3. Determination of compensations

3.1 Articles of Association

As required by the CO, the principles of compensation for the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board is presented in the Company’s current Articles of Association. They include the following provisions:

• Compensation paid to the Board of Directors that is subject to approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (Art. 24)
• Compensation paid to the Group Executive Board that is subject to approval of shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (Art. 25)
• Basic principles of performance-based variable compensation (Art. 26)
• An additional amount of compensation for persons who are promoted or appointed to the Group Executive Board after the Annual General Meeting (Art. 27)
• Reimbursement of business expenses (Art. 28)
• Loans, credit lines and other benefits (Art. 29)

The provisions of the Articles of Association are formulated in general terms to give the Board of Directors the flexibility to adjust compensation levels, the compensation policy and employee stock ownership plans if and when necessary.

3.2 Compensation Committee

In accordance with the Company’s Articles of Association and organizational regulations, the Compensation Committee supports the Board of Directors in the performance of its duties pertaining to compensation and personnel policy. These include:

• Formulation of compensation policy for the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board and presentation thereof to the Board of Directors for approval
• Monitoring of compliance with the compensation principles of Bellevue Group AG («the Company») and Bellevue Group and advising and informing the Board of Directors on all matters relating to compensation policy and issues
• Presenting proposals regarding the maximum aggregate fixed compensation for the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board and the aggregate variable compensation for the Group Executive Board that will subsequently be submitted to the Annual General Meeting for approval
• Presenting proposals to the Board of Directors regarding the approval of individual compensation paid to members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board, subject to and based on the aggregate compensation approved by the Annual General Meeting
• Presenting proposals to the Board of Directors regarding changes to the Articles of Association concerning compensation policy that will be subsequently submitted to the Annual General Meeting for approval
• Preparation of the Remuneration Report and presentation thereof to the Board of Directors for approval
• Formulating bonus guidelines for variable compensation elements in accordance with the provisions of the Articles of Association and presentation of the bonus guidelines to the Board of Directors for approval

Power and authority regarding compensation matters:

The Compensation Committee holds at least four meetings a year and consists exclusively of independent, non-executive Board members who are elected to one-year terms by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting. Katrin Wehr-Seiter (chair), Veit de Maddalena and Barbara Angehrn Pavik have been elected at the Annual General Meeting 2023 as members of the Compensation Committee. All members were present at every meeting during the period under review. In principle, all Compensation Committee members, the CEO, the CFO and the head of Human Resources attend the meetings of the Compensation Committee – unless their own compensation is being discussed. The committee chair may invite other employees to attend the meetings if necessary.

3.3 Say-on-pay

In accordance with the requirements of the Articles of Association and the CO, the proposed compensation for the members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Committee is computed by Bellevue Group as an annual figure and submitted to a vote at the Annual General Meeting. If one or more compensation proposals are rejected at the Annual General Meeting, the Board of Directors may submit new proposals at the same Annual General Meeting. If it does not submit any new proposals or if these are likewise rejected, the Board of Directors may either convene an Extraordinary General Meeting or submit new aggregate compensation proposals at the next scheduled Annual General Meeting. The following table summarizes the results of shareholder votes on compensation matters at the last three Annual General Meetings:

3.4 Pool for variable compensation

The basis for calculating Bellevue Group’s variable compensation pool is adjusted consolidated earnings before taxes. It is derived by adding the total pool of variable compensations (share of profit)  to the earnings before taxes (according to the audited IFRS financial statements), eliminating adjustments for IFRS entries that cannot be influenced operationally and by deducting the cost of capital employed. The interest rate for the cost of capital is determined annually by the Board of Directors. For the business year 2023 the rate amounted to 10% (2022: 10%). A fixed proportion of the adjusted consolidated earnings before taxes (total pool of variable compensation) is allocated to employees. This is understood to be the employee share of the Company’s financial results.

The adjusted consolidated earnings before taxes is an important internal indicator of the performance of Bellevue Group and is considered by the Compensation Committee to be a reliable metric. It already reflects the effects of other key indicators such as the cost/income ratio and changes in AuM or net new money.

The Compensation Committee also prepares a qualitative performance review for the Group Executive Board. This covers issues such as conduct, leadership and corporate development.

The allocation of the total bonus pool among the subsidiaries is determined by taking into consideration the contribution of each operating unit and team to the bonus pool.