Executive Compensation at the American Bankers Association (ABA) 2023

The American Bankers Association (ABA) is a non-profit 501 (c) (6) organization – “a business league that pushes advocacy, provides education, products, and solutions to its membership and the financial services industry.” In other words, the ABA is a tax-exempt association for banks, savings and loans, and trust companies. Based in Washington, DC the ABA engages in lobbying, works to establish banking standards, and educates the public and its members.

While some people think of non-profits as almost an afterthought, the ABA is anything but insignificant. The ABA raises about $150 million annually, typically spends less than it brings in, and has accumulated more than $600 million in net assets.

Key financial information in 2023 is summarized as follows:

• The ABA reported total revenue of $151 million, most of which came from dues ($48 million), royalties ($41 million), training  and certifications ($25 million), gains and investment income ($16 million) and conferences ($13 million).
• Expenses totaled $138 million during the same period with the 5 largest expenses reported to be compensation ($78 million), fees for services ($17 million), office-related expenses ($17 million), travel and conferences ($16 million), and advertising ($5 million).
• The difference between revenue ($151 million) and expenses ($138 million) is $13 million of unspent revenue that was added to the general fund.  After adjusting for $29 million in net unrealized gains on investments and making a $2 million negative adjustment to assets, the ABA ended the year with $513 million in net assets – $50 million more than at the beginning of the year.
• In 2023, 408 employees were compensated $78 million, which equates to an average compensation of $191,000. However, only 220 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation which means there were some very highly compensated people in ABA.

The 16 most highly compensated employees were compensated $13 million in 2023:

• $3,496,516:  Rob Nichols, President and CEO
• $ 953,454:  Naomi Camper, Chief Policy Officer
• $  769,172:  Peter Cook, Chief Communication Officer
• $  751,754:  Karin Petersen Flynn, CFO
• $  743,579:  Jess Sharp, EVP
• $  723,854:  James Edrington, EVP  
• $  707,874:  James Ballentine, EVP
• $  694,839:  Alethia Baggett, Chief HR Officer
• $  611,649:  Kenneth Clayton, EVP
• $  571,850:  Thomas Pinder, Secretary
• $  538,088:  Virginia O’Neill, EVP, Regulatory Compliance Policy
• $  496,599:  Sayee Srinivason, Chief Economist
• $  485,193:  Kristen Sutton, EVP, Congressional Relations
• $  479,256:  Gary Sundel, CIO
• $  438,754:  Laena F Pomeroy, Senior Advisor
• $  232,380:  Jeffrey Owen, Former COO

As illustrated above, 10 of the 16 most highly compensated employees (63%) are male while 6 of the 16 (or 37%) are female.

The 10 most highly compensated employees received nearly $60 million in compensation from 2017-2023 (note:  highly compensated employees inane of the years 2017-2022 but not in 2023 are not included):

Rob Nichols:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $24 million

• 2023:  $3,496,516
• 2022:  $3,651,732
• 2021:  $4,832,923
• 2020:  $3,271,038
• 2019:  $3,145,960
• 2018:  $2,785,380
• 2017:  $2,430,683

Naomi Camper:  Total Compensation 2019-2023:  $4 million

• 2023:  $953,454
• 2022:  $920,97
• 2021:  $901,981
• 2020:  $877,287
• 2019:  $402,100

Peter Cook:  Total Compensation 2018-2023:  $4 million

• 2023:  $769,172
• 2022:  $626,711
• 2021:  $614,156
• 2020:  $594,940
• 2019:  $547,449
• 2018:  $412,095

Karin Peterson Flynn:  Total Compensation 2021-2023:  $2 million

• 2023:  $751,754
• 2022:  $583,219
• 2021:  $527,587

Jess Sharp:  Total Compensation 2021-2022:  $2 million

• 2023:  $743,579
• 2022:  $721,444
• 2021:  $663,428

James Edrington:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $6 million

• 2023:  $  723,854
• 2022:  $  731,206
• 2021:  $1,011,554
• 2020: $1,393,776:
• 2019:  $1,178,049
• 2018:  $  716,321
• 2017:  $  617,381

James Ballentine:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $8 million

• 2023:  $   707,874
• 2022:  $  848,360
• 2021:  $2,268,860
• 2020: $1,265,549
• 2019:  $1,254,040
• 2018:  $  654,212
• 2017:  $  633,696

Alethia Baggett:  Total Compensation 2018-2023:  $3 million

• 2023:  $694,839
• 2022:  $580,311
• 2021:  $564,542
• 2020:  $559,584
• 2019:  $485,794
• 2018:  $359,315

Kenneth Clayton:  Total Compensation 2017-2023:  $5 million

• 2023:  $  611,649
• 2022:  $  525,189
• 2021:  $  709,966
• 2020:  $1,117,094
• 2019:  $1,162,218
• 2018:  $  576,716
• 2017:  $  625,704

Thomas Pinder:  Total Compensation 2022-2023:  $1 million

• 2023:  $571,850
• 2022:  $530,765

The IRS Form 990 also reports the following information:

The ABA paid for first class travel. Certain officers of the organization (five in total) are allowed to fly first class and may bring a companion at their discretion.

The ABA pays for social club dues or initiation fees for business use.

The ABA provides a non-qualified supplemental employee retirement plan (SERP) and/or a supplemental life insurance plan with accrued present value benefits for the year (note the ABA year begins September 1 of one year and ends August 31st the following year).  See the Form 990, Schedule J, Part III, Supplemental Information for details.

A gross up of 12.5% of the taxable amount of the SERP is paid to the executives.

The bottom line is that if you’re paying membership dues or fees to the ABA, a large portion of your money (about 88%) goes towards supporting the staff of the organization (including more than a dozen well compensated employees), consultants, advertising, office-related expenses along with first class travel, companion travel, retirement benefits, gross up payments, and social club dues and/or initiation dues.  9% was added to the general fund in 2023.

48 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation with the five (5) most highly compensated reported to be consultants:

• $1,748,087:  Revolution Media Group, of Alexandria, VA for advertising
• $1,614,120:  Production Resource Group, of New Windsor, NY for audio visual
• $  881,280:  Jones Day, of Washington, DC for legal work
• $  860,000:  Morrison and Foerster, of LA, CA for consulting
• $  745,042:  Amedia, of Bethesda, MD for advertising

To read the IRS Form 990 (2022 for the year ending August 30, 2022), click here.