CEO Robert Reffkin's total 2025 compensation of $10,656,460 — consisting of a $900,000 base salary, a $1,800,000 cash bonus (paid out at the maximum 200% of target due to free cash flow of $203.3 million far exceeding the $158.5 million maximum target), and approximately $7,955,210 in time-based stock awards — reflects a pay mix where roughly 92% is variable and at-risk, well above the 50–60% threshold the policy requires; the company's 3-year stock return of +131% substantially outperforms the disclosed peer group median of +70%, meaning above-benchmark incentive pay is fully justified by shareholder experience. The company maintains a clawback policy compliant with SEC and NYSE rules, received 95% shareholder support on last year's say-on-pay vote, and the bonus program uses free cash flow as its primary metric (75% weight) — a concrete, measurable financial result that is harder to manipulate than short-term earnings targets — with the remaining 25% tied to individual discretionary performance.

PwC has served as Compass's auditor since 2014 (approximately 12 years), which is well below the 25-year tenure threshold that would raise independence concerns; non-audit fees (audit-related fees of $1,449,000 plus tax fees of $200,000 plus other fees of $339,000, totaling $1,988,000) represent approximately 76% of core audit fees of $2,630,000, which exceeds the 50% policy threshold — however, the audit committee disclosed that the spike in audit-related fees was driven by a one-time acquisition (the Anywhere Real Estate merger), a context the policy directs us to note; PwC is a Big Four firm appropriate for a $5.2B market-cap company, and the audit committee affirmed all services are compatible with PwC's independence.