marketoriented value managent means indexing operating performance to measure and lead a company.
Video Interview - Hermann Stern's new book on market-oriented value management
Video interview at the Swiss CFO Forum (November 22, 2006)
Hermann J. Stern, Author of the German book "Marktorientiertes Value Management" speaks about his new book in a video Interview at the Swiss CFO Forum in German.
Finanz & Wirtschaft - "Air" in Swiss stock prices
German: "Wie viel "Luft" ist in den heutigen Aktienkursen?" (Finanz und Wirtschaft (21. Februar 2006)
The analysis of the Strategic Value uncovers the expectations in the capital market. This can be used for multi-year planning.
Harvard - Value based incentives are good for the share price
German: "Grossverdiener im Leistungstest" (Harvard Business Manager, September 2005)
The empirical study with 890 CEOs has shown that those CEOs with higher wealth leverage provide better stock returns.
German article available at www.harvardbusinessmanager.de - The study has also been published in the Neue Züricher Zeitung and in english in Journal of Applied Corporate Finance.
Persorama - value based incentives
German "An einem Strang ziehen" (Persorama, 22. Juni 2005)
Damit die Kluft zwischen Managern und Investoren überbrückt werden kann, braucht es eine neue Sichtweise der leistungsorientierten Entlöhnung. Diese gleicht die Interessen von Aktionären und Führungskräften aus und fokussiert sich auf die erzielten Resultate.
NZZ - Wealth leverage increases the share price
German: "'Vermögenshebel' steigern den Aktienkurs" (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Mai 10, 2005)
Dr. Hermann J. Stern shows in this study with 890 CEOs that CEOs with more leverage in their compansation package provide more returns to shareholders.
German Article as PDF-Format - Study has also been published in Harvard Business Manager in German and in Journal of Applied Corporate Finance in English.
JACF - Wealth leverage in management incentives increases share price
"Top Management Incentives and Corporate Performance" (Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, April 2005)
English publication on the Obermatt research into 890 CEO pay policies that reveals that those CEOs with higher leverage in their compensation plans run companies with higher shareholder returns.
How to Boost Pay for Performance
Financial Executives International (November 2004)
Companies could build better incentives in their executive compensation plans by adopting pay policies that tie compensation opportunity to performance, a consultant argues.
Controler Magazin - On financial metrics in bonus systems
German: "Das Kennzahlendilemma - Leuchtfeuer in untiefe Gewässer" (Controller Magazin, Januar 2004)
The combination of financial metrics in bonus systems backfires. This German article shows how.
PSP Index - The seven deadly sins in executive compensation
German: "Die sieben "Todsünden" der leistungsorientierten Vergütung" (January 2004)
Seven points to observe when paying manager for performance. This is the most extensive version of this article.
Finanz & Wirtschaft - Empirical study to acquisition valuations
German: "Risikobeurteilung von Akquisitionen" (Finanz und Wirtschaft, 20. Dezember 2003)
Study reveals little value orientation in Swiss acquisitions.
Schweizer Treuhänder - Empirical study to Swiss bonus systems
German: "Wenig Wertorientierung in Schweizer Lohnsystemen" (Der Schweizer Treuhänder, Dezember, 2003)
The empirical study "Executive Compensation Switzerland" shows little value orientation in Swiss compensation systems.
Stanton Case - Fehler bei Bonusvergabe
"Fehler bei Bonusvergabe" (The Stanton Chase International News, Dezember 2003)
Seven points to observe when paying manager for performance.
Financial Times - always stay objective
German: "Immer objektiv bleiben" (Financial Times Deutschland, 16. September 2003)
Seven points to observe when paying manager for performance.
Manager Promoter - The 7 deadly sins in management compensations
German: "Die sieben Todsünden der leistungsorientierten Vergütung" (Der Manager Promoter, Herbst 2003)
Der Artikel behandelt die sieben «Todsünden», welche beachtet werden müssen, damit die Ausgestaltung eines Bonussystems wertorientiert erfolgt.
Tages Anzeiger - Bonus systems
German: "Bonussysteme ändern" (ALPHA, 2./3. August 2003)
The author uncovers problems in bonus plans designs in Switzerland.
Harvard - Study on business Systems in Switzerland
"Die richtigen Signale setzen" (Harvard Business Manager, August, 2003)
Article summerizes results of an empirical study into compensation systems in Switzerland that can be obtained in English at Obermatt. Students receive PDF copies for free.
HR-Today - Alternatives to share based management compensation
"Es müssen nicht immer Aktien sein" (HR-Today, Juni 2003)
Equity-like incentives are also available to privately held company by using value based principles in cash pay.
Economic Value Added – Lektionen aus der Praxis
German: "Economic Value Added – Lektionen aus der Praxis" (Der Schweizer Treuhänder, March 2003)
Experiences with Economic Value Added are shown: 1. Focus on Delta EVA, 2. Don't worry too much about adjustments; only a view are important, 3. Keep the WACC fixed.