Bryant Yates
About Bryant Yates
Bryant J. Yates is Executive Vice President & President, Europe at Nature’s Sunshine Products (NATR). He is 51 with 26 years at the company and five years in his current role (appointed July 2019), having previously led multiple international posts since joining in 1999 . Company performance over his recent tenure remained resilient: 2023 net sales rose 5.5% to $445.3M with Adjusted EBITDA up to $40.4M; 2024 net sales grew 2.0% to $454.4M with Adjusted EBITDA of ~$40.5M, while 1-year TSR contracted from $122.12 to $78.82 on the company’s standardized TSR index basis .
Company performance context
| Metric | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Net Sales ($USD Millions) | $445.3 | $454.4 |
| Net Income ($USD Millions) | $16.4 | $7.9 |
| Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions) | $40.4 | $40.544 |
| TSR index (Base $100 at 12/31/2021) | $122.12 | $78.82 |
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nature’s Sunshine Products | EVP & President, Europe | 2019–present | Regional P&L leadership across Europe |
| Nature’s Sunshine Products | President – RCEE & Wholesale | Prior to 2019 | Led regional expansion/wholesale programs |
| Nature’s Sunshine Products | Executive Director – International | Prior to 2019 | International commercial leadership |
| Nature’s Sunshine Products | Director – International (Europe/Middle East) | Prior to 2019 | Regional development for Europe/Middle East |
| Nature’s Sunshine Products of Russia (affiliate) | General Manager | Prior to 2019 | Country leadership and market operations |
External Roles
- No external public-company directorships or outside roles disclosed for Yates in the company’s 2024–2025 proxy statements .
Fixed Compensation
- Nature’s Sunshine discloses base salary details for Named Executive Officers (NEOs) only; Mr. Yates is not an NEO, and his base salary is not disclosed in the proxy. The company reviews executive base salaries annually with market benchmarking and performance considerations .
- Company-wide executive compensation design combines base salary, annual cash incentives, and long-term equity (RSUs and PRSUs), with stock ownership guidelines and clawback/insider trading controls (see Performance Compensation and Employment Terms) .
Performance Compensation
Plan design applicable to NEOs (and generally indicative of executive design); specific Yates targets/payouts are not disclosed.
| Component | Metric(s) | Typical weighting/structure | 2024 design detail | Payout/vesting mechanics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Cash Incentive | Corporate Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA | CEO/CFO: 50%/50% corporate. For regional heads (e.g., Asia), 60% region metrics, 40% corporate (illustrative) | 2024 corporate goals included revenue and Adjusted EBITDA grids with 25%–200% funding slopes | NEO payouts in 2024 averaged ~60% of target; Asia head’s formula reflected regional results; Yates’s formula not disclosed |
| RSUs (time-based) | Service-based | 50% of equity mix (NEOs) | 3 equal annual installments; typical annual grant timing in March | Standard vesting; subject to continued service and change-in-control acceleration terms |
| PRSUs (performance-based) | Adjusted EBITDA hurdles (rolling 4Q) | 50% of equity mix (NEOs) | 2024 grants use four EBITDA targets; 50% vests on achievement, 50% one year later; must be achieved by 12/31/2026 | Yates reported PRSU vesting from 2022/2023 grants upon a $46.2M rolling 12-month Adjusted EBITDA milestone; shares withheld for taxes (see Ownership table) |
Notes
- Regional incentive weighting is explicitly disclosed for the President, Asia (Dan Norman). The company uses region/corporate blends to align regional presidents’ incentives with controllable performance; specific weights for Europe (Yates) are not disclosed .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
Ownership guidelines/policies
- The company maintains stock ownership guidelines for directors and executive officers; NEO multiples are 3x base salary (CEO), 2x (CFO), 1x (other NEOs). Hedging and pledging are prohibited under the Insider Trading Policy; a clawback policy is in effect .
Yates beneficial ownership, transactions, and vesting
| Date | Event | Shares (gross) | Price | Shares withheld (tax) | Net change | Beneficial ownership after | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-08-26 | Open-market sale | 5,000 | $16.77 | — | -5,000 | — | |
| 2025-08-29 | Open-market sale | 4,672 | $16.71 | — | -4,672 | 97,498 | |
| 2025-11-04 | PRSU vest on EBITDA milestone (Apr 20, 2023 grant) | 2,716 | $0.00 | 780 @ $13.75 | +1,936 | — | |
| 2025-11-04 | PRSU vest on EBITDA milestone (Jul 21, 2022 grant) | 1,224 | $0.00 | 354 @ $13.75 | +870 | 100,304 |
Ownership concentration (approximate)
- 97,498 shares (post 8/29/2025) ≈ 0.53% of 18,483,501 shares outstanding at 2/21/2025; 100,304 shares (post 11/4/2025) ≈ 0.54% .
Additional alignment and red flags
- Hedging/pledging: prohibited by policy (limits misalignment and leverage risk) .
- Section 16 compliance: the company disclosed late Section 16(a) reports for Mr. Yates in both 2023 and 2024 cycles (administrative), including a late Form 4 for a sale and for RSU-related tax transactions .
Employment Terms
- Yates’s individual employment agreement, severance, and change-of-control terms are not disclosed in the proxies. The company’s NEO agreements (illustrative) use double-trigger change-in-control severance, COBRA reimbursement, and full equity acceleration (PRSUs subject to conditions); no tax gross‑ups are provided upon termination. These specifics were quantified for the CEO, CFO, and President Asia only—not for Mr. Yates .
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Pay-for-performance emphasis: Annual incentives center on Revenue and Adjusted EBITDA, with segment heads incorporating regional metrics—an approach that tends to align regional leaders’ pay with controllable drivers and profitability discipline .
- Equity mix and vesting risk: PRSUs tied to rolling four-quarter Adjusted EBITDA (with staged vesting) reward durable operating improvement; Yates’s own 2022/2023 PRSUs vested on achievement of a $46.2M milestone, with tax withholding observed at vest—typical and non-cash-pressure unless net shares are sold .
- Discretion and FX treatment: Annual plan normalizes FX to budget to better measure operating execution—reducing windfall/shortfall risk unrelated to management control .
Say‑on‑Pay & Shareholder Feedback (context)
- Say-on-pay approval: 94.3% in 2023; 89% in 2024, with no material changes adopted as a result—indicating generally strong investor support for the program .
Compensation Peer Group (context)
- The Compensation Committee uses a specialty retail/personal products peer group to benchmark (updated in 2024 and again for 2025 decisions), including names such as USANA, Nu Skin, Medifast, SunOpta, Vital Farms, among others .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Late Section 16 filings (administrative): Late Form 4s disclosed for Yates in consecutive proxies .
- Insider selling: Open-market sales totaling 9,672 shares in late August 2025; follow-on PRSU vest in November increased beneficial ownership, with shares withheld for taxes rather than sold—mixed but not overtly bearish without a persistent selling pattern .
- Hedging/pledging: Prohibited—mitigates alignment and margin-call risks .
- Governance backdrop: Clawback policy is in place; compensation risk assessment asserts programs are not likely to induce excessive risk-taking .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Yates holds a meaningful personal stake (~0.5% of shares), has PRSU exposure to multi‑quarter EBITDA performance, and operates under stringent hedging/pledging prohibitions—signs of alignment to fundamentals and shareholder value creation .
- Vesting/selling pressure: Expect periodic tax-withholding at vest and potential liquidity around milestone certifications (e.g., November 2025 PRSU vest)—short‑term technicals rather than a structural overhang absent accelerated net selling .
- Retention/CoC economics: While Yates’s individual agreement isn’t disclosed, the company’s use of performance-based PRSUs, ownership guidelines, and change‑in‑control frameworks for senior executives point to balanced retention/leverage; lack of gross‑ups reduces headline risk if transitions occur .
- Execution risk: Company-level results were steady 2023–2024 with flat-to-slightly higher Adjusted EBITDA; Europe’s specific figures aren’t disclosed, but incentive designs emphasize profitable growth and controllables—placing onus on regional leaders like Yates to drive mix and margin .
Section 16 notes: The company reported late filings for Mr. Yates (administrative), which should be monitored but are not, by themselves, indicative of misalignment or adverse information flow .