PJT Partners Inc

In developing our compensation programs, our Compensation Committee commissions a compensation benchmarking analysis to ensure that our programs are competitive with those of other independent investment banks, including consideration of the cost of equivalent talent in the markets in which we operate. Our Compensation Committee reviews our Named Executive Officer compensation in relation to other financial institutions, working with Willis Towers Watson, which provides market data and practices for consideration, as well as executive compensation trends and developments. One of the challenges for our company when establishing its peer group is the limited number of directly comparable organizations. Part of the Compensation Committee’s overall review of the executive compensation program over the past several years has included developing underlying principles for identifying peers. These principles include operating in similar or comparable industry segments: investment banking, comparable in size and scope and competitors for talent. The full peer group of independent investment banking firms considered for the 2022 market data benchmarking set for the purposes of 2023 compensation decisions is Evercore Inc., Houlihan Lokey Inc., Jefferies Financial Group Inc., Lazard Ltd., Moelis & Company, Perella Weinberg Partners and Rothschild & Co. The most relevant public competitors considered within the independent investment bank benchmarking data for 2023 included:

For purposes of determining our overall level of executive compensation (i.e., base salary and annual incentive compensation), our Compensation Committee generally reviews compensation in light of peer group compensation ranges but does not limit target setting to a particular peer group percentile.

Our Compensation Committee also takes into account other factors, including the executive’s role and experience, as compared to our peers’ executives. Ultimately, our Compensation Committee believes that appropriate compensation for a particular executive should be made based on the full review of company and individual performance, while also considering market data.

Overall, as set forth below in “Elements of Our Compensation Program,” Willis Towers Watson determined that our executive compensation programs, as structured, are appropriately competitive relative to our peers.