My finance view

David W. Kemper, chief executive of Commerce Bancshares Inc., saw his pay jump 80 percent to $3.35 million last year, largely due to his exercise of stock options worth $1.8 million.

Kemper, 57, who runs the parent of Commerce Bank, got a 2 percent increase in salary and bonuses to $1.3 million. His base pay rose 4.3 percent to $811,625. He got a discretionary bonus of $217,792 last year after getting no such bonus in 2006. His incentive-based bonus dropped to $298,708 from $527,000 in 2006.

The Post-Dispatch calculates total pay using an executive’s salary, discretionary bonus, incentive pay, change in pension value and other pay, along with options exercised and stock awards that vested in the most recent year.

Jonathan M. Kemper, 54, vice chairman and David Kemper’s brother, saw his over-all pay drop 47 percent to $1.4 million. His 2006 pay of $2.7 million was boosted by the exercise of options worth $1.9 million.
The Kempers’ pay was disclosed along with that of four other top executives in the annual proxy statement. The statement set the company’s shareholder meeting for 9:30 a.m cash til payday loan. April 16 at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton.

The compensation committee’s report in the proxy did not discuss David Kemper’s pay separately, but it said the pay of named executives was based on performance reviews and was comparable to pay for officers of other mid-sized banks.

The report says executives reached 90 percent of the company’s goals for revenue growth, pre-tax profit growth, customer satisfaction and employee engagement, and incentive pay was awarded at 40.8 percent of the bonus targets for each executive. David Kemper’s maximum target was increased to 90 percent of salary this year from 80 percent in 2006. Jonathan Kemper’s was increased to 65 percent from 55 percent.

Commerce Bancshares, the largest bank based in Missouri, has its headquarters in Kansas City, but most of its top managers work in Clayton.

jerristroud@post-dispatch.com

314-340-8384

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