Our firm’s scale allows us to have in-house technical specialists who are committed to supporting our consultants in their client engagements. We have internal experts on accounting, tax, SEC rules, and shareholder advisory and institutional investor matters who serve as valuable members of the engagement team as necessary and appropriate. Our technical experts include attorneys, MBAs and CPAs who are client consultants but also have additional responsibilities for alerting all consultants to breaking news in our field. Additionally, our internal experts include consultants who are nationally recognized experts on executive compensation programs among tax-exempt organizations, including the “Intermediate Sanctions” legislation. They work extensively in the nonprofit sector including national charities, private foundations, higher education, research institutes, trade associations, and nonprofit health care.

The primary emphasis of our firm is to provide thought leadership in the area of executive compensation and independent counsel to the committees and managers to whom we report. We regularly contribute to the field of executive compensation through innovative plan design, targeted surveys, speeches, articles, essays, and technical commentary to legislative proposals.

FW Cook has been fortunate to have strong leadership since Fred Cook founded the firm in 1973. His vision for a multi-generational independent consulting firm depends on a business model that is maintained today, the “working consultant” model. Our firm’s leaders are the same people who spend their full time advising clients and directing the strategy and management of the firm. The firm is 100% owned by its principals and therefore is not influenced by outside ownership. The result is a business strategy that focuses on our highest priority – our clients.

The strength of our firm lies in the collective knowledge and expertise of all of our consultants. Due to our commitment to excellence and our long-standing reputation as being a thought leader on executive pay matters, we have been able to attract and retain the industry’s best talent. A majority of our senior consultants have been with the firm for most of their careers, creating a depth and breadth of experience and expertise found nowhere else in the profession.