Quincy Allen
ABM INDUSTRIES INC /DE/About Quincy Allen
Quincy L. Allen, age 64, has served as an independent director of ABM since 2021. He is the former Chief Marketing Officer of IBM Cloud (2015–2018) and previously served as Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer at Unisys (2012–2015), CEO of Vertis Communications (2009–2010), and held multiple leadership roles at Xerox, including President of Global Services and Strategic Marketing and President of Production Systems Group. He brings deep operational technology, cybersecurity, and business development expertise, with current public company board service at The ODP Corporation (Office Depot) and Lumen Technologies; prior boards include NCR Corporation and Gateway, Inc. .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM Corporation (IBM Cloud) | Chief Marketing Officer | 2015–2018 | Led cloud go-to-market and technology marketing |
| Unisys Corporation | Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer | 2012–2015 | Corporate strategy and B2B marketing leadership |
| Vertis Communications | Chief Executive Officer | 2009–2010 | Operational turnaround in direct marketing/advertising |
| Xerox Corporation | President, Global Services & Strategic Marketing; President, Production Systems Group; VP | Various | Sales/marketing strategy; enterprise services leadership |
External Roles
| Company | Exchange | Role | Committees | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The ODP Corporation (Office Depot) | NASDAQ: ODP | Director | Audit; Corporate Governance & Nominating | 2020 |
| Lumen Technologies Corporation | NYSE: LUMN | Director | Audit; Risk & Security | 2021 |
| NCR Corporation | NYSE: NCR | Director (prior) | — | 2009–2012 |
| Gateway, Inc. | — | Director (prior) | — | 2006–2007 |
Board Governance
- Committee assignments: Audit Committee member and Stakeholder & Enterprise Risk (SER) Committee member; not a chair. Audit met 7 times in FY2024; SER met 5 times.
- Independence: Board affirmatively determined Allen is independent under NYSE and SEC rules (all non-CEO directors are independent).
- Attendance and engagement: Each director attended 94%+ of Board and applicable committee meetings; overall attendance was 99%. The Board holds executive sessions at each regularly scheduled meeting.
- Leadership structure: ABM separates the Chairman (Sudhakar Kesavan) and CEO (Scott Salmirs).
- Risk oversight: SER Committee oversees enterprise risk management, social and environmental risks, and cybersecurity; Audit oversees financial reporting and controls.
Fixed Compensation
2024 Non-Employee Director program (policy):
| Element | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Board Cash Retainer | $90,000 | Chairman: $190,000 |
| Annual Equity Retainer (RSUs) | $160,000 | Vest one year from grant; Chairman: $220,000 |
| Committee Member Cash Retainer | Audit: $20,000; Compensation/Governance/SER: $12,500 | No meeting fees |
| Committee Chair Additional Cash Retainer | Audit: $15,000; Compensation/Governance/SER: $10,000 | Chairman does not receive committee retainers |
Quincy Allen – 2024 actual:
| Component | Amount ($) |
|---|---|
| Fees Earned or Paid in Cash | 122,500 |
| Stock Awards (RSUs grant-date fair value) | 159,993 |
| All Other Compensation (Dividend Equivalents) | 13,080 |
| Total | 295,573 |
Grant details:
| Grant Date | Shares (RSUs) | Basis | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 4, 2024 | 3,695 | $160,000 ÷ $43.30 closing price | One year from grant |
Director compensation governance:
- Pay Governance LLC advises Governance Committee on director pay; equity awards granted under the 2021 plan.
- Director ownership guideline: 5× annual cash retainer within five years; must hold 50% of net shares until compliant. Hedging and pledging of ABM stock prohibited. All directors are compliant or within the five-year ramp.
Performance Compensation
- ABM does not use performance-based equity for non-employee directors; annual director equity awards are time-based RSUs vesting after one year; dividend equivalents accrue and settle in stock upon vesting. No stock options for directors, and dividends are not paid on unearned awards under plan rules.
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Relationship Type | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current public boards | ODP (Audit; Corporate Governance & Nominating), Lumen (Audit; Risk & Security) |
| Policy compliance | ABM overboarding policy limits non-employee directors to ≤4 public boards (including ABM); Audit committee service >3 requires Board determination. Allen’s service appears within limits (3 audit committees including ABM). |
| Related-party transactions | ABM reported no related-party transactions in FY2024. |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Skills matrix flags Allen for Information Technology/Cybersecurity, Financial/Capital Allocation, Sales & Marketing, Human Capital/Safety, and Risk Oversight; he also brings Other Public Company Board experience and M&A background.
- Biography emphasizes technology operations and cybersecurity oversight with multinational experience.
Equity Ownership
| Category | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership (common shares) | 0 | As of Feb 1, 2025; excludes RSUs not vesting within 60 days |
| RSUs outstanding (not vesting within 60 days) | 16,500 | Excluded from beneficial ownership table |
| RSUs held (incl. deferred) as of Oct 31, 2024 | 13,290 | Director RSU inventory |
| Ownership guideline | 5× cash retainer; unvested/deferred RSUs count; compliance or within five-year window for all directors | No hedging or pledging permitted |
Say-on-Pay & Shareholder Feedback
- ABM’s 2023 say-on-pay proposal received 98% approval in March 2024, indicating strong investor support for compensation practices.
Governance Assessment
- Strengths:
- Independent director with deep IT/cybersecurity and risk oversight expertise aligned to ABM’s ERM and cybersecurity priorities.
- Active committee engagement: member of Audit and SER (financial controls and enterprise/cyber risk) with robust meeting cadence; strong overall attendance (≥94%).
- Clean related-party profile; no reported transactions in FY2024.
- Strong director pay governance (external benchmarking; ownership guidelines; anti-hedging/pledging; no meeting fees).
- Risk indicators and potential RED FLAGS:
- Zero beneficially owned common shares reported as of Feb 1, 2025 (ownership alignment relies on RSUs and guideline counting). While guidelines include unvested/deferred RSUs, the lack of outright share ownership may be viewed as weaker “skin-in-the-game” by some investors.
- One late Form 4 filing (dividend equivalent accrual) due to administrative error on May 9, 2024; minor procedural issue but noted.
- Multi-company Audit committee workload: ABM Audit plus ODP and Lumen Audit committees. ABM policy allows up to three before requiring Board determination; monitoring for overextension remains prudent.
Overall, Allen’s cybersecurity and risk oversight background is additive to ABM’s board effectiveness in current operating conditions; compensation and ownership policies mitigate alignment concerns, though the absence of beneficial share holdings is a watch point for some governance-focused investors.