In response to a growing demand for analysis of executivecompensation, GovernanceMetrics International (GMI), a NewYork-based corporate governance research provider, says it ismaking its corporate compensation research available as astand-alone product.

GMI's Summary CEO Compensation Reports and Pay AlignmentRankings (PAR) compare what companies pay their CEO with the totalreturn the companies provide their shareholders. GMI covers 1,775U.S. companies, including the members of the Russell 1,000, theS&P 500, the S&P mid-cap 400 and the S&P small-cap600.

“In the last year, the interest in executive pay has justskyrocketed,” says Howard Sherman, chief executive at GMI, whocites the misalignment of compensation and performance at a numberof companies and the government's efforts to set guidelines forexecutive pay.

In particular, institutional investors are readying themselvesfor the likelihood that an investor vote on executive compensation,the so-called say on pay, will be mandated for all U.S. companies,Sherman says.

While say-on-pay isn't yet required, companies and their biginvestors are already discussing the issue, Sherman says. “LargeU.S. shareholders are really looking for as many analytical toolsas they can muster to prepare for these discussions.”

Sherman says customers pay $2,000 for the first 10 companies and$200 for research on each additional company.