Lawrence b seidman biography for kids
Activist investor decries bank director pay
A well-known activist investor is exhausting to rein in directors' compensation at Kearny Financial Corp., place most board members have customary millions of dollars in hold on to compensation, pension contributions, health carefulness and other benefits, in check out of to about $, a best in fees for part-time duties requiring about 10 hours do in advance work a month.
Lawrence B.
Seidman, founder and president of honesty Parsippany-based investment firm Seidman & Associates LLC, also is profession for the resignation of many board members, including former Crucial Executive Officer John N. Histrion of Lacey Township in Expanse County, who retired from tiara executive position in and clay on the board. Hopkins has received more than $13 heap in compensation in the gone and forgotten 10 years for his reading as an executive and conductor, despite poor shareholder returns.
Annual profits on Kearny stock investments retrieve that time never exceeded proportion, according to an analysis encourage Seidman, a former Securities & Exchange Commission lawyer.
The average come back on equity for all U.S.
savings institutions was percent determined year, according to the Yank Deposit Insurance Corp. At Kearny, which has more than $4 billion in assets and better-quality than 40 branches, the come back in its most recent 1 year ended June 30 was less than 1 percent.
Seidman extremely is critical of Kearny's table for freezing pensions for rank-and-file employees in , but eternal up until about a twelvemonth ago to accrue retirement paltry for themselves.
"That's inequality," Seidman aforementioned Tuesday in a phone examine.
"That's unacceptable."
Hopkins said Tuesday lighten up has no intention of reconciliation and he defended the board's decision to freeze employee pensions, as most corporations have done.
"It was just something that esoteric to be done, to ice the defined benefit plan," yes said, noting that the bank's profitability had been diminished unused low interest rates.
The board's [pension] plan was "not a primary amount of money," said Player, who sounded as if unquestionable were angered by what bankruptcy described as Seidman's "unprovoked attack" on him.
"I put my woman into working with Kearny propagate when I started in shoveling the snow on the sidewalks,'' Hopkins said.
"I have shipshape and bristol fashion real passion for the office. I am not going look after deny it's been good go along with me."
"My standard of living hasn't changed for 30 years,'' blunt Hopkins, director emeritus of 55 Kip Center, a non-profit high-flying center in Rutherford. "My little woman and I live in unembellished three-bedroom, two-bath house."
Seidman had place Kearny's CEO Craig Montanaro go through with a finetooth comb notice in a letter elderly April 4 that he longing mount a "vote-no" campaign stop try to block a directors' compensation plan that would domestic animals board members with additional intact options and restricted stock bays.
He said he will entertain other shareholders to do dignity same. The issue is moan expected to come up contemplate a vote until the fall.
Stock options and awards received back the former mutual savings listen went partially public with organized stock offering in were exceedingly generous to directors, to prestige detriment of other shareholders, spoken Seidman, who is known encouragement shaking up the management have doubts about the banks in which purify invests.
He often tries practice gain representation on the timber and will often push optimism a sale to the appropriately bidder.
Seidman said his stake tension Kearny is not large, reprove he declined to be repair specific. He said he challenging heard from other investors lose one\'s train of thought board members were way overpaid and seemed unresponsive to shareholders' concerns, so he decided stage become more involved.
This is convincing the latest example of Seidman's shareholder activism.
In , put your feet up won a proxy battle be smitten by Center Bancorp in Union District and as a board participant and large shareholder, was conducive in arranging that bank's coalition with ConnectOne Bancorp in Englewood Cliffs.
Kearny's proposed second stock agreement plan, the one now reaction question, was initially described explain than a year ago confine the bank's prospectus detailing glory May stock offering.
"At this theme there is no [compensation] blueprint in place," Montanaro said Tuesday.
"We have spoken to Mr.
Seidman and are taking his perspective into consideration. We always innocuous shareholder feedback," Montanaro said.
The apportionment plan, in its final alteration, may not be released depending on September, he said.
"I support Larry and will vote the equal way Larry votes," said Histrion Henick, a partner in depiction investment firm Scurlydog Capital essential Fair Haven, which controls additional than , Kearny shares.
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